Here’s the link to the original story:  http://www.news8000.com/news/Jennifer-Livingston-responds-to-viewer-letter-about-her-weight/-/326/16832410/-/3ilc2lz/-/index.html.  I went through several pages of comments and the support for her was almost universal.  That may be partly because many of them are familiar with her work and feel like they know her.  But without a doubt the  pervasive sentiment seems to be that it’s perfectly fine to be overweight and it’s nothing to worry about.

I figured the opinions around here would be a little bit more varied, and I wasn’t disappointed.  The comment section at SF Gate (always a bit unruly) certainly didn’t let her off nearly as easily: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Wis-anchor-Viewer-criticizing-her-weight-bully-3913266.php.  While there was still plenty of support, there seemed to be about as many critical comments as positive ones.  It seems we Californians aren’t quite as willing to overlook a few extra pounds as the folks in the Midwest.

One of the most thought-provoking arguments went something like this.  There’s strong evidence that society is influenced by what they see on television.  That’s why images people smoking and advertising for hard alcohol have been scrubbed from the screen during family viewing hours.  So if being obese has the same negative health risks why shouldn’t it be treated the same way?  If you’re willing to accept an obese news anchor, would you be equally OK if the weatherman was shown smoking while he gave his report?

January in August?

It’s no secret that New Years is a busy time in the fitness industry, or that late summer, when people are outdoors more and off on vacation is typically fairly quiet.  So we were blown away by the number of new members who joined HealthQuest during the month of August.  Enrollment fees were up 262% over last year, and it was the busiest month for new memberships that we’ve ever recorded!

So how did this happen?  We haven’t done any advertising, no grand re-opening announcements, nothing at all.  All the credit has to go to our great marketing team, our members!  You’re out there spreading the word, bringing in your friends and family, and sharing with others all the things that we’ve done to remake HealthQuest into a better place.  It’s both rewarding and humbling to have so many fans out there excited about what we’re doing!

While we’re very pleased with the direction the Club is headed and the response it’s drawn from the community, we still have a long list of additions and upgrades planned for the future.  Just like a fitness regimen, there can be no standing still… if you’re not moving forward it means you’re falling behind.  With that in mind I’d like to announce a short list of improvements that you’ll be seeing in the near future.

The biggest one will be the resurfacing of the swimming pool deck.  While this is primarily just a cosmetic and safety upgrade, it is one that is overdue.  The pool area needs to be closed for a week to perform this work, so we had hoped to do it back in the winter of 2010 when we had the pools shut down during our remodeling.  But the product doesn’t perform well in cool weather so we had to delay it.  In 2011 we were still doing work in the locker rooms so we missed another year.  So now the time has come, and the area around both pools will be closed from Sept. 10-16th.

Another improvement for the outside of the building that is scheduled to arrive soon is some playground equipment for our child care area.  We have a structure being custom fabricated by Recreation Creations for the bark area, and while we don’t have a ton of room out there, it will have a mix of play components for the kids to climb on and to work on balance and strength.

42 inches…about the same height as our front counter!

For the big kids in our functional training area we will be bringing in a pair of Armor-Plyo-Boxes.  At 36″ and 42″ these will only be used by our most athletic jumpers, but it’s something that they sorely need.  If you’ve ever seen them stacking boxes or bumper plate on top of other boxes you know it looks like they’re risking their lives.  These new boxes are solid, sturdy, and infinitely safer than anything else on the market.  A missed jump will still tear your shins up, but at least catastrophic failure is no longer in the cards!

Something just about everyone should enjoy is some new mats for out stretch/ab area upstairs.  We’ve had less than great success with the previous mats we’ve used up there, so we’re trying out a couple of new ones.  Our aim is to find something that is comfortable, long-lasting, and easy to keep clean.  You’d think that would be easy but for some reason it always seems to be a struggle.  There will both a regular mat and a thick mat; try them out and let us know what you think.

A few other odds and ends…we’ll be installing roller blinds in the Cycle Studio and on the cardio deck over the front entrance to cut down on glare.  We have added a few more satellite channels and will be reprogramming all of the TVs on the cardio equipment so that they receive them.   And we’re working on getting wiring into the women’s locker room so that we can install a phone/intercom in there for emergencies.

This is also the time of year when we look at what equipment we’d like to replace or upgrade for the New Year.  So if there’s anything you would like to see please write down your idea and drop it in our suggestion box.  We give all requests serious consideration and try our best to accommodate as many of them as we can.  You’re our marketing department and we want you to be happy!

Tony,

My name is Viola DeHaro and I have been a member of the gym on and off for the past 20 years.  I can still remember Julie working at the desk and your sons were there at times.  I loved the different classes you offered; back then our favorite was the Step with Beth.  My kids are all grown now and I retired in November 2010.  I was already overweight and gained another 40 pounds after retirement.

I have high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease and an old knee injury that has a way of creeping up every once in a while.  This past September my blood work, which is checked every 3 months, came back positive for diabetes.  The doctor informed me I would have to start taking another pill which would only cause more kidney damage.  I was already taking 3 pills daily to control my BP and 1 pill for cholesterol.  I asked him to let me try to get a handle on my weight problem and I was going to start going to the gym on a regular basis.  So in October I started my journey.

At first I could only do 2-3 minutes on any machine and I was DYING.  I went almost every day for the first 2 months.  I did only cardio and most of it on machines you can sit down on and exercise.  My knee didn’t hurt like on the treadmill.  I now could last 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Hurrah!  I would not leave until I had burned 300 calories working out.  After 6 weeks of exercise and a daily intake of 1200 calories I was no longer a diabetic…I had lost 15 pounds and was back in the pre-diabetic zone. 

After four months of 4-6 workouts a week at your wonderful gym I was having trouble getting my heart rate up.  So after a visit to my Doctor he decided to take me off one of my blood pressure pills.  Hurrah, it worked–I was now able to get my heart rate up.  After six months of this program I had lost 40 pounds and was no longer pre-diabetic and my cholesterol reading had also dropped.  So the doctor took me off another BP pill and the cholesterol pill.

So to make a long story short, since October I have lost 52 pounds and have eliminated 2 BP pills and 1 cholesterol pill.  I was able to accomplish this with really just eating less and exercising.  After losing 40 pounds I started taking classes again.  I really enjoy the Cardio Dance class with Lana and the Baila Beats.  I love how you offer so many options for us older members.

Thank you HealthQuest and Tony for your vision.

Sincerely,

Viola

Those stresses can cover a wide range depending on the individual.  For some it may be as simple as being able to sit or stand for long periods and remain pain-free.  For the “weekend warrior” it means no aches and pains on Monday morning.  The whole idea behind functional training it to have your body prepared for whatever twists and turns life throws at you…whether that’s chasing after your kids or surviving a few hours of manual labor.

In recent years the workouts my wife and I do have shifted to include more and more functional training.  She begins each morning with a long walk with her dog, then follows that up with a trip to the Club in the afternoon.  She loves taking classes and raves about the great workouts she gets in Core Fusion and Power Sculpt.  Lately I’ve been getting most of my exercise at the track, running, doing sprint drills, and finishing up with a few calisthenics.

Recently we put our training programs to the test during a family vacation to British Columbia.  Our two sons, both in their early 20s and very active, wanted to do some day hiking.  I was in charge of planning our excursions, and my goal was to find some treks that would be challenging enough to keep the kids interested but not so tough that mom and dad would be holding them back.  After doing a substantial amount of web surfing I came up with a pair of outings that I thought would fit those parameters.

Up the chains we go!

The first took us up a very steep canyon to a beautiful backcountry waterfall.  The High Falls Creek Trail gained over 2000 feet of elevation, most of it in the first mile.  Many sections had chains and cables attached to the rocks so you could pull your way up and over the rocky outcroppings.   You could venture off the trail a few feet and be treated to some vertigo-inducing drop-offs with nothing for hundreds of feet below you.  There were also views of the Squamish River below us and snow-capped peaks around us,  but the real payoff was the falls.  It  started with a long cascade that tumbled down a narrow slot canyon before roaring over the edge and crashing down into the main canyon far below.

Found it!

Rather than back-tracking back down the cliffs we opted to continue up the canyon for several more miles. Eventually we reached a logging road that switchbacked down the mountain and returned us to our car.  The round-trip added up to about eight miles of hiking, and everyone survived this first excursion with no complaints of being tired or sore.  Score one for functional training!  That gave me confidence that we were going to be able to handle the excursion I had planned for later in the week.

Near the Juan de Fuca trailhead…still smiling because we didn’t know what we were in for!

Our second hike was slated to be on the Juan de Fuca Trail which runs parallel to the Pacific Coast where the mountains meet the sea.  Although there was no net elevation gain, it consisted of a relentless chain of uphills and downhills as you make your way through the many canyons that drain this section of forest.  The section I chose is usually done as an overnight backpacking trip, but I figured that with light packs and an early start we would be able to navigate it’s 16 miles in a day without too much trouble.

Although the forecast called for cloudy skies, our hike began with a steady light rain falling.  Over the past few days we had heard a lot of complaints about how much rain had fallen in June and how little sunshine southern BC had received this spring, but this was the first real evidence of it that we had seen.   We all had waterproof jackets so we decided to trust the forecast and continue on as planned.  It wasn’t cold so a little bit of rain wasn’t going to slow us down!

The scenery was beautiful…through forest, over small streams and log bridges, down onto deserted beaches, back into the woods,  over bigger creeks and suspension bridges, down to tide pools, the views were always changing.  And as we’d hoped the weather gradually improved and the rain ended.  But the one thing that didn’t change and never improved was the mud…the trail was a mess! With all the June rains and the protection of the forest canopy above the trail never had a chance to dry out.

Depending on the topography some sections were in decent shape, and early on a lot of the bad sections had elevated boardwalks going over them.  But as we got further away from the trailhead the boardwalks disappeared, the ascents and descents got steeper, and the mud got deeper.  Our pace slowed.  Every kilometer we’d pass a trail marker and in some of the really bad sections it would take us close to 30 minutes to navigate one of these 1000 meter sections.  The family was not happy and ready to mutiny.  But we had no options…there was no place to bail out and we’d left the car at the other end of the trail.  So forward we pressed.

Our muddy path…the photo gives you an idea how sloppy it was!

Many hours later our tired, muddy clan finally reached the parking lot where our car awaited us.  The last several miles had been rough…nobody was talking or paying attention to the scenery.  We were all in “get me out of this hell-hole” mode.  Although this is one of Vancouver Islands most popular hiking trails, in 16 miles we had passed only one other couple.  I guess everyone else had gotten the memo about the trail conditions!

I would like to say that due to our workout regimens we emerged from this ordeal unscathed–but that would be a lie.  The next day we all had sore calves–and any trip down a set of stairs or steps was sure to produce a chorus of ”ouch, ow, ow, ouch, ow, ouch”.  But given the rigours that we’d put ourselves through on that trail, I think we acquitted ourselves pretty darn well.  The soreness only lasted a few days, and I’m sure in another week or two my family will be speaking to me again!

Motion activated water bottle fillers---we got 'em!

I am happy to report that new drinking fountains have been installed at three locations in the original building!  Two of the units (one upstairs on the cardio deck, one near the main weight room) have bottle fillers incorporated into their design.  This allows you to easily fill your own bottle with chilled filtered water.

We already have two of these fill stations located in our new addition.  Since that area opened in July, our members have used them 90,000 times.  We’re selling less bottled water, and we’re OK with that.  That’s a lot of plastic bottles that won’t be thrown away, and that’s a very good thing!!!

Under normal circumstances this spike in Club usage can be a challenge.  Unfortunately for us next week isn’t going to be “normal” at all.  We’ve come to a bottleneck in our construction project, and the timing couldn’t be worse!  It reminds me of the movie “The Perfect Storm”.

Beginning Sunday evening we’re going to be prepping for the new flooring that is going downstairs.  This will affect the main corridor from the front door to the backdoor and the old hallway that goes down to Studio 1 for most of the week.  Then on Monday the area over and around our temporary reception area will be getting sheetrocked, so it will need to be closed off.   We’re being hit high and low, front to back, and it’s going to be a real challenge.

There will be times during the day when our reception area will need to be moved.  We still plan on using the back doors as our main entry, but that too might need to change at times.  Fortunately we don’t foresee having to take any equipment out of service, but with so much work going on in the main corridors you’re not going to be able to take the most direct route to get to it.  Just think of it as an extended warm-up!

The good news is that we’re getting very close to getting our front entry back.  Our new reception desk was already delivered, so once the flooring is down we should be able to make that change relatively quickly.  This will also allow us to move the coffee lounge back downstairs where it belongs.

Making it through this next week is going to be a challenging hurdle.  But the finish line in is now in sight, so if we can all keep focused on that-rather than on the temporary inconveniences-we’ll be just fine.

Unfortunately we didn’t have an excess of storage space to begin with…we were already using an off-site location to house some of our stuff.  So when the remodel began and we found ourselves needing to empty out entire rooms, we were faced with a huge problem.  We had tons of stuff that needed to be relocated…and much of it was a real hassle to move.   Some things had to go away for an extended period of time, while others would need to disappear (for days or months) and then reappear later in another location.

From the beginning we’ve tried to keep as much equipment available to our members for as long as we possibly could, while still staying one step ahead of the construction crew.   From there it would often get complicated…figuring out what could stay, what had to go, and how long until it could be brought back.   For a while we rented a storage trailer that we kept in the parking lot; other things went to an off-site storage unit.   As part of our addition we added a fairly large storage room to the back of the building, but it’s been entirely taken up with construction materials.  And while we did add a significant amount of storage space into the existing building, very little of it is currently available for us to use.  Somehow it worked out that those spaces will be the very last things that get finished!

Lately more and more stuff has found its way into makeshift storage areas scattered throughout the building.  We’ve had an area tarped off in the upstairs weight room for months.  Lockers and other large items have found a temporary home in Studio 1.  Many of our day-to-day supplies have migrated several times lately…they started behind our temporary front desk, then moved into the lobby, and now are residing upstairs in a corner of the cardio deck.  Keeping track of what we have and where it is has been a real challenge.

Thankfully the worst should finally be behind us.   While we will still be closing some areas and moving things around for a few more weeks, from here on out we should be gaining space instead of losing it.  More equipment will be coming out of storage and being placed back in service.  The tile, fixtures, and other building materials that now jam our closets will be taken out and installed.  At long last the end of all the shuffling may finally be in sight!

The newly refurbished cardio deck

With the new year fast approaching we’re anxious to get as much space as possible out of the ”under construction” category and put it back into service.  We expect to make major headway in this effort over the next few days.

We passed a major milestone over the Christmas holiday and reclaimed the main cardio deck on the second floor.  With the return of this 2000 square feet of floor area, we were able to make some major moves in terms of relocating cardio equipment.  All of the pieces that used to be above the men’s locker room were cleared from that space, as were about a dozen pieces from downstairs.

As we move sequentially through the process, the next step is to complete the remaining flooring on the second floor.  That is scheduled to occur over the next few days, and while it will present some challenges (access to some areas upstairs will be limited at times) once it is completed we’ll finally be able to begin “stretching out”.  There will be three new alcoves for cardio equipment…one overlooking the parking lot, one above the lobby, and one above the weight room.    The large multi-use space over the men’s locker room (where we used to have cardio equipment) will now be totally devoted to core and stretch.

With the completion of the new spaces upstairs we will be able to move the remaining equipment out of  ”Studio 1″ and begin work on that space.  We will also have room to bring in some new cardio equipment.   As soon as all of the equipment has been placed in its permanent location we will be attaching the new personal TV screens.  Unfortunately there will be a brief transition period (1-2 weeks) when no music or video options will be available on the cardio equipment.  But once the new equipment is in place you will have complete control over what you watch or listen to, with approximately 50 channels from which to choose.

Say bye-bye to our lovely plywood walls and railings!

Tonight after we close the steelworkers are coming in and will begin installing the new railings on the second floor.  We’ve been using bare plywood for temporary walls in various locations for the past 16 months.  It will be a huge burden lifted when they are finally gone.  Not only will things start to look much more finished, but it should really open things up so the Club feels even more spacious!

During the day the focus has been on completing the remodel of the space the women’s locker room used to occupy.  The framing, rough plumbing and rough electrical is all wrapping up, and by the end of the week most of the sheetrock should be installed.  The addition to the men’s locker room is coming together nicely; you can already tell the new glass block window is going to let in a lot of light, and the steam room looks very spacious.

Since the weather has been cooperative we haven’t rushed to switch back to using the front door.  Up until now there’s been a lot of building materials and construction debris going in and out, so we felt it was better not to add all of our foot traffic into the mix.  However once the drywall is complete we’ll probably make the changeover and move our old front counter into the spot that the new front counter will eventually occupy.

It would have been nice to have the new front counter installed already, but that just presented too many problems.  Things have to happen sequentially, and the desk couldn’t go in until the flooring was done, and we didn’t want to do the flooring until we were done moving heavy equipment over it, and we needed the heavy equipment to put up the railings, and the railings couldn’t go up until the framing was done, and on and on it goes.

Installing the finish flooring upstairs will take place next week.  That’s going to be a little tricky when we get to the space over the men’s locker room.  There may be some times of limited access to those areas, but it shouldn’t last for more than a day or two.  Then we’ll turn our attention to the floors downstairs.  That’s going to be a lot more challenging, as we need to do the entire main corridor that runs from the front of the Club to the back.  We haven’t figured out exactly how we’re going to accomplish this yet, but it will involve breaking it down into sections and working at night.  Again it will probably mean some areas will be closed off for short periods of time, and we’ll also need to be creative about where we direct traffic and how we access certain rooms.  We also have to correct some drainage issues with the floor in the men’s shower area…which may block access to the pools and spa for a couple of days.

We really want to have things as close to wrapped up as possible by the end of the month.  We should have all of the cardio equipment that is downstairs back upstairs, and the coffee lounge that is upstairs back downstairs.  We’ll be using the front entryway, the elevator will be in operation, and the small weight room and the big new stretch/core area over the men’s locker room should be operational.   The men’s locker room addition….maybe…if it’s not done it will be close.   

 The only major area that won’t be in service is the fourth fitness studio/basketball room.  Again it’s that “sequential” problem…we can’t move the equipment that’s in there back upstairs where it belongs until the floors are done and we have the elevator back in service.  But that room just needs cosmetic touch-ups (floor refinished, paint, basketball and kickboxing equipment installed), so it will just be a few weeks into the New Year when it should be ready for action.

We will then have just two relatively minor areas that won’t be complete.  One is the coed spa that will be outside next to the small pool.  We’re still working through some issues with the flooring and aren’t sure when it will be finished.  The other is the juice bar.  We’ve decided that we want to get everything else done and running smoothly before we  tackle that project!

Kinesis Stations

Sometime in early January we’ll be relocating our reception counter to the front of the building where it belongs.  That will allow us to finish up a few minor remodeling projects in the main weight room, and once that’s complete, we’ll be able to start putting our strength areas back together and outfitting them with some new equipment.  

When we took out the old Studio 2/basketball court we added about 1200 square feet to our weight room.  While this certainly gave us considerably more flexibility, deciding how to best allocate this space was a considerable challenge.  We knew that we needed to expand the amount of room we offered for functional training, and that is how most of the additional space was used.  It looks like this has been a popular move, as the number of people using the balls, racks, platforms, and kettlebells seems to be increasing every week.

Hammer Chest Press

Adding new things is relatively painless and always popular; but replacing or eliminating existing equipment is another story entirely.  It seems that even the least-used pieces are inevitably loved by at least a few people.  We also had to make some difficult decisions regarding the allocation of different types of equipment.  Free weights, plate loaded machines, and weight stack machines all have their proponents.  There was no way to give everyone everything they wanted, but in the end we believe we ended up with a wonderful selection that will give our members an unequaled amount of variety.

The layout will remain fairly similar to the way it is currently set up.  The area under the cardio deck will be all free weights and plate-loaded equipment, mostly for legs, shoulders and chest.  The old basketball court will house the dumbbells and a selection of equipment focused on the back and arms.  The main weight room floor will have the functional equipment around the perimeter and a nice circuit of new weight stack machines at its core.

Freemotion Adjustable Cables

It’s in these weight stack machines where you’ll probably notice the biggest changes.  They’re simpler to operate and more comfortable to use.  Most will allow you greater freedom of movement, which in turn makes them more functional and more effective.  Many will allow you to use each arm independently which promotes better balance.  We’re especially excited about the six Kinesis pieces we’re bringing in.  These are the very latest technology–intuitive, simple and natural–they allow full 3D movement and are very unique.  

We’ll also be adding and replacing several pieces of plate-loaded equipment with new Hammer Strength units.  Hammer is very popular amongst athletes, and you’ll find it in the weight rooms of many professional and college sports teams.  We’ll also be installing two of their power racks.  These are the full-size racks with pegs top and bottom, and they also have an adjustable bench that locks into place.  We bought these for their versatility–you can set them up to perform squats, bench press, incline press, or military presses.

Also included in the mix of new equipment will be two different dual adjustable cable units (one wide, one narrow).  With these (and all the attachments that come with them) there’s virtually no limit to the number of different exercises you can do.  To make room for these we will be eliminating some things that we felt were redundant or had limited usefulness.  We wanted to bring in pieces that were versatile, effective, and would appeal to the broadest range of users.

We believe that the mix we’ve selected will offer you a tremendous range of options for your workout.  Our hope is that you will take advantage of the new training technologies and incorporate something fresh into your training regimen.  When new things begin arriving our trainers will be offering several special classes and programs that will show you how to use it to make your workouts more exciting and more effective.   Once you try it we really think you’re going to love it!