By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com
December 10, 2011
Visit a link to the article by clicking here
PROVINCETOWN — On gray and cold days in Provincetown, after the tourists leave and favorite hangouts close for the season, there’s great temptation to curl up on the couch. But a townwide fitness project that begins Jan. 7 could press the collective “pause” button on the television remote.
The 12-week Provincetown Fitness Challenge is an expanded version of a five-man pilot program run last winter by fitness trainer Denise Gaylord. The challenge for participants — who do not have to be Provincetown residents — will be to exercise six days a week through a self-guided regimen, adopt new eating habits and keep a journal about their workouts and diet. (Sundays are a free day, with no writing or exercise required.)
The goal is to see if participants can improve their levels of strength, endurance and flexibility, and meet three personal goals laid out on registration day. The cost is $259 for one person, with discounts for groups.
“Transformation is what I love, and being around the process,” Gaylord said Tuesday. “Physical changes ripple through everything.”
20 years in fitness
Gaylord, 56, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education, has worked in fitness for 20 years and is a certified life coach. She developed last winter’s program based on the principles of the 1999 book “Body for Life” by Bill Phillips. To expand beyond five people, she researched similar larger-scale challenges and has asked local fitness trainers and businesses to pitch in. Two gyms, a swim and exercise club and two Pilates studios confirmed this week that participants can work out for free on certain days of the week during the challenge.
“Every Friday, anyone who is participating has free and full access,” Rob Six, manager of the Mussel Beach Health Club, said Tuesday. The club also has a discounted annual membership rate for participants. “We’re really excited to be working with Denise. We wanted to really contribute.”
Gaylord and the local trainers will run a group fitness class every Saturday. Last winter’s project aired weekly on Provincetown’s local public access television station PTV, and there will be videotaped sessions in this challenge, too.
Encouragement and camaraderie will come from blog entries at www.provincetownfitnesschallenge.com and Facebook. Participants will also get the chance to bond with challenge ID wristbands and T-shirts, Gaylord said.
Last winter, the five men lost a total of 98 pounds, 85 waistband inches and an average of 10 percent of their body fat, according to Gaylord.
“It revolutionized my body and how I feel about myself and how I’m moving forward,” Provincetown property manager and event planner Eric Martin, 42, said. He lost 26 pounds.
“It’s over a year later, and I’m still doing it,” he said. “When she was first training me on the treadmill, it was like running with a sack of cinder blocks on my back. I had no strength. I was really lethargic. Mentally and physically, I had to overcome a lot of things, in the gym in front of other people in broad daylight. It’s tough stuff.”
Higher death rates
The 2,900 year-round residents of Provincetown have a slightly higher rate of death from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease than state averages, according to the state Department of Public Health.
“So much of what I treat, and what virtually every other primary care physician treats, is the stuff that’s heavily influenced by our lifestyle and weight. Diabetes, cholesterol, arthritis, osteoporosis, kidney stones, digestive disorders are really lifestyle linked,” Provincetown physician Brian O’Malley said.
O’Malley, who has practiced in town for more than 33 years, is not participating in the project but is familiar with Gaylord’s work. “Good for her. Let’s go for it,” he said.
Registration is on Jan. 7 at Provincetown High School gym and requires a willingness to go public about the desire for change, Gaylord said. For example, participants must take a fitness test in front of everyone else who is registering, and be willing to have a “before” photo taken (privately by a fitness trainer). Participants will receive their journals and then sit down with Gaylord for an evaluation and intake. As of early this week, about 30 people had made serious inquires about the challenge.
“What I noticed when those guys took their shirts off, is that you kind of have to put it on the table when you want something to change,” Gaylord said about last year’s group of five. “When you’re willing to do something like that, then there is the readiness factor. It’s an edge. It’s something we all have to come to.”