Our New Mission
In 1993, we coined our mission statement as “Helping Women Succeed with Fitness”. We wanted to be the place where women could come to exercise to get fitter and relieve stress so they could be better to themselves and for those around them.
Our gym has evolved. Now, we’re not just about women. We are co-ed and nearly 70% of our members are over 60 years old!
Our gym is now about serving people in their Best Third of life. It’s about helping people make this time the best part of their lives.
We want this third to be your best. It absolutely is for me and others in the gym. No more financial struggles. No more working for idiots. More time for family and friends.
We all know it’s not the age number that counts. The only thing that really matters is how we feel and how we perform physically and mentally as we age.
Chris Crowley in his book Younger Next Year writes how good life can be for those 55 and older in their “Next Third”. (Its actually the Last Third, but no sense in being morbid about it.)
Chris explains how the science shows that it is a choice for many to allow themselves to decay like the typical older person does. You can choose to feel and act just as good in your 60’s and 70’s as you do in your 50’s.
But it does takes work.
The science is clear that if we change away from our unhealthy habits and start doing the right things with exercise and diet, we can get biologically younger. We can have better physical and brain health as well as be more energized and optimistic.
If someone were to change their habits in their forties, their health could be redirected from the graph on the left to the graph on the right!
Based on what you see around you, you may not believe you can hold on to good health into your 80’s. Perhaps you’ve seen many that haven’t aged gracefully. Perhaps you also feel a steady decline within yourself.
But based on what we see in our gym, we believe age is just a number. Our gym is filled with amazing examples of people that put in the work to stay fit and as a result receive huge benefits.
The ‘Best Third’ Workout
Exercising while you’re in your Best Third is way different than exercising while you’re younger.
WAY different.
The primary goal in the Best Third should be getting and staying PHYSICALLY younger and capable. We want to get in shape and then hang on to what we’ve got for as long as possible.
Getting in physical shape will involve building mobility, flexibility, strength and cardio endurance. No more focus on getting big muscles for the beach or lifting heavy weights to show off. That’s just asking for injuries.
Workouts need to be both safe and effective.
We use the Younger Next Year Exercise Program as a guide for workouts.
The book costs about $10 on Amazon and is a valuable resource for those in their Best Third.
Our ‘Best Third’ Workout looks like this:
- Light Cardio – 10 minutes
- Warm-Up including Mobility/Flexibility/Balance Work – 20 minutes
- Strength Training: Six movements covering all the major muscle groups – 20 minutes
- Core work – 10 minutes
The workout is similar in structure for everyone, but we work with each and every person to modify as needed. The workout is therefore suitable for healthy people in their 50’s through their 80’s.
If you perform the Best Third workout a couple times a week, eat right, and do some brisk walking a couple more times a week you will have a complete fitness program that will keep you feeling good for decades!
Give us a call and we’ll let you know when the next class is scheduled or we can train you one-on-one.
Ron and Barb