by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
After way too many trips to the larder, the holidays are over. The struggle to get up out of a chair tells us we didn’t let too many trays pass by during the two-week bacchanalia of baked goods.
Sadly, by the 13th day of Christmas we had acquired a profile that resembled Marlon Brando’s. It’s clearly time to dead lift some serious weight instead of another wedge of fruit cake.
The YMCA of Florida’s First Coast seemed a good place to see how many others had resolved to get into shape in 2004.
All the equipment was there, on the ground floor of the Bank of America tower on Laura Street. Free weights, of course. And rows of gleaming Cybex Strength Systems to work those generous abs, flaccid tris and nonexistent bis.
We expected to hear the clanging of weights, shouts of encouragement, a rhythmic disco beat. We heard the air conditioner hiss in the nearly empty room.
It was, admittedly, “a very slow morning,” said Whitney Linn, membership assistant for the Y. Only six people had showed up between 6 and 9. No one was going for the burn at 10.
Monday, however, promised more activity. It is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year, Linn said, as old members and new compete for workout time on the 13 pieces of Cybex equipment.
The busiest times are 6 to 8 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. Of the 700 members, perhaps as many as 100 will be at the Y at those times.
The Arlington Family YMCA on Fort Caroline Road was actually busier Jan. 1 than it was on Jan. 2, said Jennie Rankin, who was working the front desk.
“We were surprised how many we had come through on Thursday,” she said. “Last year was the first year we were open on New Year’s Day, but we did it at the last minute. This year we publicized we would be open. So maybe that’s the reason.”
The Y also attracts “a lot of regulars and seniors,” Rankin said. The numbers that show up to exercise stays fairly constant “since the holiday is just another day.”
She and those at other Y locations expect to see a lot of new members over the next few months. The trick is finding ways to keep them coming back.
“If they’re not engaged, we’ll lose them by April or May,” said Rankin.
To keep new customers committed to fitness, the Y started a program last year that tries “to create a habit, a lifestyle change, to hopefully retain the numbers you get on your big pushes, like New Year’s,” she said.
The “Coach Approach” is a program that falls between having a personal trainer and not having one. Members meet with their wellness coach, and the necessary information is put into a computer. Coaches help members reach their goals by scheduling activities and exercises that members enjoy doing.
“If you hate the treadmill, for instance, that wouldn’t be part of your cardio,” said Rankin. “Tennis . . . or walking or jogging around the neighborhood would count for some of the things that are part of your workout.”
Clients would meet about every two weeks with their coaches, who would monitor the progress made over eight months or so. If clients want to revise the program, their coach will help them do it.
The Coach Approach program is free and comes with the membership.
“You’re not paying for a personal trainer,” said Rankin, “but it’s like getting one.”
The Yates Family YMCA on Riverside Avenue saw a reasonable amount of activity on Friday, even though “it’s still sort of a holiday,” said Branch Director Mike O’Brien.
“We’re busy right now,” he said, “but not to the point where we’ll be on Monday. That is sort of D-Day for us. Big Monday is when the new resolutions kick in full gear.”
The Y anticipates being “as busy as ever” over the next few months, O’Brien said. The staff will be busy retaining established members and maintaining new ones “in a life-changing commitment rather than a two- or three-month commitment.”
To do that, staff “will focus more on the psychological approach to wellness rather than the physiological,” said O’Brien.
That means less attention, he added, on the number of sit-ups and push-ups and more on “building long-term relationships and encouraging them in other ways” to stick with a fitness program.