Warrior Run Recap

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:50:21 +0000

On Saturday April 28th, I ran my first Warrior Run at Labrador Mountain with some of my staff and a few PF members. I kind of knew what to expect from the Warrior Run web site and write-ups on their Facebook page.

But looking back, I should have found some big hills to run up and down and not just relied on flat running, weight lifting and cycling! Oh well, as they say, hind sight is 20-20.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was a HUGE slip and slide coming down one of the trails. I thought, man, someone is going through that snow fence at the bottom of that hill!

We had decided as a group to dress in camo and Dennis agreed to paint us up to look more like warriors.

We had about 40 minutes to kill before the start time of noon so we just walked around to take in all the sights. Near the exit was an enormous 8′ wall with mats to land on. We saw all kinds of crazy outfits - Smurfs, Business suits, Fairies, Vikings, all sorts of random face paintings, Clowns, and many more. It was crazy some of the things people were running in!

The race itself: Once we got within 10 minutes of the start time the MC kept us informed with a countdown. They played great music that got everyone pumped up for the race – THIS part was fun!

Finally the race started, we took off and headed for our first obstacle, the giant slip and slide. People were crashing into each other on the way down spinning and twisting around so by the time I got to the bottom,I hopped up and stated running only to realize I was on the wrong side of the snow fence!! I had to run back and join the race.

I can’t remember all the obstacles in order, but let’s just say who ever designed this course was a SOB. There were many more obstacles than what was pictured on the website. There were several really steep uphill’s that were every bit of 80 feet high. One of them was so steep a few runners decided it better to crawl. They would then follow that up with lots of deep mud to run through – what a cardio buster!

There was a nasty creek run with waist deep water (I swear I stepped on someone’s lost shoe) followed by a series of hanging tire obstacles, then a steep uphill.

We had to climb over a log extended across an embankment, up yet another hill then finally begin the decent!. As I neared the finish I could see the smoke from the fire pit. I doubled down and started to push my pace again….until I saw what the final obstacle was – an 8′ wall! Thank god they put some pegs to grab and pull yourself up with.

I crossed the finish line, grabbed my warrior medal and walked back to cheer on my fellow team members.

Wow, what an experience! I was exhausted and my legs and ankles were sore for days, but somehow I can’t wait to do it all over again!

Would you put this into your body?

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:56:13 +0000

This photo has been making the rounds on Facebook, but I think it’s worth sharing:

The folks at LiveWell Wellness Centers in Belleville, IL setup this tray of fast “food” a couple of years ago to see what would happen.

This is the result:

“Our fast “food” display is now 2 years old. The word food is questionable, since the bread-like and meat-like substances have not molded or spoiled in any way. Bugs won’t even bother with it. Please think twice about giving this to your kids. You have a choice, but they don’t. We truly are what we eat.“

We’re all really busy these days, but is this really what you want to to put into your body?

Burn the Fat, Feed the Hungry

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:26:29 +0000

This year as part of our annual Spring Open house this week – April 16th – 21st – we have brought in a local charity to support.

When you come in to workout, buy a membership, or add sessions to your personal training or Pilates reformer package this week, please bring in a non perishable food item or monetary donation to help us support the Food Bank of CNY.

We’re capping the week off with an event on Saturday, April 21st at the downtown gym we are calling “Burn the Fat, Feed the Hungry” from 9am – noon.

Several members of my staff and I are donating our time to provide express workouts for a donation to the food bank. We will be available for express personal training and pilates reformer sessions, mini zumba, yoga and spinning classes, and the gym will be available to those who just want to workout on their own. We will be asking for donations at the door and 100% of the proceeds are going to the Foodbank of CNY.

One of the constant battles we fight in our industry is with food.

On a daily basis we work with clients to educate and encourage their food habits & choices. As we struggle to discipline ourselves to eat less, sometimes its easy to forget that we have families in our local community who don’t know if they’ll eat at all.

Hunger is a very serious problem in the United States today. Despite our nation’s great wealth in food and economy, we still have 37 million Americans who rely on emergency food assistance. For the thousands of people who use charitable food programs here in Central New York, hunger shows no bias:

37% are children
5% are seniors
63% have a high school or college education
24% have a family member who works
47% have a household income less than $10,000

In particular, working families are increasingly finding themselves among the ranks of the hungry. And far too many lead a fragile existence, regularly facing difficult tradeoffs between the essentials of living: paying for food or rent, utilities or healthcare.

Please help Personal Fitness support the Food bank of CNY- only 3 days left!

Thinking about joining the Spring Lose Big Challenge?

admin — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:29:14 +0000

Lose Big at Personal Fitness a great way to get a jump start on weight loss.

Results guaranteed, just check the results board in the gym from previous challenges. History shows this works very well, you will have added accountability being part of a team, you’ll all support one another and the environment creates results!

You wont regret it!

Still on the fence? Check out these comments from John Popkess, one of the participants in our winter challenge:

“I just wanted to express my gratitude to you and your staff for the awesome job they are doing with the Lose Big Challenge! However, I want to especially thank Tony Romano for all that he has done. This is the 7^th challenge I’ve competed in so I know what to expect. Physically the workouts are difficult, but I find the hardest part to be the mental challenge of the contest.

When you’re tired physically and mentally it’s very easy to get frustrated….but Tony excels at what he does because he cares about each member of the team. Whether its sharing recipes, offering tips, sending a text message of encouragement or just chatting you up, he always has your best interest at heart and does it in a professional manner. Tony makes the Lose Big Challenge fun and helps you get through the grind of it all.

Right now I’m down 27 lbs from where I started. I know I couldn’t do it without my team and trainer. Once again, thank you for offering such a wonderful contest. It’s much appreciated!”

What are you waiting for? Just stop into the gym to get registered.

Meet the Team – Kathleen Frizzi

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:52:25 +0000

November 4, 2011, I went into the Balanced Body Pilates Reformer 1 training thinking,

“Great! If I just get this level completed, I’m good”

But that training got me wondering if I should become a Pilates Reformer Instructor….

So……March 4 & 5 I attended BB Mat 1 training, which was like a shot of adrenaline to my one-on-one sessions with clients – I know they can see my enthusiasm! This past weekend, March 10 &11, I found myself at a fabulous, knowledgeable & experienced Pilates Studio in NYC, attending BB Pilates Reformer 2 training (yes, back to back weekends!).

I have a whole new set of exercises to teach to my clients, stuff that’s great for men, golfers, swimmers, runners, and tennis players. These new exercises go deeper into scapular stability and lower body strength, conditioning, and stretch, and require a focus on core control and strength.

So, now I’m thinking,”How can I not complete the entire Comprehensive certification?” At this point, I have decided to be fully trained on all the Pilates equipment by the end of summer.

I graduated SUNY Brockport with a BFA in Modern Dance Studies, with a focus on movement styles, like Laban, Feldenkrais, and Pilates. I lived in NYC after college and began studying yoga, Italian language, ESL teacher training, anything I could study….I think I was bored with just working everyday. Right now, I am very interested in anatomy and biomechanics.

I began teaching yoga in 2003. I am Registered Yoga Teacher at 200 hours, Yogafit 20 hours, and currently in training Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, 40 hour certification. I want to be 500+ hours in Yoga. This experience has been transformative for me.

My job is really a dream job – I get to spend every day helping people move and live better in their bodies.

Kathleen Yoga on Facebook

Yoga Syracuse

Spring “Lose Big” Challenge

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:43:06 +0000

Would you like to see another Lose Big Challenge this spring?

If you’re interested, Personal Fitness would like to hear from you. If we have enough we will run another challenge April 15th – May 31st.

Same format, 6 weeks, teams of 4, 1 team workout each week. The fee will be the same and non-members are encouraged to participate (participation in this challenge includes a 2 month general membership).

Hey, this is a great motivation to shed a few pounds of fat before Summer and have some fun while doing it!

Here is a recap of our most recent challenge in January this year.

10 teams of 4 – 6 weeks – 690.5 pounds of fat lost!!

Our goal is to get our teams to a 10% loss in 6 weeks. This year we had 5 teams crush that mark with the winning team losing 14.08%!

Winning team – High Nooners

Winning team trainer – Tony

Overall biggest loser male – Jim McKenna lost 55lbs 21.15%

Overall biggest loser female – Amy Preble lost 27lbs 17.19%

March Member Social – Wise Guys 3/16

admin — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:23:27 +0000

We’ve got a super-fun member social coming your way this week – Wise Guys Comedy Club! They’ve got a great show scheduled for that night, RC Smith and James Oakes:

A resident of New York City, RC SMITH has been doing comedy for many years, and he has the scars to prove it. He has performed as a headliner in clubs across the country and Canada, as well as a handful of shitty one-nighters he would just as soon forget.

Known on the circuit for his flawless crowd rap and improvisational style, his influences are Lenny Bruce, Don Rickles and Gene Simmons. RC has done warm up for “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”,”The Tony Danza Show”,”The Caroline Rhea Show”, “The Ricki Lake Show”and several television pilots. He is now the warm-up guy for the “Rachael Ray Show”.

JAMES OAKES is a New York-based comedian and a contributing writer to The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborne . James has performed his stand-up to much acclaim in numerous clubs all over the country. In New York City, he can be seen regularly at Stand Up NY, Gotham Comedy Club and The Gershwin Hotel.

Hope to see you there!

Meet PF Member Irene Stern

admin — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:07:58 +0000

Meet Irene Stern, an AMAZING personal fitness member!

“I’m a clinical psychologist and I work mostly with children and women. Personal Fitness has been wonderful for me. Since training with Phyllis in Pilates, my arthritis in my knees, feet and back has vastly improved as has my flexibility. Randy, who trains me in weight lifting, makes sure that I am strong and able to keep my balance, so my big dog cannot push me over in his enthusiasm. I don’t think I would have had the stamina to go to Africa for a month to teach teenage girls without my training at Personal Fitness”.

Irene recently shared with me a journey she is about to embark upon through an organization called “Starfish International.”

The organization was established in 2006 by Yassin Sarr, a Gambian woman, and her American husband (from Syracuse), David Fox. Yassin is currently doing her Ph.D. at SU. Irene will be going to Gambia in March to volunteer with the Starfish girls.

Gambia is one of the poorest African countries in the world. It is a Muslim country that still practices polygamy and female genital mutilation. Women have few rights and girls rarely have the opportunity to get an education and thus are forced into marriage when they are 15 years old. It costs just $100.00 for one year of high school including uniforms and school supplies. What money families have usually is spent on the education of the boys. Starfish International’s mission is to empower Gambian girls by providing them with an advanced education that focuses on service to humanity and to develop five personal values: Independence, Courtesy, Nobility, Knowledge, and Service.

Personal Fitness is sponsoring a girl so she can attend high-school. It costs $100.00 for one year. The money goes to Starfish International, who pays the school directly. The sponsored girl is chosen by the school principal from the highest achieving and most motivated students.

Starfish International also needs books (they started the first free library in Gambia) and school supplies.

“I will be leaving Syracuse on March 9th and return on April 4th. I’m a semi-retired psychologist and I work mostly with children. Until about 20 years ago, I had a photography studio in Manhattan and I taught at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and for several years at Rutgers University. I have always been interested in social justice and especially in women’s and children’s rights. I’m a child survivor of the holocaust and this has made me passionate about the rights of all people to have a fulfilling and productive life”.

I will bring back pictures of the girls for the gym.

Thank you from with all my heart

Irène

If you would like to help Irene, go to the Starfish website and make a donation of any size. Please let me know if you do so. I’ll be circulating emails and pictures from Irene while she is in Gambia.

Live Broadcast from Personal Fitness

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:40:02 +0000

In case you missed it, Bud & the Manchild from The Score 1260 broadcasted LIVE yesterday morning from Personal Fitness:

Personal Fitness member Jim Winterton stopped by after a great work out with Dennis and chatted with the guys:

We had a blast! Hope you caught the show….but either way, be sure to stop by our 1st Annual Men’s Night on Thursday in the Personal Fitness lobby – Bud & the Manchild will be here again with some fun sports trivia games.

TRX is here!

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:29:14 +0000

The concept for TRX was born in the Navy Seal’s.

Our suspension training bodyweight exercise classes will develop your strength, balance, flexibility and core stability simultaneously. It requires the use of the TRX Suspension Trainer, which is a performance training tool that leverages gravity and the user’s body weight to enable hundreds of exercises for every fitness goal.

Our suspension bar has been installed in the aerobics room and our first schedule has been set!

PF certified TRX trainers Tony, Karlyn & Corbie are very excited to begin offering these classes to our members and downtown community!

If you are interested in participating, here are the details.

Classes will run in 6 week blocks, 2-45 minute training sessions, beginning Monday, March 5th.
Monday’s and Wednesday’s at noon
Tuesday’s at 6:15pm & Friday’s at 5pm
$199 member’s and $219 non-member’s (about $15/class)
We have room for 8 in a class and expect the classes to fill quickly.
Registration begins today, Thursday, February 16th, and you may secure your spot with a $50 deposit (balance run on the first day of your class)

Don’t miss out on this NEW fun and exciting group training program at Personal Fitness Gym!