By JOYCE BERTSCHY
ORO VALLEY CLUB LIKE ‘PERSONAL ASSISTANCE WITHOUT PAYING FOR A PERSONAL TRAINER’
Keri Ruffell wants to help Oro Valley residents exercise the right to a healthier life.
With this in mind, Ruffell and her husband, Geoff, opened a fitness club on July 11. 1-2-3 Fit is in a strip mall on North La Canada Drive near West Lambert Lane on the southeast corner.
Ruffell left her job of five years as director of business development for Strategic Health Care Programs. The long hours and frequent business trips were stressful.
“I wanted to be home and serve the community I live in,” said Keri, 35. Geoff, 36, works full-time for Marcon Excavating and Construction.
Keri Ruffell was inspired to move in a different direction after her experience as a technology consultant with hospice patients. She discovered a passion to help people before chronic disease took their lives.
“I wanted to be on the front end of the aging cycle. If I can help people postpone the onset of symptoms from chronic diseases or improve their health if they start to decline, then I know I’m fulfilling a purpose,” Ruffell said.
Armed with dual master’s degrees, in business administration with an emphasis in business marketing and health-care management, and a mixed bag of financing, Ruffell looked into several exercise franchises.
“I wanted a franchise that was young enough that I would have a voice, but established enough so that all the kinks were worked out,” she said.
Nancy May, 65, had a triple bypass in 1997 and has been exercising for the past 18 months in a closely monitored exercise program at a cardiac-rehabilitation adult-fitness center.
She saw a flier at the grocery store and lives a short walk from the club. “I hope to be able to exercise more frequently and to strengthen my heart,” said May.
“This was the right fit for me because I’m a cardiac patient,” she said. “They offer the service of taking your vital signs during your workout, and that’s important to me.”
Ruffell describes the club’s workout as a “personalized 20- station circuit that combines cardio equipment and strength training using resistant-band technology.”
John Vail joined after he met Ruffell at a business networking meeting.
“I’ve never ever joined a gym,” he said. “I just don’t like the environment.”
Vail, 57, recently lost 50 pounds. He said he has gone from obese to overweight and is headed toward the normal weight range.
“When she (Ruffell) described to me about the 30 seconds at each station three times for 30 minutes, this appealed to me because you can’t get bored in 30 seconds,” he said. Vail also likes getting “personal assistance without paying for a personal trainer.”
Members can take advantage of other services such as nutritional guidance and specialized personal training for additional fees. “People want to look better naked, and I can do that,” said Ruffell. “But I want to help them be healthier.”
A grand opening is scheduled for 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Take a tour, meet the coaches, listen to entertainer Joe Bourne, have refreshments and enter a raffle to win a prize.
Quick fit
* What: 1-2-3 Fit
* Where: 10370 N. La Canada Drive, Suite 170
* Phone: 575-9800
* Hours: 5 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.
* Prices: Memberships start at $35 a month.
* Contact news assistant Joyce Bertschy at 573-4201 or [email protected].
Originally published by JOYCE BERTSCHY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR.
(c) 2008 Arizona Daily Star. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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