Have you found it difficult to balance a healthy diet with increased exercise or training?

Midtown Chicago’s Registered Dietitian, Jenny Maloney, is back to tell you how.

Spring is training season for many members. If you have a marathon, triathlon, 5K, or other athletic competition on the calendar, you’re likely exercising more and getting hungrier as well.

There is a fine line between fueling for your exercise or sport and overeating, which can result in weight gain despite an increased caloric burn.

The tendency after a hard workout is to eat twice as much as you normally would, and this can get you into trouble, so ensure that you are eating an overall healthy and balanced diet.  Are you consuming enough fruits and vegetables? Are you choosing whole grain versions of foods and lean protein?

Once you are eating a variety of healthy foods, then you can start to think about fueling for exercise.  Instead of eating two desserts after a hard workout, add an extra serving of fruit, vegetables, or protein, or add an extra healthy snack. For example, if your dinner is a chicken stir fry, add another ½ cup of brown rice and an extra ounce of chicken. If you are still hungry after dinner, you can always have a snack.

Make sure to eat before and after exercise so you are not starving when you are done. During the off-season or taper periods, cut down your portions but continue to eat healthfully. When you are in training or exercising more, you can eat more but make sure the food is still healthy.

What race(s) are you training for this spring?

Member blogger Kathleen Bush takes over the My Town blog to talk about the many benefits of Camp Midtown as a way to keep your kids healthy, away from their beloved screens, and having a blast this summer.

Warmer weather has finally arrived and with it come the inevitable thoughts of summer. If you’re like many parents, you’ve already begun to plan ways to keep your kids active, happy, and engaged through the upcoming summer months. Luckily, you need look no further than Camp Midtown to ensure quality summer days for children aged 6 to 13.

The summers we remember from our youth are different than the summers our children experience. Kids today reportedly spend an average of 4-to-6 hours a day in front of screens: televisions, computers, and cell phones. The number of hours of screen time sadly often rises, not declines, during the unscheduled days of summer.

In order to continue the active games, social interactions, and learning experiences they crave in the summer months, kids need to be around groups of their peers daily.

That is why Camp Midtown fills such an important need for both parents and campers. While they are enjoying their best days of the year, parents can rest assured that their kids are making friends, mastering new skills, and getting exercise without us having to coax, nag, and entertain them. Rather than meeting an hour a week for a sports class, campers spend each day, all week, with a group of their peers fully engaged in an athletic activity.

Still not convinced?

Here are a few more reasons you should make Camp Midtown a top choice for guaranteed summer fun for your kids:

Theme Weeks

As the obesity epidemic grows in scope, so too does the “blame game.” Lack of exercise, over-consumption of food, sedentary work environments, lifestyle choices, biological predispositions, genes…the list of possible culprits for America’s fatness goes on.

Fast food is a common target. Earlier this month, an advocacy group launched a campaign petitioning 26 hospitals across the country to remove a major fast food restaurant from their cafeterias with the aim of sending a “better message” to consumers.

Some of the reasoning behind the group’s initiative comes from a 2006 study published in the journal Pediatrics that concluded that allowing fast food centers to operate in hospitals not only affects guests’ consumption of fast food on the day of their visit, but also unintentionally boosts the perception of the “healthfulness” of fast food in general. Here’s more research that supports the initiative:

• The prevalence of obesity-related diseases has risen sharply over the past thirty years, and the number of fast food restaurants in America has more than doubled over the same period (The National Bureau of Economic Research).
• Studies have shown that “consumption of fast food among children in the US seems to have an adverse effect on dietary quality in ways that plausibly could increase risk for obesity.”
• Studies have shown that increased proximity to fast food restaurants is linked to an increase in obesity.

Courtesy of wagnerfpa.wordpress.com.

So being near to fast food increases the likelihood of obesity, but will removing fast food from hospitals (and other institutions and neighborhoods) help solve the problem?

Consider this:

• The New York Times recently reported that studies have shown that “there is no relationship between the type of food being sold in a neighborhood and obesity among its children and adolescents.”
• Restrictive “diets” and the “diet mentality” in general do not lead to long-term effective weight-loss. What does work, according to a recent study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, is eating less fat, exercising more, using prescription weight loss medications, or participating in commercial weight loss programs.
• Calling for removal of fast food from hospitals sends the message that fast food restaurants are “bad” and can be blamed for obesity, lessening personal responsibility for our own health.

Blaming fast food restaurants for obesity can place us on a slippery slope.  Should we remove buses from our streets to force people to choose the less convenient, but “healthier” walking or biking options?  After all, sitting for long periods of time is correlated with obesity, and most adults do not get the recommended level of exercise.

Similarly, while we should limit consumption of fast food, we can’t eliminate it from the American diet as long as there is a demand for convenient, inexpensive, and (arguably) tasty food.  We need to improve health through education and develop incentives that encourage healthy lifestyle decisions, proper nutrition, and exercise.

Perhaps a partnership between hospitals and Weight Watchers (or other proven commercial weight loss programs), or the establishment of walking groups or active events within hospital walls, could promote lasting change.

We won’t make any progress in the fight against obesity by playing the blame game at the expense of taking responsibility for our health into our own hands.

Courtesy of www.topnews.in.

What do you think? Will restricting fast food lead to a decrease in obesity? How can we as individuals, families, and institutions promote a healthier America?

It’s no secret that the media isn’t kind to girls. From unrealistic, Photoshopped pictures of women in fashion magazines to overtly sexualized images of tweens and teens on television and in movies, many girls grow up with diminished self-esteem, believing they’re neither pretty enough nor thin enough to hold worth in our society.

The consequences are devastating, as evidenced by the 2011 film, Miss Representation.

Enter Kids Yoga Instructor Jen Hess and her GirlPower! program, designed to help girls 10 through 13 focus on personal strengths and self-empowerment, instead of the negative media messages surrounding them.

“5th, 6th, and 7th grade girls are at a confusing stage in their lives, “ says Jen. “My goal for this yoga-centered program is to help them increase their level of self-awareness, channel their feelings,  and connect those feelings to actions and words.”

In addition to yoga, each girl will be given a book for journaling, and will create an individual magazine to capture the positive messages learned in class.

“I want to affect change in girls’ lives before they hit high school, and absorb the baggage that comes from strong peer influence, and influence from the opposite sex,” Jen stresses. “Girls need to learn how to recognize and trust their own voice, to choose wisely when something doesn’t feel right to them, and to be confident enough to do so. This program will absolutely help with this.”

As a longtime yogi, a certified instructor of children’s yoga for the past 4 years, and the mother to a young daughter, Jen knows firsthand how yoga can foster feelings of self-empowerment and trust. Yoga has been transformative in her own life, and she is passionate about giving kids the same opportunity to find ways to manage stress and how to listen to—and nurture—their bodies and minds. She hopes to teach girls in her GirlPower! program how skills learned on the mat can translate into their everyday lives, a topic she often covers on her yoga-inspired blog, karmaspotkids.com.

Each class will begin with 45 minutes-to-1-hour of yoga, followed by discussion and writing in journals. The class will be a safe space where girls are encouraged to talk freely about their feelings without fear of judgement. Jen, who holds an MFA, will then assist each girl with the creation of her personal magazine.

This amazing program is open to both members and guests of Midtown, and girls are encouraged to reach out to their friends and invite them to enroll. I wish my own two daughters were old enough for this program. Clearly, they believe they’re ready now.

GirlPower! takes places on Sunday afternoons from April 29th through June 17th from 4-6pm in Yoga Studio B. The cost is $140 for members, and $180 for guests.

Contact Jen at jen.hess@midtown.com or Mind/Body Director Randi Lattimore at randi.lattimore@midtown.com with questions. And to learn more about the benefits of yoga for kids, click here and here.

If you have a daughter in 5th, 6th, or 7th grade, the lessons she’ll learn in GirlPower! will prove invaluable for her as she navigates through the confusing and often negative world of our media-driven culture. We hope to see her (and her friends) in class.

Courtesy of eatright.org.

March is National Nutrition Month, and this year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is urging Americans to “Get Your Plate In Shape.” With the help of the “My Plate” model, which replaced the Food Pyramid in June 2011, the experts are giving us a reminder of the healthy nutrition goals we have heard before:

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• Make at least half of your grains whole grains
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat dairy
• Vary your protein choices
• Cut back on sodium and empty calories from solid fats and added sugars
• Eat less
• Exercise more

Member blogger Kathleen Bush recently observed Midtown’s hottest new class, MXT Heat, and shares her experience with you.

“Welcome to Heat,” Vinny tells the members who are furiously pulling back on the rowing machines as the sweat hits the floor.“We’re breaking barriers here!”

MXT (Midtown Xtreme Training), the brainchild of personal trainer Vinny Mogavero,  is one of the most popular classes at the club, so much so that the Saturday class had to be moved from the Group Ex Studio to the gym to accommodate it’s impressive number of participants (60 people regularly attend this MXT session). In the warmer months, the class is held on the Great Lawn on Saturdays. Watch the class in action here.

Its popularity has its roots in Vinny’s motivational style. As one who regularly takes the class, offered three times a week on Mondays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 12:15pm, and Saturday’s at 12:30, I can tell you that he makes each member feel like he or she is receiving an individual personal training session with his ability to be seemingly everywhere at once, dispensing motivation by the gallon.

The Evolution of Heat

Vinny recognized the need for a smaller, more intimate MXT experience, and so in February, he teamed up with trainer Dina Smock to create MXT Heat. Trainer Justin Bradt is often on hand to help too. Based on the MXT principles of high-intensity intervals, MXT Heat is limited to a maximum of 15 people, and utilizes different areas of the club, including the weight room floor, Kinesis studio, and cardio machines (similar to the areas used during a private personal training session).

The class I observe is broken up into three small groups of five members each. Each trainer is running his or her own “station.” Justin has a circuit set up on the weight room floor, Vinny mans the cardio machines, and Dina is in charge of the Kinesis studio (Kinesis is a training tool that engages muscles and movement at the same time via resistance cables). Each group moves in rotation several times among all the stations, under the watchful eye of a trainer, therefore making the class a very personal experience. I observe Justin stepping in to correct form, Vinny monitoring the numbers on each member’s cardio machine, and Dina jumping into an exercise right alongside a participant.

Despite tackling fatiguing repetitions, members are able to walk to each new station with a renewed sense of vigor. It’s obvious that MXT Heat combines the best of both worlds: You have the benefit of individual attention and focus, yet the momentum of a small group to push you forward and keep you competitive.

“Hate Me Now, Love Me Later.”

Make no mistake, though. This class is tough. I overhear the group members’ conversation (between heavy breaths) as they rotate from the treadmills to the Kinesis studio, congratulating each other on a job well done. One member says with a laugh, “Man, I hate Vinny!”

This is a sentiment shared by both his clients and his MXT family, and Vinny embraces it.  He believes if you aren’t hating him, he’s not doing his job. “Hate me now, love me later!” is something he always tells his classes. And as the class ends with 15 exhausted members, trust me. The Vinny-love is not running over.

But later on, I overhear class members singing his praises. They are reaching new heights of fitness they never would have achieved on their own.

Motivation on Tap

Vinny’s gift is in dispensing motivation, and in MXT Heat he has the ability to direct it to class members individually. As each participant is outfitted with a heart rate monitor, he is able to monitor their effort level and encourage them to step it up a notch, while confidently assuring them that they can do it.

Dina is equally motivational. She reassures the group entering the Kinesis studio rotation that “I’m not as mean as Vinny!” Maybe so, but I notice her energy level is certainly as high. She sprints through the rotation, demonstrating each unique exercise, which is performed during a one-minute interval, and immediately gets the class moving. Then she is everywhere – bouncing from person to person on each Kinesis “module,” hopping in with them, and encouraging them. “You’re out of here in 30 seconds!” she yells out, and participants kick up their effort a notch higher.

Justin Bradt, whose strength is inspiring, has a full-body weight circuit set up at his station. He keeps a careful eye on form as they perform different exercises with the kettlebells, medicine balls, and battle ropes. “This is your halfway point!” he yells to the tired group, before correcting a member’s kettlebell swing.

Between Vinny’s cardio, Justin’s weights, and Dina’s Kinesis and core work, class members are getting an amazing, calorie- blasting workout.

The Science Behind MXT

Science backs up the principles on which MXT is based. High-intensity interval training quickly produces noticeable results, and is proven to be one of the most beneficial forms of training and exercise. Heat participants are pushing beyond their comfort zones, exceeding personal limits, and transforming their bodies. This kind of change does not come easily, and it is very hard to achieve by yourself.

As the participants are sprinting on an incline on their treadmills, Vinny begins his infamous”countdown,” meaning he has you working at your maximum, but then demands you push it even further past that point for the final ten seconds. Thinking you were at your absolute limit and then “discovering” that secret reserve deep inside of you for a final push does wonders for your confidence and strength.

At the end of the hour session, the class gathers in the Kinesis studio for a quick cool down and stretch. The air is charged with positive energy and satisfaction. The Heat participants were an even mix of men and women, ages 20 to 50, and all told me they are already hooked on the class. In just a few short weeks, they have seen results and they are hungry for more. They are able to emerge with a badge of honor by having pushed their limits and come out on the other side.

MXT Heat takes place on Fridays, from 12-1pm. The cost is $26/class, and you can register by calling Vinny at 461-2301, ext. 272 or Dina at ext. 125.

And starting next week, the club is adding two more days of MXT Heat: Wednesdays from 7-8pm and Saturdays from 8:30-9:30am.

Have you tried MXT Heat? Please leave a comment and share your experience with us.

Member Blogger Kathleen Bush sits down with Certified Running Coach and Cycling Instructor Extraordinaire Missy Witte to talk about her new running program, yoga, and how she stays motivated to set and reach her fitness goals.

Randy Pausch, motivational speaker and author of “The Last Lecture,” once said, “You have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore.”

This quote, a favorite of Midtown Cycling Instructor and Running Coach Missy Witte, an obvious “Tigger,” has served as both her mantra and approach to life.

If Missy’s energy came in a bottle, everyone would want to drink it. As a role model for a healthy lifestyle for both her clients and her three active, young children, Missy’s genuine desire to help others achieve their fitness goals is obvious by both her work and positive demeanor.

Although perhaps best known for her invigorating cycle interval workouts, cycling is not Missy’s first workout of choice.

“Running is my true love,” she explains. “I have a good base, a good background. I have run eleven marathons to date.  I’m definitely looking for more.” Missy is so passionate about running that she obtained her running coach certification. Her new running program launches this week.

Training New Runners and Seasoned Race Veterans

Missy’s putting her Certified Running Coach credentials to work in getting the club’s running program off the ground.

“There are three ways to work with me. For private or group training, you’ll run with me and/or a group of other Midtown runners of similar ability. You’ll also have one hour per week of endurance and/or strength training with me, in addition to training tips or support.”

Members who have enrolled in the running program communicate with Missy at least three times a week, and on Sunday, each person receives a personalized training plan for the upcoming week.

There is also coach-only training, with all the benefits of the private or group options, minus the hour-long training sessions.

The program is for runners at all levels, and for those who want to begin running. “Anyone can do this,” Missy explains. “It is a very open, friendly program. Whether you just want to be able to run a mile, or run your first race, or you are a veteran chasing a PR – this program can help you.”

This is Not Your Cookie-Cutter Program

“I’ve had a ton of success with one-on-one tailored programs,” Missy says. “The new running program I’ve created is not a cookie-cutter program you could find on the Internet. Following one of these doesn’t make sense. It’s like ripping a fad diet out of a magazine. It won’t work.”

Pointing out the benefits of training with a coach, she says, “I get feedback from my runners about their bodies and progress and I adapt it to meet their needs. It is very much about what works for you, and not what your friend is doing.”

Best of all? Accountability. “If I’m not hearing from you, you’re hearing from me,” says Missy.

Staying Motivated

Missy has always set goals and worked to achieve them. “I do a ton of visualizing,” she explains. “As I approach 40, I don’t want to give up doing what I love.” To those trying to stick with a fitness commitment, she offers this piece of advice: “The hardest part is making the decision to just go. Then the rest takes care of itself.”

How a Runner Became a Yogi

To help rehab a potentially debilitating muscle tear, Missy turned to yoga. “If you can find time to do one extra thing, make it yoga,” she says.  “Before I started yoga, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not for me. I need adrenaline. I need to sweat.’  But trust me, you will sweat. What a workout. I haven’t had to go back to the weight room since.” Her orthopedic doctor, also a marathon runner, was blown away by Missy’s increased flexibility and her rehabilitation after she began practicing yoga. She acknowledges, “If I can extend my running into my 70s, this is how I will be able to do it.”

What’s In Missy’s Kitchen?

Missy is quick to share her top foods. “Greek yogurt.  My kids like it too – they say ‘Mom, this tastes like ice cream!’ Also I love Kashi cereal. I mix it in yogurt for texture.”

She also adds that she has a stash of dark chocolate hidden away, and a supply of fresh strawberries and blueberries are always in her fridge. She and her family also eat a lot of chicken for protein.

Some might be surprised to learn that Missy had a lucrative pharmaceutical sales job, which she left after the birth of her first son in order to obtain her certifications and pursue a fitness career. “I moved toward something that I really, really loved.”

And she never looked back.

For more information on Missy’s running program, which can help you start running, train for your first race, or PR your 50th, contact her at melissa.witte@midtown.com or 461-2300, ext. 324.

Three days a week, my morning begins with a 5am run. I arrive home, get three kids under six (including three-year-old twins) out of bed, dressed, fed, on the bus (or in the car) and off to school. On my off-days, I’m up at the same hour, working before the wee ones arise.

My days are scheduled down to the minute with work, meetings, shuttling children to various destinations, and trying to remember deadlines, doctor appointments, and dinner plans.

I attempt to keep my calendar static, but it never stays that way. I try not to worry about the things I cannot control, like when my nanny’s grandmother died during the same week my son stayed home sick from school and I had a looming deadline, but I never stay nonplussed for long.

Bottom line? I run hard(ish). I work even harder. And I am stressed out.

A lot.

In the fall, as I was circling the drain of “Too-Much-On-My-Plate” despair, I sat down with Mind/Body Director Randi Lattimore to conduct this interview. Something she said while we were chatting hit home for me.

She said, “Yoga is for everyone.”

“That’s a nice thought, Randi. But yoga isn’t for me,” I said. “I’m too tightly wound. Yoga is for people who are more chill than I am. I can’t relax.”

Then I realized the irony in what I was saying.

And the next day, having never before taken a single yoga class, I enrolled in Yoga School, Midtown’s unique program for those new to the practice or those who have been away from it for awhile. Small class sizes ensure personalized attention, which was something really important to me as a Type A, because why do something if you’re not going to do it exactly right? Who’s with me here?

Over the course of the four-week program, taught by the amazing Lindsay Hildreth, I learned:

• Basic yoga poses with an emphasis on proper alignment
• The importance of breathing (who knew?)
• That I am not the inflexible and uncoordinated mess of limbs I once thought I was (although I have a long way to go)
• That shavasana (the quiet time of personal reflection that concludes each class) is like a tonic for the soul
• The personal approach to yoga (it’s an individual practice and there’s no “beating” anyone, as I was accustomed to with running races) is one I could totally (and surprisingly) embrace

Yoga School ended two months ago. I’ve practiced yoga almost every week since.

Starting the practice of yoga didn’t eliminate my stress. It’s still there, a product of a busy job, needy young children, and a calendar that’s always packed with responsibilities. 

But it has taught me that when I’m in class, on my mat, being present within myself, it’s okay to let go for a little while.

Yoga has allowed me to relax and center my thoughts. To focus on my body and what it can do. To let my breathing guide my movement. To stretch my mind as well as my limbs. To embrace the hour of practice as my own, and to shut out the distractions and pressures that often circle me like wolves.

It’s not the high-energy, cardio-heavy workout I’m accustomed to. It’s still very hard for me to slow down, and to accept that my heart won’t be pounding and I won’t breathe heavily at the end of yoga class.

No, instead yoga is something entirely different. It helps me feel less anxious and more calm. Less like my busy life is spiraling out of control, and more like I am in charge of it, instead of the other way around.

And it’s helped my five-year-old daughter too, who in the fall finished her own first session of yoga at the club, through the Midtown Varsity program, and is starting her second this week. She adores yoga, and the lovely “Miss Jen” (Hess) who teaches it. The benefits of yoga for kids are numerous, including its ability to foster a bond with your three-year-old little sister.

Check out the schedule for Kids Yoga and other complimentary Midtown Varsity classes here.

The Winter Session of Yoga School begins next week. Morning, afternoon, and evening sessions are offered at a variety of times. Grab a registration form at the club, or contact Randi for more information at 585-461-2301 x103 or randi.lattimore@midtown.com.

Trust me on this: Randi is right. Yoga is for everyone, even scary Type A’s like me. If I can embrace (and love) yoga, then anyone can.

Yogis, please share with us. Why do you love yoga?

He’s back!

Personal Trainer Doug Rusho’s super-popular Psyclewrx cycling program makes its triumphant return to the club beginning this Saturday. Doug’s taking over the blog today to let you know why you need (yes, need) to enroll in this program. It’s 2012 and the perfect time to try something new.

Take it away, Doug!

Are you looking for that spark of inspiration?  Are you tired of not really knowing if the time you spend at Midtown is changing your fitness or performance level? 

If so, it’s time to stop “working out” and begin training instead.

Psyclewrx allows you to make a commitment to a long-term, goal-oriented, indoor cycling program.

With a well-tested and proven plan, focused direction, individualized training metrics, and most importantly, tangible results, Psyclewrx allows you to improve your fitness level over the course of a session. 

This year, Psyclewrx is being offered in three, five-week sessions on Saturdays, at 12:45pm.  Each five-week block will build upon the previous block, allowing the body to safely adapt and progress to greater fitness. Each block is separated by two weeks of recovery or individual training.

Do not think for a second that Psyclewrx is too intense.  We train with Power and as a result, you will work at an intensity appropriate for your current fitness level.  As long as you can complete a regular one-hour indoor cycle class, you are an athlete ready to be made. 

Psyclewrx will also entertain you, making the time fly by. Just look at your Coach.  Anybody willing to go out in public in this get-up, will have to offer some fantastic music and creative drills and profiles.

My costume for the Halloween Cyclocross Race

Did I mention results?  The average rate of improvement for Psyclewrx graduates is 15%!  This is not just “talk” of improvement; these are actual numbers you will see and feel.

The first session begins Saturday, January 7th, and runs through February 11th. The cost is $100, and you can secure your spot by calling the front desk).  This session will focus on Foundation Endurance. Classes are 60-90 minutes long at low-to-moderate effort levels.  We will take a “bi-week” on Feb. 4th for participation in the “Cycle for Hope” charity event.

I was recently certified by Stages Indoor Cycling and will also be offering a complimentary bike set up service called LaserFit™ (yes we will be using a laser!) on Saturday, January 28th from 8:30-11:30am. We are trying to decide if we should administer this on a walk-in basis or via sign-ups.  What do you think?

For more information on the Psyclewrx program please see the display outside the Cycle Room and take a brochure, or contact me directly at 461-2301 ext. 261. 

You can also check out my blog journal of last fall’s program.

Already heard enough?  Call the front desk and sign up.  There are just a few spots left.

Hope to see you there!

Have you taken Pscylewrx before? Let us know what you thought of the program by leaving a comment.

Member blogger Kathleen Hermann reflects on the fresh beginnings a new year brings and how Midtown can help you achieve your 2012 fitness goals.

While I haven’t set New Year’s resolutions for years, I periodically take stock of where things are and where I’d like things to go.

As adults, we feel that twinge of time passing. There is always more we want to experience and accomplish. New Year’s is momentous as it reminds us of the value of time. It is a point to remind ourselves that there is never a better time to act than the present.

Whether your fitness goals for yourself are to walk a mile or to establish a new personal best in the marathon, the club has the necessary tools for success. These tools come in the form of the facility itself, and also in the form of the network of people and professionals that work within it.

If 2012 is your year to finally achieve well-rounded fitness, you have unlimited options at Midtown.

Maybe you have a great physique and excel at swimming and cycling, but still find yourself often stressed and hurried. Try expanding into the peaceful, regenerative world of yoga and meditation. Perhaps you love the inner strength yoga has added to your life, but still find yourself slowed by extra weight. Try adding a cardio class to your routine.

Need help getting started? The club has a packed January schedule filled with events and classes specifically designed to help you kick-start all your goals.

Pick something that works for you and mark it on your calendar!

1. Intro and Launch Classes

If you are expanding your routine, or just beginning your fitness journey, but are intimidated to walk into a weekly group class, start with one of the many complimentary Intro classes Midtown offers in January. You’ll learn everything you need to know, as well as proper setup and technique.

Intro to Cycle: Wednesday, January 3, 7:00 – 7:45 pm
Intro to Group Power: Saturday, January 7, 8:00-9:00 am
Intro to Zumba: Sunday, January 15, 2:00-2:45 pm

The Launch classes introduce the new quarterly series of Group Step and Group Power.

Group Step Launch: Saturday, January 21, 9:30-10:30 am
Group Power Launch: Saturday,  January 21, 11:00am – noon

2. Yoga and Meditation Classes

Bring balance to your life by trying these Mind/Body classes.

Sunday Afternoon Meditation with Suzanne: Sunday, January 8, 4:45-5:45pm
An Evening of Restorative Yoga: Friday, January 27 6:30-8:00 pm

3. A Proper Goodbye to 2011

What better way to end the year than with a great workout and drinks afterward to celebrate!

Boot Camp and Mimosas with Trainers Justin and Steve: Saturday, December 31, 8:45-9:45am

4. A Fresh Start on New Year’s Day

Kick off the New Year’s right with our packed New Year’s Day class schedule.

No matter what your fitness resolution is, Midtown will be there to help you achieve your goals.

Here’s to a healthy 2012!