City Fitness’ own Elena has offered her services as a stylist at 25% off for all City Fitness Members. This generous offer is redeamable when you present your membership card at your appointment.

MODERATE INSTENSITY

8:00 am to 10:00 am

ONLY 20 CYCLES AVAILABLE

FIRST COME FIRST BASIS

TO REGISTER:  Submit an e-mail to Events@CityFitnessPhilly.com and be sure to include the name of 3 songs from any genre.  The music mix for the workout will be comprised of the songs chosen from your list.  If you send an e-mail but do not send the music, you will not be registered.  Once you are registered, I will forward a confirmation by email.

It’s a lot of fun, come and join us.

Set your alarm and start your day off with this physically invigorating and mentally relaxing blend of postures that create strength, flexibility and stability. Learn breathing techniques that will leave you energized and refreshed for the remainder of the day.

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We  invite ALL members

to come Enjoy

FREE FOOD

LIVE MUSIC

RAFFLES

Bring a friend for a FREE 30-day pass and show them what a great gym is all about.

We Hope you’ll come out and party with us!!!!

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Starting next week, we will be offering new classes for you to enjoy during your lunch hour.

Working out during a lunch break is growing in popularity, and it really is a fun and easy way to get more physical activity into your life

Although it’s going to take a little bit of planning and some coordination,  it can be done and it’s often easier than you think.

One tip is to plan the days you will be working out and make sure you’ve packed your gym bag with everything you need for the day. Also, wear work clothes that make it easy for you to change, and bring a brown-bag lunch.

Nothing is impossible and staying healthy is important so lets Sweat and Jet on your lunch break!

Time: 12:05pm to 12:55pm

Tuesdays: Zumba

Wednesdays: Spinning

Thursdays: Body Combat

Monday – Friday: WeFit

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As the anticipation rises, we are excited about having 2 locations to serve you!  Coming soon, City Fitness will be opening a new location in the Graduate Hospital area:  2101 South St. Philadelphia, PA 19146

We are so thrilled about the opening of this new location and want to give you a SPECIAL OFFER

2 Week FREE Membership

Expires 6/30/11

*Restrictions may apply. Call club for details.

While we strive to help you achieve your personal fitness goals amenities will vary by location

Northern Liberties Location:

• Strength Equipment & Free Weights
• State-of-the-Art Cardio Equipment each
• w/ 15” Personalized Flat Screen TV’s
• 30-minute Express Workout Area
• Tanning and Towel Service
• Men’s and Women’s Saunas
• The Best Personal Trainers in the City
• Group Exercise Classes such as Yoga, Spinning, Bootcamp,
• Core, Zumba, Assorted Dance Classes and Much More!

215.717.7902

Graduate Hospital Location Features:

• Strength Equipment & Free Weights
• State-of-the-Art Cardio Equipment each
• w/ 15” Personalized Flat Screen TV’s
• 30-minute Express Workout Area
• Tanning and Towel Service
• Men’s and Women’s Saunas
• The Best Personal Trainers in the City
• Group Exercise Classes such as Yoga, Spinning, Bootcamp,
• Core, Zumba, Assorted Dance Classes and Much More!

215.717.7904

For more info check out our website: www.cityfitnessphilly.com

FYI: Student memberships for the summer

$125 for 3months

Post-workout euphoria can leave you feeling pumped to conquer the world – until the next morning, when you can barely walk to the bathroom or lift an arm to brush your teeth.

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Such are the painful rewards of delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, a result of microscopic tears to muscle fibers that occur when you run faster, lunge deeper, crunch harder or lift more than usual. The damage ignites an inflammatory response as the muscle repairs itself, causing pain that peaks 24 to 48 hours after the activity and dissipates in five to seven days, said Carol Torgan, a health consultant and fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine.

Contrary to popular belief, next-day soreness is not caused by a build-up of lactic acid, a normal byproduct of muscle metabolism responsible for the burn you feel during exercise, Torgan said. Lactic acid quickly leaves your muscles afterward, she said.

Enter the ache

DOMS is most common after a new activity or exercises involving “eccentric muscle contractions,” which is when the muscle lengthens as it contracts, such as when you lower the weight in bicep curls or run downhill, Torgan said.

Next-day soreness is usually a good thing. The tear-and-repair process forces the muscle to adapt, so the next time you do the same exercise there’s less damage, less soreness and less recovery time – basically, you’re stronger.

“If you don’t get muscle damage, you don’t get muscle growth,” said Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a retired physician and former professor at Georgetown University Medical School who now runs a health news site at drmirkin.com. “If you want to grow and gain strength, you have to get sore.”

How to handle it

Sore muscles heal faster if you just rest, but when you exert slight pressure on sore muscles, such as through light running, biking or very light weight lifting, you cause the muscle fibers to become more fibrous, so they can later withstand greater stress during your harder workouts, he said. It’s a delicate balance.

No one knows for sure how much damage is necessary to get the muscle to adapt, said Priscilla Clarkson, distinguished professor of kinesiology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, but she said some soreness is probably optimal. Too much soreness can be counterproductive because the longer it takes for the muscles to rebuild, the longer you have to wait to resume your workouts. Extreme soreness can be dangerous.

In January, a heavy workout sent 13 University of Iowa football players to the hospital suffering from rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which the proteins from muscle breakdown flood the bloodstream and impair kidney function. Independent experts who reviewed the cases cited a squat exercise as the activity that likely pushed them into the danger zone.

Your best bet to mitigate soreness is to gradually build up to strenuous exercise with lighter versions of the activity over several days prior, Clarkson said.  Dr. Lee Kaplan, head team physician for the University of Miami athletics department and medical director for the Florida Marlins, said his prescription for players feeling sore after a workout is a regimen of adequate sleep, plentiful hydration and a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and high-value proteins.   Ice baths, massage and stretching also can help, he said, and he tries not to push anti-inflammatory drugs, because in hot and humid environments they can put pressure on the kidneys.

Kaplan advocates active recovery for his players, with lighter workouts while muscles are sore, because just sitting back and resting can cause muscles to get stiff.  And for weekend warriors, he advises a reality check. Many high-level athletes are genetically blessed with bodies that repair and recover quickly, so people shouldn’t try to emulate the pros who bounce back to the field or court so quickly.

“A patient will tell me that this player in the newspaper got better right away,” Kaplan said. “But high-level athletes are just that. Some of them make their living with their ability to recover.”

Training lessons

Rather than curse your inability to walk down the stairs, Dr. Gabe Mirkin, an avid bicycle racer, recommends using soreness as a guide to training.

On a day of high-intensity exercise, push yourself to a burn, then back off, push back up to the burn and back off again, repeating until your muscles start to feel stiff, then quit for the day.

Depending on how sore your muscles feel the next day, take the day off or exercise at a very slow pace.  Exercise at a reduced intensity, not attaining burn, for as many days as it takes for the soreness to go away completely.

Always Stay Safe!

Congratulations to our overall winner Ami Badami. Ami will be awarded $600 of personal training and a day at the spa, courtesy of Posh Studio at 163 W. Girard Ave. in Fishtown.

The Winning Team:

• Laura Bradley
• Jim Quinlan
• Megan McIntyre
• Annie Tacchino
• Kaitlan Philippa
• Coach Carl Geiger

Top 5

We thank all the participants of the WeFit Weight Loss Challenge for your time, effort and dedication.   Unfortunately, there can be only one winner, however; we are very proud of all of the participants for their hard work.   We watched these people transform over a 6 week period.

Now that the challenge is over we encourage all participants and even non-participants to continue pursuing your fitness goals.  We only have one body and it is important to stay healthy all the time not just for those bikinis and muscle shirts.

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In this day and age it can be hard to eat healthy. With your busy schedule, especially if you have children, many people find it easier to grab whatever is the quickest and deal with the health consequences later.    The problem with dealing with the consequences of unhealthy eating habits is that later is actually closer than you might think.  Our unhealthy eating choices will eventually catch up with us.   Well for the sake of time and money, make your own healthy snacks and ensure a diet free of chemical additives that are detrimental to health.  It’s easy to make simple concoctions like home-made frozen fruit pops, apple sauce, fruit salad, home-made banana muffins, or carrot muffins.  All you need is the right shopping list and focus on the goal at hand (staying healthy) that means no double stuffed Oreo’s as a bed time snack…..

One way is to make foods that can be taken with you on the go. This can be done after grocery shopping by sorting the fridge to construct places for healthy snacks that are forefront and noticeable.

Keep a stock of  green veggies like: celery and green beans. Don’t forget about the cauliflower and carrots too. This way you will always be able to create a vegetable platter or a quick grab-and-go snack.  Another simple colorful snack can be made by just grabbing a few skewers,cherry tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, mushrooms, and cucumbers onto each stick.

Or how about trying fruits and chopping up a bright selection of your favorite summer fruits, and even drizzle a bit of lemon juice to give it a little extra kick?

Summer is the best season to make frozen fruit combinations. Grab some grapes, berries, melon, or whatever fruit you prefer, and pop it into your freezer.  Just snack on it during the day to get a flavorful treat.

Or maybe, pour some 100% fruit juice into an ice cube tray, and then cover the tray with plastic wrap. Next, put a toothpick or Popsicle stick into each section, and wait for the ice-pops to freeze. Finally, remove the plastic wrap and you’ll have a tray of delicious summer snacks.  Better yet, why not add chunks of fruit, or perhaps blend up fresh fruit with the fruit juice instead, before placing in your trays to freeze.  Whatever your taste buds desire!!!

Remember your body will only be as good as you treat it, so take some time, save some money and STAY HEALTHY!!