Giuseppe Battista, of Franklin Park, has been working out at a local gym three days a week for the past four years. Every year around this time he sees the same thing.
“I see a lot of people in the gym,” he said. “Then, in about three weeks to a month, they’re gone.”
As the new year begins, resolutions are being made. One of the most popular? Lose weight and get in shape.
Battista works out at the Planet Fitness gym in Elmwood Park. He wishes more people would stick with their resolutions — even if it means the gym is more crowded.
“They shouldn’t give up,” he said. “They shouldn’t get intimidated by others. Take it one day at a time. That’s what I did.”
Alan Schmidt, director of the Elmwood Park Parks and Recreation Department, leads several fitness classes in the parks and recreation building and one at Triton College. He said in the past, he’s tried to motivate participants by stating the ills that come with not eating properly and exercising regularly.
But this year, he’s going to try another tactic.
“I’m going to make a greater effort to get into their head, to show them how much they are cared for,” he said.
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As an instructor, he’s personally resolved to take more of an interest in what’s going on emotionally with the members of his classes.
“I want to focus more on their emotional health, their spiritual health and their mental health,” he said. “I want to make more of an effort to make sure they’re loving themselves and taking care of themselves. That’s my New Year’s resolution.”
Jesse Navarrete, 40, of Chicago, admits that during the holiday season, he did more eating than working out. But luckily, he said, his girlfriend is helping him get back on the right track. They both work out together on a regular basis.
“It’s time to get back at it,” he said. “I’ve been eating healthy, drinking more water and cut back on the pop, beer and the lifestyle.”
He and his girlfriend, Vanessa Duarte, 30, who lives in Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood, work together on their workouts.
“She gets me more involved with the cardio,” Navarrete said. “We both motivate each other.”
Doug Simmons, a personal trainer out of River Grove said right now, the demand for his services has increased dramatically. The key to keeping his clients coming back and seeing results is to keep their enthusiam under control.
“You don’t let them do too much at one time,” he said. “They come out of the gate too hard and do too much too soon. They try to start and accomplish their resolution in the same month.”
It doesn’t work that way, Simmons said. Often, it can lead to people quitting.
“It’s got to be like controlled intensity,” he said. “When you’ve been working out too intensely at one time, it’s draining and mentally fatigues you — and then your mind begins to tell your body that it’s not going to do this.”
Twitter: @DavidDPollard