While focusing on the well-being of others, it's often easy to forget to set goals for one's self. Resetting wellness objectives during each January enables people to be the best version of themselves.
"Just keep moving forward, because things worth having do take time," asserts the owner of a local fitness studio whose team provides customized programs to produce successful, sustained results for their clients.
As an all-inclusive personal training resource, the professionals at Tonicity Fit offer personal training programs organized by educated and nationally certified exercise physiologists to provide overall improvements in client wellness.
"Tonicity Fit offers a unique opportunity to make positive, progressive health and fitness gains while focusing on health from the inside-out. We're definitely not a one-size-fits-all type of studio," assures owner Sarah Ostroski.
Mobility is such an important part of performance, reminds Sarah.
She says various Tonicity training options, including private and semi-private sessions, are tailored to each client's needs. "It stands to reason that the very same boot camp delivered to those who are 25 years old shouldn't automatically be done for those 79 years old. Within large group training sessions is often how people are getting hurt. Too often, people are asked to sign waivers and then they jump unaware into large classes," she explains.
Even before coronavirus concerns limited group gatherings and public occupancies, Sarah kept Tonicity's groups limited to 8 or 10 people so she and the other trainers can keep an eye on all of the participants' safety and progress. Each new client goes through a thorough assessment, which includes health status and fitness levels, after which Sarah writes a one-on-one exercise prescription for them.
Attentiveness to goals is one of the keys to Tonicity's success in assisting clients. "We also provide extensive, customized exercise and wellness advice, which is derived from experiences of our trainers, and is grounded in a strong exercise science base," she adds.
The Tonicity Fit program fuses all five components of fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility and body composition. Each component is evaluated and addressed for each client before starting their customized program. Pre-, mid- and post-program assessments are provided. Sarah says each client sees their progress, and together the team addresses where improvement is or is not necessary.
As an exercise physiologist who's been working with holistic fitness approaches for the past 20 years, Sarah likes to tune into people's individual needs, including hormonal control and muscle recovery times. In fact, she specializes in working with females, particularly when it comes to bone density issues. "Many women haven't been informed through the years that strength training is what combats loss of bone health. Aerobics alone doesn't stimulate cells in bones, for example," says Sarah.
"The overall goal of Tonicity Fit is to provide a positive and progressive setting where its community can grow and thrive in a well-founded, sound and effective environment," she assures. "We put science into practice while making it fun."
Sarah says she believes the studio also provides a bridge between gaps when people are recovering from injuries, with long-term approaches that are medically based and timed to assist recoveries at the proper frequencies.
A recent team undertaking at Tonicity Fit is to offer inspiring, pinpointed advice each week regarding additional considerations for well-rounded fitness plans. Some of those words of wisdom from Sarah, Ken, Jules and Lexi follow here.
TONICITY FIT TRAINER TIP TUESDAYS:
- “A tip that I always talk to clients about is bone health, and ways you can protect your bones from becoming brittle as you age. The number one bit of advice is strength training. Strength training is so important because it stretches the joints, it puts pressure on the bone, and it stimulates the cell that grows bone to become more active and work a little bit faster. The next thing is making sure you have adequate amounts of vitamin D and calcium, which will keep your bones nice and strong. Then, it's about balanced nutrition in general.”
- “How much cardio should you be doing? I've seen it all across the board from people coming in and doing an insurmountable amount of cardio. Way too much of it, an hour to an hour and half at a time. Sometimes a little bit less doing every single day of the week. So, what are the guidelines and where do you draw the line? American College of Sports Medicine recommends for maintenance and heart health, a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week. And 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise. You might need to add certain numbers if you’re trying to get certain results, like weight loss or you’re trying to do injury recovery prevention, you might need to do a little bit less.”
- “Get out in nature as often as possible. I’m out for a lovely little hike today on my break just getting a little stroll in and getting my steps up. Being out in nature is one of the best things you can do for your health, not just physically but mentally as well. Being in nature has been shown to decrease your blood pressure and your stress levels, which is one of the biggest drivers of disease. Go out in nature, even if it’s just a quick stroll to your local park."
- “It's important to write down goals. Oftentimes people have goals, dreams, wishes and things they hope to complete but they never actually write it down. Writing it down is a really great way to monitor progress and also to commit to memory. If you even look at it once after writing it down, you’re 90% more likely to complete that goal. Your goals want to be measurable and specific, so that way you can check your progress later. So write down a goal that you want to complete today, a goal that you want to complete in a week and a goal that you want to complete in a month and check back on that progress. It really does have a commitment when you write it down.”
- “There's a difference between doing something that’s on a machine or with free weights. With the machine, it's designed to go a certain way so there’s no other motion then what it's designed to do. This is an incline press; it just goes up and down. There's no other stabilization. When I decided to do a free weight shoulder press or incline press, there’s stability. So, I have to concentrate on keeping that stable. If you're an athlete, you’re probably better off doing free weights because it will work more stabilizer muscles.”
- “Mobility: So, I have a couple of exercises you can do to help with mobility and range of motion, for let’s say your shoulder. I have a stick right here and what I’m going to do is an overhead where I kind of reach, reach back, just like this. The other one I have is where you go around like a 360, just like that. So not only does this help work on mobility but it is also a great warm up if you're going to do any weight training or sports training.”
Tonicity Fit also offers online, virtual fitness training programs, which include frequent check-ins pertaining to goals. "It's all about how to get ready for changes, including emotionally and spiritually. We plot how to plan it, and how to get comfortable with changing, just like a snake sheds its skin every so often," Sarah proclaims.
Through Jan. 8, Tonicity Fit is offering a special "25% off for the holidays" rate.
Precautions related to COVID-19 taken by the Tonicity Fit team include setting their maximum capacity at any given time to only 11; in-person group sessions are limited to six; all clients' temperatures are taken at the door with a no-contact, infrared thermometer; masks are required while clients navigate around the gym, such as when using locker rooms; locker rooms are restricted to three people at a time; all equipment is cleaned with EPA-approved disinfectant wipes; hand sanitizer is available throughout the gym; sneeze guards were installed between sinks; hands-free soap dispensers are at every sink; showers and facility towel service is temporarily discontinued; 15 minutes are deliberately scheduled between sessions to allow for cleaning; cardio equipment can be reserved for private sessions; equipment is spaced 7 feet apart; the gym is fogged each night with a medical grade disinfectant; and the facility is deep-cleaned twice weekly by locally based Trish's Cleaning Service.
610.241.9548
TonicityFit.com
crush your goals
- What are your fitness dreams and life goals?
- What do you want out of your day?
- What makes you happiest?
fitness formula
- Accountability, motivation and support are three pillars of overall personal health.
- Before beginning any exercise program, first get a thorough fitness assessment from an experienced specialist.
- Get ready for changes, including emotionally and spiritually.
- Plan for frequent check-ins pertaining to wellness goals.
- Nutritional balance is critical to fitness, too.
