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When she walked away from her 38-year career as an educator several years ago, Marian Orlosky didn’t think she’d find another line of work more rewarding than the one she had teaching special education students and special education teachers. Then she became a provider of Interactive Metronome®. A therapeutic assessment and training program, Interactive Metronome (IM) has proven effective in helping children and adults alike, including many with autism, improve their cognitive and motor skills and their ability to perform daily tasks. “It’s a remarkable program, and I know it works because I’ve seen it work in my own practice,” Marian shares. “I’ve worked with several people who have Asperger’s syndrome, which is on the same spectrum as autism, and the results I’ve seen are amazing. “I also worked with a six-year-old who has autism. Once, I worked with her three days a week for the entire school year, and by the end of the school year, she wasn’t displaying any autistic symptoms at all. That’s how amazing this program is.” Marian’s passion for the IM program is so great that, even at age 69, she has no plans to retire anytime soon. She’s simply too busy making other people’s lives better. She’s also too busy to maintain what most consider a normal workout routine. “I tried the old three-days-a-week thing, but I just couldn’t fit it into my schedule,” Marian relates. “I then found a twenty-four-hour place, but the trainers there never really calibrated the machines properly for my body. “The other thing I have to be conscientious of is the fact that I have a congenital spine problem. My lower lumbar vertebrae are fused to my hip bone. That presents a weakness, and it gets out of place pretty easily. When it does, the muscles and nerves get inflamed. “I’m the kind of person who would rather cure the problem than mask it with pain medication, so I was looking for a place to go, and a little more than a year ago, I read about 20 Minutes to Fitness in Florida Health Care News and decided to try it.”
Jordan Pysz / iFoundMyDoctor.com
With the help of her trainer, Anna Fotopoulos (left), Marian is getting great results from her 20 Minutes to Fitness workouts.
Tailored Training
At 20 Minutes to Fitness, clients 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. “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
Building strength is precisely why Marian began working out at 20 Minutes to Fitness. She initially went there seeking something to augment the chiropractic adjustments she needed for her back. Now, thanks to her weekly workouts, she seldom if ever needs those adjustments. “I had been going to the chiropractor regularly, sometimes twice a week, for fifteen years,” Marian says. “And when you go, of course, it’s never just, get an adjustment and you’re done. No, you have to go home and ice it afterward and everything else, and that’s time-consuming, too. “But ever since I started doing the 20 Minutes to Fitness workouts, I haven’t needed those adjustments as much. My chiropractor has even called me a couple of times, asking, Are you okay? Did you find another chiropractor? What’s happening?” What’s happened is that the 20 Minutes to Fitness workouts have proved to be just the right remedy Marian needed to strengthen her back muscles, keep her back in alignment and stay in shape. And the workouts fit perfectly into her busy schedule. “It’s twenty minutes once a week; I mean, I can do anything for twenty minutes once a week,” she says. “And if I can build the muscles in my back that allow me to stay in alignment at my age in just twenty minutes, well, that’s going to be my go-to program. “And while that ability to stay in alignment structurally is the most important thing for me, I also like the idea that I’m far more fit now than I used to be. And by that, I don’t mean fit in terms of a size-four dress kind of thing. “I’m not in the same life space as I was when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties. The next stage of my life will be an aging stage, and I need a body that will allow me to get through that and keep doing what I enjoy while I get through it. “That’s what 20 Minutes to Fitness is allowing me to do. That’s how 20 Minutes to Fitness is impacting my life and making it better, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to stay in shape and build strength, because it really works.”
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