Read What They’re Saying About The Training Station

The following is written on page 116 of the Summer 2010 issue of Philadelphia Style magazine:

“Hit the ground running at the window-filled Training Station at the Piazza at Schmidts. The high-tech fitness facility boasts iPod-ready cardio machines that let you navigate your music library using touch screen TV’s, a diagnostic test that captures video images of your ankles and arches while running to determine the best sneaker for your foot and Olympic-grade workout equipment like a rowing machine that uses water resistance instead of wind. Owner and fitness trainer Phil Clark, who is getting ready to compete in the 2012 Olympics, will even track your training progress and record it on a USB drive.”

Starting

The Training Station regularly signs-up people who join to start exercising for the first time, or to resume exercising after a very long hiatus. I tell them to aim for 10 minutes of aerobic exercise on any machine.

Then I tell them to go home.

It’s difficult to predict a person’s response to exercise. What’s expected are things like a lower blood pressure and a lower weight. But muscle strain and soreness could also occur. An untrained person is more susceptible to injury than a more experienced exerciser. To reduce the risk, the new exerciser should do a bare minimum of exercise – 10 minutes of aerobic exercise – for the first week or two. If something goes wrong, it will be minimally so. After this “break-in” period, increasingly longer workouts may be done.

In addition to the 10-minute aerobic workout, the new exerciser should create the stretching routines that they will do before and after workouts.

In the beginning, 10 minutes and stretching is enough.

Stretching Yourself

Photo Credit: Andy Newson

A habit worth developing is stretching before and after working out. But the kind of stretching should be different each time.

There are dynamic and static stretches. Dynamic stretches require movement. Static stretches are essentially motionless — a position is reached and held for some amount of time.

Dynamic stretches help prepare the body for exercise. They increase the rate of blood flow to the muscles, improve coordination and concentration, and raise the rate of respiration and heart rate. Static stretches are relaxing, even soothing. They cause a feeling of bodily relaxation, as opposed to the alertness caused by dynamic stretches. Static stretches are therefore good to do after a workout.

A few minutes of dynamic and static stretches will improve any workout.

Phil can show you an effective dynamic stretching series of exercises and give you the best static stretch you can possibly have.

It’s A Great Day to Exercise

Rainy days, like today in Northern Liberties Philadelphia, pretty much eliminate outside activities. If you’re going to be stuck inside, be inside of The Training Station! We all need at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity and two total-body strength workouts each week. Get started today. Phil Clark, our resident Olympic-athlete-in-training, will be looking for you.

The Training Station’s Sunday hours are 7AM to 8PM.