New to exercise? A seasoned fitness enthusiast? The new year is almost upon us, and there are plenty of ways your Midtown membership can contribute to a revitalized  fitness routine.

New Equipment

Our fitness floor has recently received FreeMotion weights, specifically their  top-of-the-line product,“The  Epic.” The club now has 20 Keiser Bikes (for cycling classes) in the Cycle Studio, and a new Techno Gym in the function room. If you haven’t checked out this state-of-the-art equipment,  please contact one of our personal trainers. They would be happy to take you through an orientation.

New Classes

For the group ex enthusiast, why not try something new? In addition to Yoga, Body Pump, and Zumba, we have Total Body Conditioning, Step, Cardio & Strength Conditioning, mat Pilates and Kickboxing. We have also introduced a Boot Camp in response to our members who enjoyed our “one off”  group ex bootcamp over Thanksgiving.     

Boot Camp takes places on Thursday nights at 5:30pm and Saturday mornings at 8:00am in the Group Ex room.  You can expect a high-intensity, total-body workout.  Most of the class will be without weights, using your body for pushups, lunges, squats, plyometrics and core work.  We’d love to see you there. The more the merrier! 

Crossing over from tennis to fitness? Slayton offers a tennis fitness class that combines the challenges of TRX and the tennis-specific footwork. This class not only improves your core strength, but also looks at balance and weight transference to help court mobility.

“New to You” Classes

Want to add some time in our pool? If you don’t like lane swimming how about trying our Aqua Fit class on Wednesday nights? You can bring the kids to the pool during family swim times on Fridays and Sundays. Our heated pool will be just the place to escape our winters and remind us of the summer that is coming.

Are you a fitness person wanting to try tennis? We have a cardio tennis class just for you. Jump Start Cardio is an intro-level tennis cardio class to get you moving to music on the tennis court! Once you start, you will be hooked and ready for either Cardio Tennis or Game Building Cardio Tennis. Both are set to music. Cardio Tennis uses transition balls and Game Building will use yellow balls. Did you know an average female will burn 400 – 600 calories per hour and a male 600 – 800 calories per hour? These are both great workouts!

The New Year is a time when many of us make resolutions about our overall fitness and wellbeing but, let’s face it, often times these fall by the wayside by the end of January! Trying something new is a good way to maintain the interest and keep going with your resolutions!

Please try one of our new classes and Happy New Year!

We have a world record holder in powerlifting amongst us.

Herb Strange has been lifting for 60 years and has set both national and world records in bench press for his age group (75-79). No stranger on the fitness floor, you can find Herb training at the club for the World Championships in Las Vegas at the beginning of December. Herb is an inspiration, and is one of a core group of power lifters at Midtown. 

So what is powerlifting? Is there a difference between powerlifting and weight training? Personal trainer (and dedicated powerlifter) Dylan Briggs has the answers.

Powerlifting involves lifting weights in three attempts: in a squat, in a bench press, and in a dead lift. Competitors can lift raw or equipped (that is, with or without certain supportive equipment).

It doesn’t really differ from weight training or weight lifting. The differences lie in the way the lifter trains. For example, body builders will focus on more reps, lighter weight, and higher volume, and powerlifters will focus on lower reps, heavier weight, and less volume.

Because each person is a little different and has a different approach to what works in training, Dylan suggests that a newcomer to lifting begins with a 3-day-a-week program focusing on the 3 main lifts.

“As with any sport proper technique is crucial, so make sure you practice and have someone knowledgeable critiquing you on form, hand placement, foot placement, etc. because those things will make the difference between a good lift and a bad lift,” says Dylan.

In October, Dylan along with members Liz Cline and Joyce Lynn competed at the Central States Fall Classic Powerlifting competition. In their respective age groups, both Dylan and Liz set state records whilst Joyce set an American record! Well done, all.

Dylan and Liz - October 2011

Who are these lifters?

Liz is a speech-language pathologist who has been a member at Midtown since it opened, and that’s where she met Herb. She played tennis at Fort Hays State University where she started weight lifting. In the past she has done figure competitions. Now she enjoys cycle classes.

Herb and Joyce at her first competition

Joyce also joined Midtown when it opened the athletic side, where she too met Herb. A year ago she started working with Herb and despite breaking her wrist last winter she was still able to compete and set her record!

“The best thing about any competition like this is that it’s just you and the weight and no one else,” says Dylan. “You either lift it or you fail, plain and simple. When you fail you just dig deeper and train harder to overcome it.”

Have you tried powerlifting? Tell us what you think of it!

Slayton was the first trainer hired at our club. In the last two years, he has seen us morph from a tennis club into a full-service tennis and fitness center.

Here, Slayton talks about his background, the evolution of our club, and how a fitness floor-phobic tennis player might make the bold first step into a new workout routine.

What types of sports did you participate in while growing up?

I was a very active kid. You could always find me on my bike riding somewhere. I was involved in baseball, basketball, wrestling, football, soccer, track, and dance until middle school. From middle school on, I was involved in football, wrestling, baseball, powerlifting and track.

I was a state qualifier in wrestling and received 4th place at state in powerlifting. I went on to play football in college for a semester until injuries took me out. I powerlifted on my own, competing in many events and qualifying for collegiate nationals. I also have competed in mountain bike races.

When did you get the desire to go into personal training?

I knew I always wanted to be a coach and teacher. After tearing my ACL and breaking my wrist in sports, I had the chance to work with some great physical therapists, which led me to pursue a degree in Pre-Physical Therapy. I changed my degree to Health Promotion once I went to Emporia State University. Personal training never even crossed my mind until one day I was working out in the gym and the recreation director at ESU came up to me and ask me about my experience with coaching and what my major was. I started personal training soon after that and this led me to where I am today.

As our first personal trainer, how has the fitness floor changed in the last two years?

The fitness center has changed a lot. We have a lot of new equipment and are still getting more. This is the ideal place to be a personal trainer with the floor plan we have. Our equipment is spread out so that you could train in about any corner and never get in the way of anyone. We also have the nice functional room where we can work more with small apparatus, like the TRX bands, ladders, and small hurdles.

What is your personal fitness target for this year?

That’s a great question. I am always telling people to set goals but I rarely set goals for myself. I really enjoy exercise and I like to try new things all the time. I enjoy staying fit and healthy and that’s my goal. I would like to stay injury-free so that I can continue to coach and educate people as well as take care of myself and do the things I love.

What would you say to someone like me who is afraid of going on the fitness floor?

You do not have to be an athlete to be fit, and you do not have to do everything the person next to you is doing.

Be smart about what you are doing. Learn why you are doing or not doing something before you start a program that you read in a magazine or online. Keep your workout simple so that you will enjoy it and continue to do it. Work on form and fundamentals before you work on any other goals.

Thanks, Slayton.

Do you have a question you would like to ask Slayton?

It is hard for new members to get a grasp of all the things that Midtown offers, but there are also things that long-time members might not know as well. My curiosity led me on a quest to find out our best-kept secrets.MORE