Props to our own Ian Kay!!! - JP Fitness Forums

Jean-Paul · 01-17-2008, 09:18 PM

Looky what I found! One of our own moderators is a star!

Great job, Ian!

Quote:

Brookline gyms tap into New Year's resolution market - Brookline, MA - Brookline TAB

By Keith E. Jacobson/Staff Photographer

At the Coolidge Corner Gym, Ian Kay, personal trainer (right) works with Meghan Frazier.

Related Photos

Brookline gyms tap into New Year’s resolution market

By Jessica Scarpati/Staff writer

Wed Jan 16, 2008, 03:51 PM EST

Brookline -

The people who hang with Ian Kay are really a bunch of losers.
It’s not an insult. In fact, they’re competing to see who is the “biggest loser” among them.
Clients of the Coolidge Corner Gym personal trainer are competing to lose the most weight — a challenge modeled after the popular reality TV show, “The Biggest Loser” — and is just one of the varied promotions local gyms are using to reel in New Year’s resolution-makers.
“I kind of set deadlines for myself of where I want to be, but this makes it a little more out in the open,” said Meghan Frazier, 22, who hopes to lose 40 pounds long-term, but doesn’t expect to do so by the time the contest ends, April 1.

How to keep your New Year’s resolution
Ian Kay, a certified personal trainer at the Coolidge Corner Gym, shares his failsafe tips to keep your motivation to hit the gym:
· Find a workout partner. You’re about 10 times as likely to go if a friend is waiting for you.
· Have an exercise plan. Your time will be maximized if you know what to do next.
· Make sure the plan is short and intense — 45 minutes should be enough. No need to spend all day in there!
· When you feel strapped for time, add up the number of hours of TV you watch versus how many you spend in the gym. Now take away one or two of your least favorite shows and get to the gym. You’re not missing anything special!
· Realize that working out is a preventative of future problems like heart attacks, weak bones and back problems.
· There are kosher, lactose-intolerant, vegan and time-short nutritional options for fat loss and muscle gain. Don’t feel restricted!

Frazier, a recent Emmanuel College graduate and Cleveland Circle resident, said she is unsure whether she would take home the first-place trophy and $100 prize, but knows she’ll look smokin’ by the time she goes on vacation to Ireland in March.
“It’s all in good fun,” she said.
And that’s the most important thing, said Kay, a certified personal trainer with the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
“People have a hard time [working out] — they bring their iPod, watch their mini TVs and hope time will fly by and you’ll forget it ever happened,” said Kay, 30, a Watertown resident. “This will make it a little more fun.”
Lisa Johnson, who owns Studio Elle Pilates in Coolidge Corner, has adopted the same attitude.
She just held her “Happy New Rear” class last weekend — “which is just cheesy goodness all around,” Johnson said — and is already gearing up for the second annual “Super Bowl QuadSpin” classes on Feb. 3.
The 90-minute, $40 class that can accommodate only four people at a time promises a 750-calorie burn while “bopping away to happy, upbeat football stadium music.”
“All of our training always has a sense of humor to it. Pilates people can take themselves a little too seriously sometimes,” Johnson said. “We tend to get focused on talking about breathing and posture … and I know that my clients just want a smaller butt.”
Meanwhile, Beacon Hill Athletic Club in Brookline Village is short on puns, but still faring well this time of year.
“Obviously, there’s a renewed interest in getting healthy this time of year,” said Manager Zane Craft. “Especially here in Boston, it’s very seasonal for the gym business. Days like [Monday], with the snowstorm, people can’t work out outside.”
Back at the Coolidge Corner gym, Kay said only a half-dozen have signed up for the contest so far, but have until Jan. 31 to join by sending an e-mail to losethefat@hotmail.com.
Contestants’ weight loss will be measured over an eight-week period. The winner will be whoever lost the most percentage of his or her starting weight.
“So many people really, really need that goal date. They like the idea of being pulled along,” Kay said. “If they just abstractly feel, ‘I need to get in shape,’ they can always find reasons to put that off.”
Unlike the TV show, there is no secluded mansion with platters of pastries beside carts of carrots. There is no group weigh-in — just a minimum of three sessions with Kay.
“I’d been working out with Ian for a while now — at least six months — and I thought, no better time than the New Year to rejuvenate that old New Year’s resolution,” said Avi Goldberg, 32, a Brookline resident who hoped to lose 20 pounds.
“I’ve never felt better,” he added. “I wouldn’t classify myself as overweight, but I just wanted to get more fit. It’s not about winning the contest — it’s about feeling good.”
Mayshe Schwartz, a Chabad rabbi and father of five, has already lost 30 pounds working out with Kay, but said he would like to shed another 20 for the contest.
“I’m always ready for a good challenge,” said Schwartz, a St. Paul Street resident who meets with Kay once per week and returns to the gym other days for a cardio workout. “There’s a lot of motivation for why we should be in better shape, but there’s no substitute for just going down and doing it.”
Before Schwartz embarked on his weight-loss journey, he said exercise seemed like “an insurmountable hill” and that even tying his shoelaces was difficult.
“I remember one time, I was trying to chase my kids and I almost pulled a hamstring. You need to be able to chase your kids without getting hurt,” he said. “I thought, ‘God forbid, what if he runs into the street?’”
Jessica Scarpati can be reached at jscarpat@cnc.com.