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Jordan Pysz / iFoundMyDoctor.com
Gina Warren
When the cost of homeowner’s or renter’s insurance goes up, it’s often a result of the work done by number crunchers such as Gina Warren, whose job is to make sure the insurance company she works for can compensate its policyholders for their losses. “I’m an actuary,” Gina explains. “I help evaluate risk for my company; set our reserves, which is the amount of money we need to pay claims; and gauge pricing so that we’re charging what we need to charge to stay in business.” For at least as long as she’s been assessing the risk of potential damage to homes and businesses, Gina has been assessing her own health risks and taking whatever steps necessary to ensure they’re minimized as much as possible. “I’ve done yoga on and off for about twenty years and am currently doing it about four or five times a week,” she says. “I’ve also taken martial arts classes, dance classes and aerobics classes – anything to stay in shape. “I tried going to the gym and lifting weights by myself, too, but who was I kidding? I’m not the kind to go and lift weights at a gym by myself. I just can’t motivate myself to do it consistently. I need someone to push me a bit and make sure I’m doing it right.” Gina says one of the reasons she wanted to add light weightlifting to her exercise routine was to guard against the possible onset of osteoporosis, a disease in which the density of bone steadily decreases as people age. “There has been some osteoporosis in my family, so I have some concerns about the quality of my bones,” Gina explains. “Lifting weights helps prevent osteoporosis; that’s why I wanted to go to the gym and lift weights. “But the whole thing about going every other day and lifting weights on my own just wasn’t working for me, so I decided to go back to what I was doing a few years earlier, which is working out at 20 Minutes to Fitness.”
Tailored Training
At 20 Minutes to Fitness, clients such as Gina work out one-on-one with a nationally certified personal fitness coach who creates and supervises an individualized workout program. The program is designed to do exactly what the business’ name implies: achieve results through one 20-minute session once a week. The workouts are structured around an exercise method known as slow-cadence training. The coach guides the client’s pace and form as weights are lifted in ultra-slow movements on highly specialized equipment. Repetitions during each workout last approximately 20 seconds, thereby maximizing muscle performance. The slow-paced movements that comprise each workout create continuous tension on the muscle fibers, which allows clients to get more physical benefits from a 20-minute, once-a-week workout than they would get from going through a traditional workout program three or four times a week. Each 20-minute, full-body workout consists of six to seven exercises that last for approximately two minutes each. The goal is to reach what is known as peak performance, the point where blood flows to the muscle and supercharges the body. This helps burn fat while the muscles are rebuilt and strengthened naturally.
“It gets harder and harder to stay fit the older you get, but the 20 Minutes to Fitness workouts make that possible for me.” – Gina
Jordan Pysz / iFoundMyDoctor.com
Alex coaches Gina during her weekly workout at 20 Minutes to Fitness.
“Participants get the maximum benefit through one twenty-minute workout per week,” explains Angela Begin, general manager and part owner of 20 Minutes to Fitness. “By going slowly, we get down deeper into the muscle fibers and force
them to work at their peak performance. And we work the entire body to keep it strong.” The program has years of research and plenty of science behind its success. The highly specialized weight-training equipment is part of that success. The equipment features a patented double-stacking system, where weight can be increased in increments of 2 pounds instead of the traditional 5, 10 or 20. The equipment is also calibrated to work specific muscle groups without putting undue stress on joints or ligaments. Research has shown that in addition to improving strength, weekly 20-minute slow-cadence training sessions can also help improve balance, increase energy, control arthritis, increase bone density, fight symptoms of diabetes and reduce back pain. “We have clients who are planning to have hip or knee replacement surgeries, and their doctors refer them to us because they know we can help them build the muscle around those joints prior to surgery,” Angela adds. “This allows for a quicker recovery after surgery. “We’ve even had some people who have been able to hold off on those surgeries because they’ve built up the muscle around the joint. Most of our clients, though, are people who want to stay fit and don’t have the time or don’t want to spend hours in a gym and possibly risk injury. “They want a safe, quiet, private studio environment, and that’s what we offer, in addition to building back that muscle that people lose as they age. The other thing is, you’re never too young or too old to do this. We have teenagers who come in, as well as clients who are in their nineties. We have clients who have never worked out as well as athletes. We build your strength from where you are today.”
Back in Action
Gina first discovered 20 Minutes to Fitness about 12 years ago, shortly after she and her husband moved to Florida. After about four years, she took a break from the workouts in an effort to add some variety to her routine but found nothing comparable to it. “To be honest with you, I wish I had never stopped going to 20 Minutes to Fitness, because there’s really nothing else like their workouts,” Gina raves. “It’s once a week, and as you can expect, it’s a very contained workout. “I also like that I get to work with the same trainer every time. For me, that’s Alex, and I love working with him. He’s very good at what he does. I know for a fact that I’m getting the most I can from the workouts because he keeps great track of my form. “He makes sure that I’m not doing anything improperly, that I’m not hunching forward when I need to be leaning back and that kind of thing. And he always makes sure that the weight is in the right range for what I’m doing.” “If I have an ache or a pain or if something like my knee or back is bothering me, he adjusts the workout and makes sure I don’t do any further damage to myself. He does a great job of making sure I stay in form and keep myself healthy.” Alex describes Gina as “a hard worker” who is achieving goals she set when she first began her workout sessions at 20 Minutes to Fitness years ago. “I like that Gina has a great attitude toward the workouts and is really focused on them,” Alex says. “She’s a pleasure to work with.” Gina says the pleasure is all hers. “It gets harder and harder to stay fit the older you get, but the 20 Minutes to Fitness workouts make that possible for me,” she says. “They fit perfectly into my schedule, and the trainers are great. I recommend them to anyone looking to get fit or stay fit.”
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