Category Archives: Excel Fitness News

Gift Certificate Raffle

Mission Statement

Excel Fitness provides an enthusiastic attitude and energized environment devoted to the customers’ needs and their short and long-term goals. With a strong sense of community and respect, you’ll find a non-intimidating environment committed to providing a safe, fun and effective place to work out. Excel Fitness offers personal, group and small group training with highly educated and health conscious training staff. With registration, we interview all new members to review health history, lifestyle and goals, uncovering underlying motivations for change and triggers that may result in program derailment.  We utilize optional, nutrition and diet software for tracking clients’ diet, exercise, and personal goals. You will learn how to  exercise with proper body alignment, breathing, load progression and fatigue recommendations, whether with your own body weight, free weights or on machines.  At Excel Fitness, we believe self-care and self-love are not selfish.  Self-care is necessary to being the best you for the others you live and work with. Even if you are only trying to maintain your health, by not regressing you will be ahead of the person who never starts a program.  Additionally, the emotional benefits of exercise will have you leaving each exercise session feeling accomplished and energized.

NEW ONE-ON-ONE VIRTUAL TRAINING

Do you have gym equipment at home that is not being used? Do you feel intimidated by going to a gym because you don’t know what to do?

Excel Fitness now offers individual virtual training sessions at a reasonable cost. Your trainer will give you a demonstration of each exercise and watch closely to be sure you are maintaining proper form. We will help you with achieving the most benefit out of the least amount of equipment you may have or we can help you purchase the necessities.

Call for more information or to set up a complimentary session.

SERVICES

Excel Fitness offers several different membership options. The most popular is the All Access Membership. This membership entitles you to use the gym at any time from 5am-2am, 365 days a year. We also offer a month-to-month option.

Excel Fitness is a member of several insurance based fitness options, such as Silver Sneakers, Renew Active, Active and Fit and Silver and Fit. These memberships allow access to the gym during staffed hours, with the option to purchase a fob, at discount, for full access.

We also offer a student membership to full-time students, with a valid school ID. This membership allows access to the gym during staffed hours only and is good for 6 months, with the option to automatically renew, or to temporarily freeze it and resume when the student returns to campus.

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER:

GIFT CERTIFICATES

SPECIALS
TRAINERS
TOY DRIVE
WEATHER
AIR FILTERS/MAINTENANCE



GIFT CERTIFICATES

Need a stocking stuffer for family or a friend?  We are giving out for FREE, gift certificates to our clients and members that can be given to any friend or family member just in time for the Holidays!

These certificates entitle the recipient to a free one-month membership and one hour of personal training (Value of $120.)  Additionally, if the person you give the certificate to joins Excel Fitness or buys personal training (4 hours or more), you will receive one hour of personal training from us, a value of $75! *

Need more incentive to share the gift of health at Excel?!  From now until February 28, 2022 if your guest redeems your gift certificate you will be entered into our Gift Certificate Raffle.  One lucky winner will receive a choice of a:

YETI COOLER

JBL Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker

BOSE Sport Earbuds**

SPECIAL PRICING ENDS December 31, 2021

SAVE UP TO $16/hr. ON PERSONAL TRAINING

SAVE UP TO $160 ON MEMBERSHIPS

Remember that the new member and the personal training specials are good through the end of the month. Regular pricing will resume on January 1. You can buy a package now and save it for when your current one is used up! These are both great values, so act fast.

TRAINERS

It has come to our attention that some former staff members have been contacting our members and telling them that they are still employed by Excel on a limited basis and asking if they would like to buy in-home training.  These trainers do not represent Excel Fitness and they are certainly not under any of our liability insurances. At the present time, the only trainers we have actively on staff are Jeff, Stephanie C, Eli and Stephanie T. Please let us know if you receive any suspicious calls or emails.

TOY DRIVE

The toy drive has ended and we collected over 20 toys. These were donated to a West Hartford organization that works directly with needy children locally, called Friends of Feeny. Your generosity will make many children happier this holiday season.  Thank you!

INCLEMENT WEATHER

Before we know it, the snow will be flying. We will send out an email blast if we are not opening or if we are closing early due to bad weather.  The decision is usually made the night before, if you want to be notified be sure your email is up to date with us in our system.

If you have a fob, you may still use the gym, but please be sure to be very careful in the parking lot and as always do not let anyone into the building.

AIR PURIFIERS/MAINTENANCE

Air Filters

We greasing and tuning up all of our machines and have replaced all the filters on the air purifier systems we installed earlier this year, so you can be assured that your health is at the forefront of our minds. Please continue to wipe down any equipment you use so we can all be safe.  If you are not feeling well stay home and wear a mask to the gym if you are well enough.

HOLIDAY HOURS

Happy Holidays

We will be staffed on Friday, December 24 9:00AM-12:00PM                                         

We will be closed on Christmas.  MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

    Snowman

 Of course, members with fobs can use the gym any time on those days from 5am-2am.

*Some restrictions apply to guests, first time visitors, 18 years old or older, staffed hours only.  Additional restrictions may apply.
** Value of prizes available $140-$199.  Prize value not to exceed $199

Calling All Runners! Come Try Our New Xebex Treadmills (For Free)

XEBEX Runner Curved Treadmills @

Want to run faster and stay injury-free?

Treadmills. Ugh! More like dreadmills, right? Well, if you’re not a fan of the typical indoor run on a typical motorized treadmill, but you still want to improve your running efficiency, then EXCEL FITNESS is here to help.  We have top of the line, self-propelled, Xebex Runner treadmills ready for you to use… for free. No need to be signed up for a HIIT class. Just bring in one of our postcards for a complimentary 2-week use of our gym and a 60-minute personal training session with one of our dedicated trainers.

EXCEL FITNESS is excited to help you improve your interval program and become a better runner in a comfortable environment. Running on a Xebex will help you burn approx. 30% more calories (compared to a regular treadmill).

“Xebex Runner is a non-motorized, self-generated, curved treadmill. Using no electricity, and instead running on the energy produced by the runner’s own movement on the treadmill. Beginners and competitors can run at desired speed and change output at will with no maximum or minimum speed setting.” – Xebex website


Find us at 589 New Park Ave in West Hartford ▪ www.excelfitnessCT.com

We are open M-F 7AM to 7 PM; Sat 8 AM to 2 PM; and Sun 9 AM to Noon

December 2016 Member Spotlight: SUSAN OMILIAN

Susan is the Project Director of Never Going Back to Abuse Project for Connecticut Alliance for Victims and Violence and Their Families, Inc., (CT-ALIVE), a non-profit organization which supports her free workshops and programs for women who have been abused. Her business is called the Thriver Zone, and she conducts free workshops and programs for women who have experienced abuse, helping them take the journey from victim to survivor to thriver.

Susan currently teaches fiction and non-fiction classes at West Hartford Adult Education Program and the senior centers in Manchester and South Windsor. She has also taught writing at Windsor Historical Society and Bristol Wellness Center.

She loves writing fiction, and we are excited to announce that her first novel will be published next spring!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR FITNESS?
I have always exercised to control my weight and now to manage stress. As I get older I find that weight training and stretching is good for me.

HOW HAS EXCEL HELPED YOU MOVE CLOSER TO YOUR GOALS?
Heather has been a dream of a trainer. She keeps me motivated to come to weekly training. She has helped me to build my muscle strength and deal with recent auto accident injuries. I like how it feels after I do training with her.

“A goal is a dream with a deadline” ~ Napoleon Hill
I may never reach my dream weight and stay there, but having a fitness goal – like coming to train once a week – is important to keep me moving forward.

_____________________________________________________________

Susan is an attorney who practiced family and employment discrimination in the past. She worked for the CT state government for 11 years. Sue  also writes non-fiction books including legal books on sex discrimination  and the work she has done with women. She likes to travel (mostly doing it now to speak and present at  national and international conferences for her work).

Personal Performance Trainers and High School Athletes

This is a guest post from one of our personal training clients, Samantha Cloud.

It is no news to most high school coaches that the number of top-level high school athletes using personal trainers has surged in the past decade. This rise has many high school coaches questioning the need and the effectiveness of player’s personal trainers beyond their high school team’s strength and conditioning coaches. Another concern is that these personal trainers are simply using their connections with elite high school athletes to insert themselves into the recruiting process. Having had a personal training throughout my high school athletic career, this topic hits close to home.

Looking for a competitive edge

Personal performance-based trainers are most prevalent among high school football players. This is largely the result of the intense competition for Football Bowl Subdivision scholarships, which has encouraged athletes to specialize in sports much earlier. Many personal trainers argue that this specialization has created a need for performance-based training because athletes no longer get the balanced training of playing multiple sports. With this specialization, hiring a personal trainer to create year-round sport-specific customized workouts seems like the obvious next step.

Other athletes are turning to personal trainers for injury prevention and, when necessary, physical therapy. For highly competitive high school and college athletes, the risk of injury can be quite high. These injuries can occur from poor technique, insufficient warm ups, or improper training programs designed for large pools of athletes and not calibrated to an individual athlete’s needs. This is where personal trainers can come into play, designing specialized workouts calibrated to an individual athlete’s physical advantages and disadvantages, helping each athlete achieve that competitive edge.

The inevitable coaches conflict

Many high school coaches see a natural conflict with player’s having their own performance-based trainers. To many coaches, outside personal training is unnecessary for high school players and simply results in one more person coming between the high school athlete and the high school coach. For many players, however, their relationship with their personal trainer is more enduring than with their high school coaches. This was the case for me.

After suffering from a shoulder injury, I realized I needed a more personalized strength and conditioning program that I could work on outside of practice. I turned to Jeff Roux. After watching Jeff work with my parents for years, I figured I would give him a shot. First, he assessed my weaknesses and the extent of my injury. He worked with me to set goals, both long-term and short-term goals, and developed a specialized training program targeting specific areas I needed to improve in.

For me, my trainer was able to give me specific and personalized attention that my high school coaches were unable to provide. Without Jeff, I’m not sure how long, if ever, it would have taken to get my pre-injury performance and my pre-injury mindset back.

The controversial advantage of personal trainers outside of high school sports will continue to grow as more and more high school athletes look for this competitive advantage. In the end, it’s up to the athlete and his or her parents to decide if a personal trainer is worth the investment. If you ask me, it is.

Written by,

Samantha Cloud

Here’s a link to this article: http://www.triumphteambuilding.com/blog/personal-performance- trainers-and- high-school-athletes

June 2016 Member Spotlight: Claudia Jacobson

I’m a single (and ready to mingle) 63 year old mother of 3 and grandmother of 6 (so far). I work as the Head Technician for a local ophthalmologist and have been doing it for almost 25 years. I love to travel and spend time with the grand kids. I’m often a homebody though and enjoy reading, doing puzzles and yes, watching good TV!

I grew up in a time when girls weren’t really encouraged to be active. As a result, by my teen years I began to struggle with my weight. After my 3rd child was born, fitness was becoming popular and I joined several work out classes at the local Jewish Community Center.  I lost the baby weight and was getting stronger. But over time, my weight started creeping up again.

When I was divorced, I quickly lost a lot of weight (not the greatest way to do it), and was at my lowest weight since before I had kids.  I realized that I had to do something so as to not gain it back again. Due to several ankle injuries (thanks to step classes), I couldn’t keep doing the classes I liked.  My sister-in-law introduced me to Shawn, who she knew from Bally’s.  He was also doing in-home training at the time, and we worked out in my house for almost 2 years.  Then he and Jeff opened Excel Fitness and I was one of the original training members.

I’m not much of a gym person, but I worked hard at my sessions and found I could do things I never thought possible. I supplemented my training with at home treadmill and elliptical work, along with yoga DVDs. After Shawn left, I split my 1 hour of training between Jeff and Ilicia and I actually liked the variety of working with 2 different trainers.  They never trained me like my age– they kept after me to keep going. I kept the weight off for about 7 years, but as before, it started creeping up again, gaining about 2-3 lbs/yr.  My theory was- “It’s ok.  I’m healthy.”  I was working out hard, but felt that I could eat more because of it.

Last summer, my last child got engaged and I knew I had to do something different.  I had reached the point on the scale that I swore I’d never want to see again. I wanted to look as good at his wedding as I did at the other 2.  I finally realized that exercise wasn’t enough, and I joined a weight loss program, that interestingly, requires you not to work out for the first 6-8 weeks, because of very low caloric intake. In just under 3 months I have lost 22 lbs. I couldn’t wait to get back to exercising! I think I finally understand the importance of working out and eating right!

Presently, I work ½ hour with Jeff and ½ hour with Heather and they’ve been very understanding and supportive. They continue to train me like I was 25 years old and get the best out of this girl who always hated exercising!

NEW: ALL ACCESS GROUP CLASS

We are exceptionally excited to announce the start of our All Access group classes at Excel Fitness! These classes will be unique to the area in many ways:

1. Our classes are not traditional start/stop on the hour time slots. They will be blocks of ongoing circuits two and half hours long. Each 30 minute circuit has 9 stations which includes an active warm-up and full body workout.
2. Each station’s exercise will have three variations to accommodate beginners and special needs all the way to expert athletes.
3. Classes will be thoughtfully planned out in advance and will keep to weekly themes including balance, strength, tempo, iso and unilateral movement patterns, etc.
4. Trainers have the education and experience you have known to love and expect at Excel Fitness.

In a nutshell, Excel All Access Classes are:

• Circuits that can be completed in 30 minutes burning up to 500 calories per time through. The circuit can be repeated if desired.
• Certified Personal Trainers will instruct and motivate you through the circuit. A buzzer will notify the class when it’s time to move to the next station. Each station will have a beginner, intermediate, and advanced options for that exercise making it easier for every fitness level to get a great workout and have fun!
• Ongoing throughout the designated time. Show up at any time during the period and begin. You are never late for a class because a new circuit begins approximately every 3 minutes.
• F-U-N! Most circuit stations can be done with a friend or a partner, making it more exciting!

Class hours:
Morning sessions are 7:00 to 9:30 AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and 8:30-11:00 Saturday.
Evening sessions are 5:00 to 7:30 PM every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Class Rates(Unlimited Visits): Bring a friend during the Free Trial Period!
Member and active training clients: $40.00 per month.
Non members: $65.00 per month.

Compare that to local classes offered at $100-$200/month.

For any questions, call the gym at: 860-523-8167 or e-mail: info@excelfitnessct.com

Ready for Shipping!

Thank you for your generosity. We are shipping this year’s second batch of gently used shoes to Africa!

Over the years, we have donated hundreds of pairs to rerunshoes.com. These shoes are kept out of America’s landfills and are given new life in other parts of the world!

For more information, visit http://www.rerunshoes.com/

April 2016: Member Spotlight: Marilyn Waters

working the bent row

You won’t hear a lot of women say, “I LOVE lifting heavy!”. April’s Member of the Month, Marilyn Waters, is one of those few. She finds time to come in and train with Pat three time a week while juggling work as a massage therapist and spending time with her big family of eight (2 grand kitties included). When the weather is nice, she goes cruising the back roads of Connecticut and Massachusetts on her beautiful little 1964 Slab Side Shelby Cobra. She also enjoys whipping up delicious meals in the kitchen – in fact she started baking bread at a very young age of 10!

It’s not about being the best…it’s about being better than you used to be.”

Marilyn joined Excel in 2009. She didn’t start with expectations in mind. No “I want to be this or that”. It was more “What can I master or conquer next?”, and each personal trainer that she has since worked with helped her uncover abilities she didn’t know she had. When asked to do something that seemed difficult, her mind immediately says “Oh, NO WAY!” so not to disappoint, she does it anyway. It gives her an amazing feeling knowing she has accomplished something she didn’t think she could. That, and keeping dark places in her head at bay, is one of the many reasons she keeps working out. She loves the feeling of peace and calm that comes after a great workout in Excel, where she has always felt welcome and never out of place. Being in a smaller, personable gym makes her feel at ease, especially when she was just starting. She was feeling overweight and a little out of place then – but she didn’t feel intimidated in our gym.

Marilyn has come a long way since then. From mastering sit-ups to finishing a quarter marathon (“I got passed by a three-legged dog and a guy pushing a baby carriage, BUT I finished!”), she and Pat are now working on improving her balance and building strength.

She has this to say about her trainer:

Marilyn with her trainer Pat

Pat has helped me discover that my body likes to lift. I love that he has mapped out a plan for me and I don’t have to think about how much weight to put on the bar or where to set a machine – if I were to do it myself, I would never work as hard. He is great at motivating and encouraging me to work hard and accomplish things I didn’t know I could. He is incredibly patient and able to switch things up immediately when something hurts and he will always adapt an exercise to accommodate one of my many little injuries while still working toward our goals. We’re working toward being able to do unassisted pull-ups (so if I fall off a cliff, I can pull myself back up – but only if I can get an underhand grip!!!), every step closer to that feels great. But for me the best part is that moment when I realize I just lifted what I couldn’t last week – it makes me feel strong, powerful, and empowered. I can’t thank Pat enough for helping me experience that. 

Patrick adds:

I have been working with Marylin for almost a year and she has made amazing progress working towards her goals of a leaner body, increased strength and overall feeling better! She originally started training with two hour sessions per week and has worked up to three hours weekly. Marylin is one of my hardest working clients and always gives 110% effort! She can squat over 200 lbs and bench press 135 lbs! She can also do over 30 consecutive push-ups and can hold a plank for almost 5 minutes. Marylin has been awesome to work with and I hope to continue to train with her and help her to reach even greater goals!

March 2016: Member Spotlight: Tom Hine

Tom Hine puts a lot of value on his health as evidenced by his faithfully going to the gym almost every day to get on the bike for 45 minutes. His orthopedic issues (replacement knee and two rebuild shoulders) and his stroke don’t hinder him from pedaling away while watching the news on TV. He was diagnosed with diabetes last month and, being the positive person that he is, he is more motivated than ever to maintain his active lifestyle. He understands that with better food choices and portion control, exercising daily will help keep his weight and sugar level down, and hopefully prevent him from taking insulin. Being strong and healthy also allows him to enjoy his other passions including traveling the world with his wife and visiting his children and grandchildren in California and New Jersey. Photography is one of his hobbies that he enjoys while traveling. The picturesque cities of Europe and the splendid beaches of Mexico and the Cape are often featured in his photography. Tom retired in 2011 after having taught 7th grade English in West Hartford for 42 years.

This month’s featured member joined in 2009 and sees himself going to Excel for as long he can. Tom thinks it’s wonderful how our members are very friendly and fun to talk to. He commends our staff for being polite and helpful. We asked Tom what advice he would give to those looking to get started on an exercise regimen and he has this to say: “Don’t increase your workout too fast, especially for people my age (he will turn 70 in November). Listen to your body, and increase gradually so you don’t hurt yourself.”

Vitamin Z

Welcome to that special time of year, best characterized by the sniffling, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, body ache…FLU SEASON (among other illnesses)!!!!! Year after year we hear: “This is the worst flu season ever!” Ads from various drug stores and doctor’s offices urge the young and old to get their flu shot; while the shelves are routinely overstocked and repeatedly barren where the OTC analgesics reside.  There are many GOOD ways of protecting yourself from other people’s illness and amping up your immune system to handle any wayward germs that may make it past your best efforts:

To name a few:

  • Drink lots of water (64+ ounces/day)
  • Wash your hands every hour or more in hot water with anti-bacterial soap
  • Avoid sharing food, beverages, or other items that could be infected
  • At the gym, wipe down equipment before and after each use
  • Increase intake of vitamins A and C

This week I had my own bout with a particularly harsh stomach virus that left my so dehydrated after 10 hours that I ended up in the Emergency Room receiving 2 liters of IV fluids to replace what I had lost. I was told in the ER that I would probably feel sick for 4-5 days but after 48 hours, if a-symptomatic, I could return to work without fear of contaminating anyone else’s space.

I proceeded to doze in and out for the next 36-of-48 hours, which brings me to my point:

YOUR SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ALLY IN THE FIGHT FOR GOOD HEALTH THIS WINTER: VITAMIN Z!!!!

I promise, you can take all the Airborne, EmergenC, Multi-Vitamins, etc. you want to keep your immune system strong, but at the end of the day, SLEEP is the single best thing to boost your immune system and keep your body strong enough to fight off the crap Mother Nature continues to send our way!

If you do get sick: in addition to increased sleep, think protein and veggies! The same stuff that keeps you slim will keep most viruses and colds away. These “bugs” live on sugar (all carbs, especially wheat turn to sugar in your mouth). The more you can stay away from the “comfort foods” and stick to lean meats and veggies the quicker you will be back on your feet!

For more information on keeping yourself and loved ones healthy this Winter please speak with any of our Excel Fitness certified personal trainers (860) 523-8167.

By Ilicia Balaban, C.P.T.