New Year, New Gyms

IN THE NEWS - DNR ARTICLE 

Many late nights of pizza, Chinese takeout, beer and academic stress took a toll on Stephanie Walker when she was a student at James Madison University.
After graduating in 2003, Walker realized she gained almost 50 pounds and needed to get in shape.

 

"I wasn't eating well and I wasn't exercising," she said. "I was an English major at the time, so I was staying up late writing papers, and everything was a snowball effect, and I didn't know anything about fitness at that point."

 

Walker began experimenting with various diets and weight training. It took her a couple of years to lose all the weight she had gained, describing it as a "long journey of trial and error and experimentation." But it was the long journey that led her to develop a passion for health and fitness.

 

"I tried different diets, I tried different types of cardio. It ended up with me realizing that what worked best for me was a lot of strength training and interval-based cardio," she said.

 

Walker's personal transformation is also what led her to want to help others who struggle with their weight, the inspiration behind her blog, StrongFigure.com, and the creation of her boot camp fitness program.

 

"I started off just blogging about my journey, but it turned more into a blog that helps other people figure out what they're doing wrong in their training," Walker said. "I write now, it seems, for women who have hit plateaus, and they find out they need to change up their training, or maybe they're eating too little. We work on figuring out those issues."

 

Walker was a high school teacher until 2009, when she decided to pursue a career in fitness instruction. She first started teaching various group fitness classes at Gold's Gym (now Valley Fitness), and then became a recreational instructor for the city of Harrisonburg's Parks and Recreation.

 

"It was kind of that snowball. I loved the gym and its classes, and then I started getting instructor certifications and teaching, and one thing led to another," she said.

 

Walker ran her fitness boot camps through the city's rec center until she quit to have her first child. Now, the opportunity presented itself to run her own fitness classes out of Harrisonburg CrossFit, which bears the name of her blog: StrongFigure Bootcamp. Officially opening on Jan. 6, StrongFigure Bootcamp offers 45-minute, interval-based training classes in a small group setting.

 

"We start off with a warm-up. We do strength training first — it's usually one or two strength exercises and maybe an ab exercise thrown in — and then we do roughly 15 to 25 minutes of an interval-based cardio workout to finish out the 45 minutes," she said. "I want to get people in and out, but get the right type of training done, so we strength train to build lean muscle, we condition with interval-based cardio to burn fat and boost metabolism. I found that works best for the majority of people."

 

Each person's workout is modified to their level and ability, combining personal training and a group environment.

 

"I think that's what separates us from a lot of other places because everything is so personal," Walker said. "I can customize everything so the person gets the best workout for them, [and] not necessarily what everyone else is doing at the same pace."

 

StrongFigure's workouts are similar to CrossFit, but less intimidating, Walker said.

 

"To an outsider, it looks kind of scary, so my goal is to bring people in and say, 'Fitness isn't scary, it's for everyone. It's for every level,'" she said. "It's similar because we're doing interval-based style conditioning, but we're not doing it to the degree that CrossFit is doing it."

 

StrongFigure Bootcamp offers classes three times a day Monday through Friday, in the early morning, afternoon and evenings. The 9 a.m. Saturday class is always free. Walker is launching a Mommy and Me Bootcamp in February for moms to workout with their babies and toddlers on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Walker plans to do a free trial run for the first 20 moms who sign up.

 

Right now, membership to StrongFigure Bootcamp is running a special for $60 per month, which includes unlimited classes, nutritional consultants, goal setting assistance and referral opportunities.

 

Walker is also listed as a coach at EliteFit, a 4,500-square-foot fitness training facility located inside Harrisonburg 24/7 Fitness that opened in the fall. EliteFit offers small group classes combining interval-based training, functional training, olympic and powerlifting, and plyometrics.

 

"There are programs held here throughout the day [that are] coach-led workouts in a group setting," said manager Brandon Obaugh.

 

The workouts use a variety of equipment, from barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells, to rowers, trueform treadmills, Assault Bikes, as well as Atlas stones, sand bags and log carries in the Strongman Training courses.

 

"This space is really results-driven training. [The programming] is done for you, [for] people with busy lifestyles, not wanting to think about what they have to do when they come in to workout. If you do the work, you show up, you'll get results from it," Obaugh said. "It's also functional training, so it's training that enables you to better your lifestyle and better your everyday life. The results aren't just going to be weight loss, or looking good, feeling good. It's practicing movements and functional fitness that better your everyday life."

 

EliteFit offers up to six classes a day, from 5:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. A 9 a.m. Saturday class is free. The classes are limited to 14 to 16 people at a time. Like StrongFigure, the exercises can be modified individually. The small group setting is ideal for those who dread going the gym.

 

"This type of training is a good atmosphere and good motivation," he said. "You can meet people, so you see those same faces, and that also holds you accountable."

 

Members sign up for classes through EliteFit's mobile app, which Obaugh said is an easy way to turn exercise into habit and routine.

 

Harrisonburg 24/7 Fitness' current facility opened in April 2009. The gym was located downtown eight years prior. The gym has a location in Bridgewater as well, although EliteFit is only offered in Harrisonburg.

 

EliteFit membership costs $89 per month, which includes unlimited classes and access to the rest of Harrisonburg 24/7 Fitness and the Bridgewater location. EliteFit membership also includes access to the regular gym's fitness classes like zumba and yoga, and its other amenities, like the locker rooms, hot tubs and saunas.

 

"Harrisonburg 24/7 Fitness offers all amenities of fitness under one roof. So, last year, we also added Fit Zone, which is a heart rate group training, and then we added this component this year, so that there's pretty much all aspects of fitness under one facility," Obaugh said.

 

For anyone thinking about losing weight as a New Year's resolution, Walker's advice to sticking with an exercise routine is to make gradual changes, and eat in moderation.

 

"Start with small things. Start by walking. Start by drinking more water," she said. "You don't have to cut everything you think is bad out of your diet. You hear about people [trying] to go on a diet around New Year's, and to me, that's kind of disappointing because most diets fail. If you learn how to just eat the right foods at the right time, that can make a bigger difference."

 

Also, don't be afraid to join a gym if you feel intimidated.

 

"Fitness isn't scary," Walker said. "I just want to show that fitness needs to be a part of every person's lifestyle, and you can start at any level."