Fitness

FITNESS FROM AFAR Don’t Fret 2 Sweat

Although the Clubhouses are closed, the MAC’s fitness community is alive and well. MAC West Clubhouse Assistant Athletic Director Paul Helfrich and Fitness & Wellness Manager Courtney Hutt have made getting daily workout programs and videos that members can do from home, wellness and nutrition tips, healthy recipes, ways for families to stay active and self-awareness and mental health tips. Although the group existed long before the quarantine began, it has grown by 217% with more than 380 members now and even includes more videos from a new coach, Programs Manager and Fitness Instructor Joy Holdmeier. They’ve even encouraged people to post videos and photos of themselves, helping the MAC members gain a sense of community while they’re away from one another. Through this group, they’ve hosted several fitness events including a Virtual 5k, which had more than 40 participants, MAC Wellness Bingo and MAC Mileage Madness. “Don’t Fret 2 Sweat has brought MAC members

together in a different sense during these unprecedented times,” said Hutt. “Even though we are all eager to be back at the Club, it’s been great to see the support and camaraderie through our page. I’ve enjoyed creating workouts you can do in the home as well as providing wellness and nutrition tips while we all try to navigate through these tough times.“

In addition to this group, the MAC now has an online fitness page that allows members who are not on social media to gain access to all of the wonderful workouts the MAC fitness team has put together. Access this page by going to the website navigating to Fitness & Wellness > Blogs and clicking the article “Don’t Fret 2 Sweat.”

MAC FITNESS CHALLENGES

The MAC challenged their members to see how many miles they could walk or run starting Saturday, April 18 at 6 a.m. and ending Sunday, April 19 at 10 p.m. It did not matter whether members ran three miles a day or 10, the goal was to get members out and moving. To participate, members had to register on the event page and have a device to track their mileage, ie; iWatch, FitBit, Garmin, etc. Congratulations to Brett Vandegriff, who logged 42.6 miles to win the challenge. For his efforts, he will receive a pro shop gift certificate when the club opens back up.

Since everyone has been stuck at home, the Club athletic managers thought it might be a fun idea to put together a fun fitness activity for members to complete with their families. On Sunday, March 29 at 10 a.m., members donned their favorite MAC apparel and found their favorite 3.1-mile route to run/walk. More than 31 members participated in this event and posted photos of themselves after they completed the run in the Facebook event page.

To encourage continued fitness while staying in quarantine, the Don’t Fret 2 Sweat Facebook challenged its members to complete MAC Wellness bingo cards for a chance to win. Throughout its run, members were challenged to complete tasks such as making healthy recipes with your family, coming up with a new fitness or nutrition goal and completing a Don’t Fret 2 Sweat workout. The real challenge came when members could only cross off two squares per day. Congratulations to Allie Baber for winning!