fitness

Whether you need a little advice to get started or a comprehensive, personalized program, the Y can help! Work one-on-one with a certified personal trainer and design a customized exercise, fitness, sports or strength curriculum to meet your goals.

Single or multiple one-hour sessions are available. Discounts available for purchasing multiple sessions.

Must be a YMCA member to sign up for personal training. To sign up for personal training, contact the Batavia YMCA and we will pair you with a trainer to help you start on your road to success!

For more information on membership or personal training offered at the Genesee County YMCA, please contact us at 585-344-1664 or log onto our website at www.glowymca.org.

Press release:

What is your new year’s resolution? The idea to eat healthier and become more physically active sounds appealing, but in reality, it’s much easier said than done.

Between work time and family commitments, there doesn’t seem to be much time left at the end of the day to think about preparing a healthy meal or visiting the local fitness facility. Life seems to get in the way of achieving that new year’s resolution.

“Life” (and other factors) has played a huge role in the obesity epidemic in our County. According to Department of Health’s Obesity Statistics for Genesee County, the percentage of adults who are overweight or obese is 63.5  percent and that for children is 15.2 percent. These rates are slightly higher compared to the New York State rates, which are 59.3 percent and 14.5 percent, respectively.

Being obese and overweight doesn’t just end there. It increases a person's risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain types of cancer, and other medical issues. Along with the risks for life-shortening chronic diseases, being overweight contributes to poor mental health associated with shame, self-blame, low self-esteem, and depression.

To battle this problem locally, the Healthy Children and Families Coalition in Genesee County offers an eight-week family-based program called "Get Fit!"

This program makes exercising and eating right fun and realistic. Throughout the program, families will bond together through exercising, making healthy food choices, discovering simple and time-saving recipes that taste great, as well as learning how to eat right on a budget. 

Begin the New Year on a positive note by enrolling your family today. A new eight-week session begins on Wednesday, Jan. 17th through March 7th. Classes are held every Wednesday at 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the YMCA on East Main Street in Batavia.

If your family attends six of the eight classes your family will be entered to win a family pass to the YMCA.

It is a great time to start taking the steps to live a healthier life and doing so will make a positive difference in your life.

The Genesee County YMCA, Rochester Regional Health United Memorial Medical Center, Rotary Club of Batavia, Batavia City School District, Genesee County Health Department, City of Batavia Youth Bureau, Oakfield Family Medical Care, Insight Grants Development, and Fidelis Care are challenging all families to show commitment in becoming healthy in 2018!

For details, and to enroll, contact The Healthy Children and Families Coalition at 585-344-5420 or register online here.

YMCA OFFERS THE “GIFT OF GOOD HEALTH” THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! Looking for that last minute gift before Christmas is upon us? The Genesee County YMCA, located at 209 E. Main St. in Batavia, would like you to consider giving the “Gift of Good Health” this holiday season.

YMCA Gift Cards can be purchased now through Dec. 23rd, 2017 at the Genesee County YMCA, allowing people the opportunity to give a YMCA membership or program as a gift to loved ones or friends. A gift from the YMCA entitles a friend or family member to become part of an organization that believes in and promotes active and healthy lifestyles, progressive skills development, fair play, family, and character development.

The Genesee County YMCA offers a wide array of programs and services to meet the interests and needs of the entire family from memberships for youth, college students, families and seniors to swimming lessons, childcare, sports and summer camping, there is truly something for everyone at the Genesee County YMCA.

For more information on membership or programs offered at the Genesee County YMCA, please call (585-344-1664) or log on to our website at www.glowymca.org.

This morning the Batavia Kiwanis Club hosted its annual 5K race at Centennial Park in Batavia. More than 150 people participated. More than 30 sponsors locally contributed to the event with signs, food, drinks, T-shirts and prizes for top two finishers in each age group.

Pictured below is Nick Guarino who won the overall race with a time of 16:39 and his sister, Kristen Guarino, who was the first woman to win with a time of 20:26.

Top two finishers in each age group:

Male:

19 and under – Zak Jantzi 18:08, John Bruggman 19:43

20-29 – Nick Guarino 16:39, Collin Mulcahy 16:46

30-39 – EJ Boyce 16:54, Dave Bateman 19:43

40-49 – John Kirkwood 19:46, Joseph Ciecierega 20:55

50-59 – Kevin Sheenan 16:02, James Lane 18:29

60-69 – Frank Gioia 17:35, Rich Kutter 19:16

Female:

19 and under- Maggie Anderson 24:03, Emily Caccamise 26:40

20-29 – Kristen Guarino 20:26, Amanda James 24:03

30-39 – Ann Ball 21:02, Kristen Smith 23:49

40-49 – Heather Brondolillo 23:59, Nikki  Mikos 26:15

50-59 –Mary Scoins 26:20, Mary Nanni 26:28

60-69 – Janice Spiotta 20:39, Rosemary Cowan 24:04

This is the third 5K as part of the Genesee County Race Series sponsored by the United Way.

The next race is The Oatka on July 15^th and remaining races are:

Don Carroll Aug.19^th, Jaycees Labor Day Sept 4^th, Friends and Family Sept. 16^th, Run for the ACORNS on Oct. 1^st and YWCA Stiletto and Sneaker on Oct. 5^th.

For more photos click here: http://steveognibenephotography.zenfolio.com/p508367717

Today, the YMCA replaced all of its treadmills as part of a plan that rotates in new machines every year.

Since the treadmills tend to wear faster, its more cost effective to lease, rather than own, the treadmills, explained CEO Rob Walker.  

The Y will make approximately $100,000 in lease payments on the machines over the next three years.

At 42 years old, Bill Taylor thinks its important to stay in shape as he gets older. He needs more energy in his physically demanding job and just generally wants to feel better.

Oakfield Fitness and Cross-Training Center, with its full range of newer equipment and 24/7 availability does the trick for him, he said.

"Everybody feels different at different parts of the day," Taylor said.

As he's gotten more serious about physical fitness, he said he has more energy and improved endurance.

"It's just all around feeling better physically, mentally, too," he said.

For anybody who doesn't have a workout routine, Taylor's advice is simple: "Get off your butt and do it. That's the best way."

Oakfield Fitness moved just a few weeks ago, going from 1,800 square feet and multiple small rooms, to three logically organized rooms in 3,600 square feet. There's a room for weight machines, a cardio room and a cross-training room.

All of the equipment is quality Life Fitness machines.

A basic gym membership is $30 a month with no other fees and no annual contract. Cross-training members pay $80 per month and have access to the cross-training room and a cross-training coach during scheduled times.

For more information, visit OakfieldFitness.com.

The end result of cross-training, Steve Wakefield said, is functional fitness. Your body is better conditioned to work for you.

For example, your body is built to squat. That's something that can be harder to do with any stamina if you haven't developed your muscles appropriately.

"I spent three years in Afghanistan and every meeting for me was in a squat," Wakefield said. "I was like, 'oh, I've got to squat again,' but that's what your body is supposed to do. Cross-training teaches your body to go back and use the movement it's supposed to."

Wakefield, a certified Cross Fit trainer, is the cross-training coach at Oakfield Fitness and Cross Training Center, 116 N. Main St., Oakfield.

Oakfield fitness recently moved into a larger building with an expanded cross-training center.

Wakefield said cross-training is a suitable physical fitness program for just about anybody, whether you're already athletic or haven't worked out in years and need to lose weight.

"You can do every workout to your own ability, which is awesome and I love it," Wakefield said. "Even as a trainer, I'm not as strong as some of these guys, but I lower the weight to my ability and I do what I can do. I've got an older lady, in her 60s, who's here every day. She can do the workout. It's scaled to her."

Cross-training, by definition is a constantly varied functional workout. Every session is different and it's not just about lifting weights and working specific muscles. You won't come in one day thinking, "this is my day to work my biceps" as you would with traditional fitness regimes.

"We've been taught for years that 'today I'm going to do by bis and back and tomorrow my tris and chest,' " Wakefield said. "Cross-training is breaking out of that model of isolated muscle movement. It's whole body, functional fitness."

The program also includes seminars on nutrition.

"You can workout every day, but if your nutrition is off, it's not going to work," Wakfield said. "Cross-training isn't who is the fittest. We want to get you healthy."

Since cross-training is usually a daily workout with a regular group of people, and the classes become more like a group of friends.

That's one of the things that kept Wakefield interested cross-training once he got started.

"We get to know each other," Wakefield said. "We get to know each other's families. We get to know each other's strengths and goals. We clap harder for the person who is last trying to finish up than the person who is done first."

It costs $80 per month to take part in cross-training at Oakfield Fitness, and that includes full 24/7 access to the entire gym.

For more information, visit OakfieldFitness.com.

More pictures after the jump:

A busy MBA student at St. John Fisher, Katie Joslyn, needs to make sure never has an excuse for missing a workout.

The 22-year-old Oakfield resident said Oakfield Fitness and Cross Training Center, at 116 N. Main St., is perfect for her. It's right in the village, is open 24/7, and has all the cardio and weight machines she wants to use.

"I've seen it grow," said Joslyn, who has been a member since the gym first opened at a smaller, store-front location. "It's really become something. It's a lot better than it used to be. I love coming here."

Oakfield Fitness moved just a few weeks ago, going from 1,800 square feet and multiple small rooms, to three logically organized rooms in 3,600 square feet. There's a room for weight machines, a cardio room and a cross-training room.

All of the equipment is quality Life Fitness machines.

A basic gym membership is $30 a month with no other fees and no annual contract. Cross-training members pay $80 per month and have access to the cross-training room and a cross-training coach during scheduled times.

For more information, visit OakfieldFitness.com.

More space and more equipment are part of an expanded Oakfield Fitness and Cross-Training Center after the business moved just down the street to 116 North Main St., Oakfield.

The gym has moved from a location where there was only 1,800 square feet and equipment was distributed among several small rooms, to one with 3,600 square feet and three large rooms.

There is one room for strength equipment -- Hammer Strength machines from Life Fitness -- a room of cardio machines, including Life Fitness treadmills and bikes as well as rowing machines, and a cross-training room with free weights and various training aids.

The gym is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and a basic membership is $30 per month (no other costs, no annual contract).

For those interested cross-training, a certified Cross Fit trainer, Steve Wakefield, is available from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m., Monday thru Saturday, and 6 to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

Cross-training is $80 per month, which includes a basic gym membership and workouts with Wakefield and other cross-trainers. Use of the cross-training room is limited to cross-training members.

Oakfield Fitness will host an open house Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. Attend either open house and receive two days of free use of the gym at no obligation to join.

For more information, visit OakfieldFitness.com.

More pictures after the jump:

The Wellness Center at the YMCA is getting an equipment upgrade today with 14 new pieces of equipment, including stair steppers, virtual bikes and treadmills.

The cost of the new equipment is about $60,000.

Pictured with one of the new virtual bikes is John Becker, Wellness Center coordinator, and trainer Stacie Ewert.

After the first hula hoop class presented by Blue Pearl Yoga this evening, the oft-repeated word was "fun."

Instructor Rachelle Simons said it is fun, that's why she went from a mom hooping with her four children to a serious devotee of the sport.

"It's a tremendous work out that works virtually ever muscle in your body, from head to toe," Simons said. "As you're doing it, you don't even realize you're doing it because it's so much fun."

The introductory class covered hoop basics, stretching and a bit of actual hip movements to keep the hoop going.

For many of the dozen students, it was the first time they had hooped since they were children.

The last time for Julie Yaeger, "probably not since I was 12, and I won't tell you how long ago that was," she said.

Donna McJury joined the class because she expected it to be fun, relaxing and a chance to get fit.

"I think I'll get more energy," she said. "And maybe a smaller waist."

Simons ended the class with a demonstration of hula hoop dancing, showing off several tricks and techniques, telling class members that they were all capable of learning everything she did.

She then talked about the types and weights of hoops she has available, and which people might consider using based on their hoop plans and abilities. Her hoops are available at luvhoopsonline.com.

The cost for the five-week session is $45 and if there's demand, more classes could be added.