Athletic center to host fitness weekend
The pursuit of physical fitness is inherently unfair. We sweat and toil for days, for weeks, for months on end, but the results of our efforts take their sweet time to appear.
If we're lucky, we'll lose a couple pounds and maybe add a ripple or two of muscle in that time. But (and this is a big but, no pun intended), if we dare take a couple days off, the six-pack turns to belly jelly and those bulging biceps go flat.
Too bad it's not the other way around. Imagine a world where you hit the gym each Saturday and one workout does the trick, offsetting a week of I'm-too-busy-to-workout rationalizing.
Until somebody uncovers that formula, fitness will remain a long-term commitment of hard work and effort, one day, one set, one repetition at a time.
The people at the Vaughan Athletic Center can appreciate that - so much so they're hosting a Member Appreciation Weekend on Friday, Oct. 23 to Sunday, Oct 25, to celebrate with their extended family of fitness pursuers. The three-day extravaganza will kick off Friday evening with giveaways, contests and a Zumba jam (costumes optional). It's retro night, so think 1960s to the '80s.
On Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, a health fair will feature dozens of health and wellness experts and products. The festivities conclude Sunday, when current members can bring a guest to the Vaughan Center for free.
With more than 11,000 members, that's a lot of potential guest passes. But it also presents a great opportunity for more local people to get involved and kick their fitness aspirations into gear.
They would join a growing trend as well. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, participation in major fitness activities grew in leaps and bounds last year with running and jogging up 18.2 percent, followed by bicycle riding (11.4 percent increase) and hiking (10.5 percent).
Exercise walking remains the No. 1 sports and recreation activity and grew 7.6 percent to a record 96.6 million participants in 2008. Check either one of the running/walking tracks at the Vaughan Center - virtually any time, day or night - and you'll bear witness.
But health and fitness is more than just exercise - it's a complete program that includes nutrition, hydration, rest, recuperation and body maintenance. To that end, visitors will be treated to massages, foot screenings, back care supplies, vitamin supplements and much, much more.
To help promote health communitywide, Heartland Blood Centers will conduct a blood drive Saturday morning and Jewel/Osco will provide flu shots ($24.99 on site). Also, the Visiting Nurses Association will have information available. Bring out the pink!
And don't forget to treat yourself to a few samples of a product called Xocai. Not only is this chocolate healthy, but it's full of antioxidants - with surprisingly rich chocolate taste. Yes, it tastes real and good. That, in itself, is worth appreciating.
• Jeff Long is the public relations manager for the Fox Valley Park District. Contact him a jlong@fvpd.net.