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

We tend to loosen our belts this time of year, figuratively, and sometimes literally.

Maybe we skip a planned workout. Maybe we indulge too heavily at a holiday party. Maybe we have three calorie-laden drinks when we really should have one.

These practices are common. We’re only human. But if you’re looking to kick off the official holiday season on Thanksgiving Day with some pre-caloric burn, there’s no better place to be than Midtown. The club is open from 7am until 2pm. Kidtown is open from 8:30am to 2pm.

Here’s our action-packed schedule for Turkey Day:

Group Exercise Studio

7:30-8:30am    

Bootcamp with Steve: Mr. Early Morning Bootcamp will lead you through a hardcore workout before the afternoon feast.  

9 -10:30am     

Thanks for Giving Power Vinyasa Yoga with Randi and Karyn: A hot and sweaty class of giving and gratitude.  Held each year to benefit Bivona Child Advocacy Center, we would greatly appreciate monetary donations.

Basketball Court

8:30-10:30am

“It’s a Party” Group Power &  Zumba: Rev up your Thanksgiving morning with 50 minutes of  Group Power to various party theme songs, followed by Zumba with our awesome instructors.

Studio A

8-9am              

Feeling Grateful Vinyasa Yoga with Susan S: Cultivate thankfulness and experience the sweetness gratitude brings.

9:30-10:30am   

Turkey Burn Pilates Mat with Kathy: Strengthen your core and feel the pre-turkey burn.

Cycle Room

9-10:30am        

Pre -Turkey Burn with Missy: 90 minutes on the Keiser bikes increasing watts (or power) by combining  resistance (gears) and speed (RPMs).  Missy created the playlist for this class entirely from member requests. Work hard and have a blast doing it.   

11-12pm

Thanksgiving Ride with Doug H.: An all-terrain cycle class guaranteed to make you sweat.

Tennis Courts

8-9:00am

Turkey Cardio Tennis: Our tennis pros will bring on the burn as you enjoy the fast-paced drills and games of Cardio Tennis before the big feast. All skill levels are welcome. 100% of your $20 donation will benefit The Open Door Mission, and as our way of saying “thank you” for giving, we’ll provide you with a free Cardio Tennis Class.

Pool Deck

8-8:45am          

Tough Turkey Team Obstacle Course with Tim and Vinny: Join us this Thanksgiving for an extreme obstacle course unlike any other. It will be tough. It will be cold. You will get wet. You’ll earn your Turkey before your in-laws wake up, without a doubt. Our Facebook page has all the details. Limited to the first 30 signups, so register soon!

Want to know what to wear? You won’t be able to pick up or abandon clothing during the race. So, if you want goggles in the pool, you should be wearing them at the start. If you want sneakers on the mud course, they’re going with you into the pool. Stay lightweight but prepare for some cooler weather (mid-40s). Compression tops and bottoms, light sneakers, and maybe some gloves will serve you well.

What are your Thanksgiving fitness plans?

Member Kathleen Hermann takes over the blog today to talk about how you can use your Midtown membership to give your kids the gift of health and wellness.

Take it away, Kathleen!

Imagine that you could purchase the gift of lifelong health or endow it in a will.

What parents wouldn’t sacrifice to secure such a valuable asset for their children?  

Unfortunately, we cannot acquire health with cash alone; however, we CAN armor our children against a host of chronic diseases and set them on the right track for a flourishing, balanced life. We don’t have to wait to give this gift – we can start right now!

Of course, there is no lack of obstacles to raising healthy kids. Recent statistics show 1 out of every 3 children in America is overweight. We are reminded of this with every McDonald’s arch we pass, every cartoon character encouraging the consumption of sugary snacks, and every child we pass tapping away on his portable Nintendo.

Now, more than ever, just as we protect our children from tetanus and diphtheria, it is of equal importance to immunize them against the growing childhood disease of obesity.

Here are four ways you can use your Midtown membership to help your children on their lifelong path of health:

1. Midtown Varsity Programs

The fall session of Midtown Varsity children’s programming is under way. Offered in addition to the excellent sports camps that Midtown offers over summer and school breaks, these classes have many benefits:

• They are designed not only for exercise, but also to show our children how to have fun in their physical pursuits and develop confidence in their abilities.
• The age-appropriate yoga classes teach body awareness and coordination in combination with giving kids the relaxation skills needed to counter the pressures of modern life
• Parents are not just delegated to a tiny waiting room or the sidelines. Rather, we are able to simultaneously recharge ourselves in Midtown’s facilities, making great use of limited time and ensuring both parent and child head home recharged.
• Other than a nominal family sign-up fee, these classes are free to Midtown members.

2. The Gift of a Lifelong Sport

Our Midtown Junior Tennis Program is nationally recognized and our Midtown Currents Swim Team excels at local competitions. If you want the best place in the greater Rochester area to get your children hooked with the confidence and skills they need to enjoy these sports, look no further than Midtown.

• It was the USTA that coined the phrase, “Tennis, the Sport for a Lifetime.” And it’s true. Because the level of play is controlled by the person playing, children can start tennis in the preschool years and still play competitive singles past their 80s. 
• In truth, although you should encourage your children to try any sport they show interest in, certain sports have a much earlier “retirement age” after the scholastic years of organized leagues. It’s difficult to find ten people, equipment, and two goals for a lacrosse scrimmage, and rounding up volunteers for a cheerleading pyramid in your 40s will likely be near impossible. However, tennis and swimming will always be available, often for free, in countless parks nationwide. They are not only competitive sports but also lifetime skills you can enjoy through the years.

3. Kidtown and the Café

In most gyms, your snack choices are limited to the five rows in a standard vending machine.

Luckily, Midtown isn’t most gyms.

• At Midtown, in addition to myriad healthful choices offered on the full Bon Marche and Gould Street cafe menus, there are choices catered expressly to the tastes, needs and portion sizes of children.
• It’s much less tempting to stop for a Happy Meal to appease a hungry whining child on the way to the gym when you know he or she can enjoy a nourishing, appetizing meal right in Kidtown.
• The children’s meals are offered with sides such as carrot sticks, fruit, and applesauce; soda is not even listed as a beverage option. There are few eateries that offer a healthy salad as a kids meal option or which serve their kids meal sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Of course, we should expect nothing less from Midtown.
•  Kidtown is more than accommodating of bagged lunches brought from home and also offers the children fresh water while they play.  And play they do. With a kid-sized basketball court, tumbling mats, riding toys, bouncing balls, and access to the gym, my kids often leave Kidtown in a good sweat.

4.  Leading by Example

The first step in encouraging a certain lifestyle for your children is believing that it matters.

Your family will sense you are passionate about staying fit and eating right by witnessing your own commitment to these values. When they are young, children accept our convictions without question, but even older children and teens are influenced by what their parents believe and do. That is why the best tool that we have in fighting childhood obesity is staring us right in the mirror. Much more than a celebrity spokesperson or clever cartoon, we have the power to encourage healthy habits in our children simply by our own demonstration.  

When I pick up my kids in Kidtown, they often ask me how many miles I ran that day, or if I took a class with one of their friend’s mommies. To them, physical activity is as typical a part of daily living as brushing their teeth.

I can’t help but feel proud to see my example rubbing off when my three-year-old packs her doll in the play stroller and announces  that she is taking her  baby for a jog, before trotting up and down the sidewalk. I got the same feeling watching my five-year-old challenging herself to swim “laps” like the “grown-ups” in Midtown’s pool this summer. 

Watching how they are forming habits at a young age further reminds me of the importance of introducing fitness and healthy living in their lives now. I know that the example I set will be the key to enforcing these values.

Luckily, most days setting that example is as simple as going to Midtown.

How do you encourage your kids to lead healthy, active lives?

Much as Rochestarians may try to deny it, summer is well and truly over.  The mornings are cool, and the evenings are colder still. Sweaters have begun to replace tshirts, and the heat may have even switched on in your house once or twice.

Of course, fall in the ROC isn’t all bad. Mother Nature has begun to work her magic on the leaves. Fall produce is plentiful in area farmers’ markets. And of course, our incredible outdoor pool is still open for Extended Season Hours.

Autumn also means it’s time for the Annual Lap Swimmers’ Breakfast. Lap swimmers are a vital part of the Midtown community, and Aquatics Director Tim Auerhahn is once again extending an invitation to join him for food and feedback this week.

Here’s his message.

Lap Swimmers,

On behalf of Midtown Athletic Club, thank you for being an active participant in our Aquatics Program. Without your commitment to an active lifestyle, the quality and success of our program would not be possible.

I would like to extend an invitation for you to join me on Wednesday, October 5th from 6:30am-9:30am or 11:00am-1:00pm (whatever time is more convenient for you) in the Adirondack Lodge for a light breakfast or lunch. This is Midtown’s way of saying ‘thank you’ for a wonderful third season.

I’ll be on hand during those times to gather your feedback on what we did well, items we can improve upon, and most importantly what you’d like to see from us next year.

Below are some potential discussion items for Wednesday:

• Hours of Operation
• Season Schedule
• Programming
• Facility Operations
• Aquatic Personnel, Lifeguards, Coaches and Instructors
• Aquatic Equipment

Once again we appreciate your loyal patronage and it’s is my hope we learn how to better serve you and that together, we will continue to make this aquatic facility the best in Rochester. Please feel free to e-mail me your feedback at tim.auerhahn@midtown.com, if for some reason you are unable to make it.

See you Wednesday (rain or shine)!

What did you think of our third aquatics season?

She loves paddle tennis with a fierce passion, but her first love is swimming.

Before this year, she had never tasted coffee, but her 5am Midtown shift-starts made it a necessity.

And you’ll never see her without pearls.

Keegan Brown is the club’s Swim Lesson Coordinator and a Swimming Instructor, a competitive paddle tennis player, and a big-time Zumba enthusiast. She credits Midtown’s Zumba classes for her 30-pound weight loss.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Keegan and we talked paddle, swimming, and why she has exactly three colored Sharpie markers in her possession at all times.

Sporting Roots

“Growing up in West Irondequoit, my sports-oriented parents taught both my sister and me that girls could do anything that boys could do,” says Keegan. So she played volleyball, kickball, and of course, she swam. Mike Cahill, the Head Swimming Coach at RIT, was Keegan’s swimming coach for over 15 years.

After graduating first from MCC and then from St. John Fisher, she worked in the non-profit industry for a few years, but then returned to her sporting roots when she started working for the club in 2009.

Midtown allows her to both fulfill her professional goals and her personal ones.

Paddle Prowess

As a paddle tennis player for the past four years (three years competitively), Keegan participates in five paddle leagues during the season, and plays in tournaments across the Northeast once or twice a month. She comes from a paddle family (both her mom and her aunts play as well), and Keegan plays against her mom each Wednesday.

As a board member of SIS (Sustain, Inspire, Survive), an organization offering financial assistance to those battling breast cancer, Keegan hopes the 5th Annual Ladies Paddle Tournament for which Midtown is donating its courts next January will climb from 122 players in 2011 to 130 in 2012 to make it the biggest paddle tournament in the country.

On Deck and in the Pool

Paddle is a fall and winter sport, so when not on the courts, you’ll find Keegan on the pool deck coordinating group swimming lessons or in the pool teaching both young and not-so-young Midtowners to love the water. Keegan says, “I love watching the kids I taught to kick and breathe under water at two- and three-years-old now swimming laps at five- and -six-years-old. It’s incredibly fulfilling.”

She speaks fondly of her proudest moment at Midtown. A senior member of the club, Walter Fendley, approached Keegan about taking swimming lessons. He had not learned to swim as a child, and as a senior, was still intimidated by the deep end of the pool. His wife, an avid lap swimmer, encouraged Walter to take lessons so he could exercise with her. Walter started private lessons with Keegan in the shallow end of the pool, and eventually progressed to deeper water. Walter is now swimming laps with his wife, and the couple formed a lasting friendship with Keegan.

“All three of us took TNT together last year!” says Keegan.

Pearls and the Purse

When she’s not in the pool or on the paddle courts, Keegan enjoys baking and decorating cakes for her friends. She participated in the Sprint Mini-Triathlon at the club this past May, and loves taking group exercise classes with her friends.

She also told me that in addition to sunscreen, her handbag is never missing her daily planner and three colored Sharpie markers. “I have to stay organized and the markers help me plan my schedule,” says Keegan. “I’m absolutely lost without them.” And speaking of never being without, you’ll be hard-pressed to find Keegan sans pearls. “My sister and I are Irish twins-we’re 14 months apart. My sister wears diamonds, and I wear pearls,” she says. “They’ve been our signature accessory for years.”

A team player both on and off the paddle courts, Keegan firmly believes that as a Midtown associate, she would never ask anyone to do something that she herself wouldn’t do. She credits club manager Bob McKernan for demonstrating this ideal with the way he conducts himself in the club, pitching in to help whenever and wherever he’s needed.

“I truly believe in working hard in order to succeed,” says Keegan, “and sometimes that means working outside your job description.”

Keegan’s hard work on the paddle courts are taking her and her paddle partner to the APTA (American Platform Tennis Association) Nationals on Long Island for the first time this coming March.

Are the pearls coming too?

“Absolutely,” says Keegan.

Next up on our Staff Profile docket: Mind/Body Director Randi Lattimore. Stay tuned!

Summertime at the club is in full swing, and that means the pool is the place to be. With temperatures soaring, especially last week, the pool is a busy place, but given that it’s so large, there is plenty of space for everyone.

That said, if your workout involves swimming laps, a little sharing is in order.

Listen up, lap swimmers.

Aquatics Director Tim Auerhahn is taking you to Pool School.

Here are Tim’s Lap Swimming Etiquette Tips.

Having your own lane in a lap pool is a luxury, but not a guarantee. Often times (and the majority of the time if you swim during peak hours), you’re going to have to share a lane with a fellow member.

Swimmers are a community. We coach each other on stroke mechanics, loan our extra set of goggles, and even clip our toe nails before we breast stroke. Our participation as a group contributes to the decision to keep the Midtown pool open in April and in October.

With that in mind, here’s a list of diplomatic guidelines to help us all get the most out of our pool this summer.

Starting Your Workout

1. If there’s a free lane, take it. If not, pick a lane with a similar lap swimmer or consult the lifeguard for a recommendation on whose lane you should join. They often know who is starting and finishing, and who is moving quickly and who is moving more slowly.

2. Sit on the wall with your feet in the water and wait for the swimmer to take a break. Most swimmers will stop and welcome you into the lane.

3. Drop into the lane while your fellow swimmer is in rest, or away from the wall. In other words, don’t drop in on top of a swimmer mid-flip-turn.

4. If your lap-lane partner doesn’t stop, don’t take it as a personal insult. He or she is probably mid-set. At least the swimmer knows you’ve entered the lane respectfully. Per lap swim etiquette, you’re now free to start your workout.

Lap Sharing Logistics

5. Got the lap lane to yourself? Congrats. Be welcoming if someone decides to join you.

6. Pairing up? You’ve got two options. Split the lane down the middle or begin to circle-swim. Discuss this with your fellow lapper.

7. Three’s a crowd? Well, not really. Just check out a YMCA pool. With three or more it’s time to circle swim. When you take a break mid-set make sure you’re not on the T, and stick close to the lane line so everyone can work their turns properly.

Funny Situations

8. The Butterfly Effect – Making big waves, using big strokes, and doing anything besides Back, Breast, or Crawl is considered a nuisance. Make sure you’re talking with anyone in your lane before you do anything that’s going to affect his/her workout.

9. Here to Help? – Don’t mistake lifeguards for your personal pool concierges. Although they’re able to make suggestions on which lane to pick, it’s not in their primary duties to count your laps. Use them if necessary, but remember that they’re here to guard.

10. Not so Fast! – Water walking, aqua jogging, and just plain slow swimming can be a great workout. We just ask that you stick to our West (building side) lane if you’re coming during peak times.

11. The Waiting Game – Can’t bring yourself to share? You’re more than welcome to wait for a lap lane all to yourself. Just remember, this isn’t guaranteed. Once you get your own spot, there is nothing wrong with someone coming to share with you. Play nice.

Think you know everything there is to know about Midtown? Whether you’ve belonged to the club for years, or you’re enjoying your first month as a member, I think at least one thing on this list will surprise you.
I asked Midtown managers and staff about the services, amenities, classes, and general features of the club that they feel are under-utilized simply because members might not know about them.

Here’s what they had to say.MORE