My husband gave me a series of 10 Fit 4 Life sessions for my 40th birthday. (He had heard resistance training helped prevent osteoporosis.) I saw results in strength and muscle tone within the first four weeks. Little more than a year later, I’m still training twice a week. The short sessions and personal one-on-one training made it easy to go and keep going. I reshaped my body in just two thirty-minute sessions a week. I lost 3 inches off my waist, 2 inches off my hips and lost 5% body fat, reaching my goal of 15%. My husband and I both train at Fit 4 Life, and together we have changed the whole way we eat and how we relate to food with the help of our knowledgeable trainers. Aside from being leaner and stronger, we are healthier and more energetic, too. I like that Fit 4 Life is not a typical fitness center. It’s comparable to a five-star exercise experience. Very private, pristine and somewhat pampered. I’m often the only client in the studio and I always have my own trainer who gently, but relentlessly, pushes me past where I would go on my own. Due to the ambiance and expertise at Fit 4 Life, being fit has become more than a “to do” it’s a lifestyle. - Stacy Clark

Why MedX? DEFINITIONS: Cam – the rotating piece in the equipment by which rotary motion is transformed into linear motion or vice versa Friction – the force that resists motion between objects in contact Negative phase – the part of the exercise where you are lowering the weight stack back to the starting position Positive phase – the part of the exercise where you are raising the weight stack to full extension Strength curve – the natural variation in strength you possess throughout full range of motion of any single exercise Weight stroke – the distance the weights have to travel to full extension BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDX EQUIPMENT: Arthur Jones, the inventor of Nautilus exercise equipment, developed MedX exercise equipment in the 1970’s. Jones decided he wanted to fund a research project to develop a superior machine that could measure lower back strength and could be used to treat lower back pain. After millions of dollars of research, Jones sold Nautilus, and the MedX Lumbar Extension Machine was invented. This machine was so successful that Jones then decided to develop a whole line of MedX equipment, including another medical machine called the MedX Cervical Extension, which was designed to treat neck problems. After years of research, it was discovered that MedX, with an amazing 94%, had the highest success rate for lumbar (back) and cervical (neck) patients. THE REASONS MEDX IS SUPERIOR TO OTHER EQUIPMENT: MedX is set apart from other strength training equipment by the fact that it has low friction, small weight increments, short weight strokes and proper strength curves. Why low friction is important: MedX has between 0 and 5% friction in it while traditional equipment has up to 30%. What that means to you is, if you had 100 pounds on a machine with 2% friction, you would be pushing 102 pounds during the positive phase of the movement and resisting 98 pounds during the negative phase. This is a four pound difference between the positive and negative phases. On traditional equipment, with 30% friction, that 100 pounds turns into you having to push 130 pounds during the positive phase and resisting 70 pounds during the negative phase. That’s a difference of 60 pounds! With that kind of difference, your muscles have ample opportunity to recover during the negative phase, which means that you will be unable to effectively fatigue the muscles and subsequently will not get the most benefit from your workout. The amount of friction plays a vital role in the process of improving your strength and changing the shape of your body. Why small weight increments are important: MedX allows you to increase or decrease the weight being used by 2 pounds, whereas traditional equipment only allows five to ten pound increments. Why this is important is based on two fundamental premises: 1) it is critical to fatigue the muscles within one to three minutes or four to eight repetitions, and 2) as a person gets stronger, the weights need to be increased to work the muscles more deeply each time. This is where the problem of large weight increments comes in. If you increase the weight too much, by five pounds or more, the muscle may fatigue sooner than the required one minute or four repetitions. Conversely, if you don’t add enough weight, because the increment is too large forcing you to keep it the same weight as the time before, you may perform too many repetitions and be on the machine longer than the three minute optimum time frame. That is why the small weight increment of two pounds that MedX offers is the most beneficial for effectively working your muscles. Why short weight strokes are important: MedX is the only equipment company with a short one foot weight stroke. Most companies’ weight stroke is two or more feet. What that means is that the weight stack movement of only one foot on a full-range repetition is safer and smoother than the competition with a longer weight stroke. Another reason the shorter weight stroke is important is that if you have 120 pounds on the one foot weight stroke machine, then that means you are moving 120 pounds. On the other hand, if you have 120 pounds on a two foot weight stroke machine, then you are really lifting about 240 pounds depending on the machine. That also means that if you increase the weight by two pounds on a one foot machine, you really are increasing it by two pounds, whereas on a two foot machine you are raising it by five pounds which equates to a 10 pound increase. Why proper strength curves are important: Cams on strength training equipment need to support the strength curves in the body. The cams on most equipment are incorrect in this regard. On the MedX Lumbar Extension machine, for example, the cam/strength curve ratio is 1.4 to 1. That means that a normal lumbar muscle should be 1.4 times stronger in the flexed position than in the extended position. For example, if we put 100 pounds on the machine, then at the beginning of the movement you would be pushing 100 pounds. As you moved through the full range of motion to the fully extended position, the cam would be moving so that the weight would continue to lighten so that at the end of the movement that 100 pounds would have smoothly lightened to 71.4 pounds. Each muscle has a different natural strength curve so each piece of equipment should have a different cam. For example, if you put 140 pounds on the Leg Extension machine it would start at 120 pounds in the fully flexed position, increase to 150 pounds within the first fifty degrees, and then it would decrease to less than 50 pounds in the fully extended position. Each machine needs to be properly calibrated and designed to accommodate the muscle group it is targeting. For all of these reasons, MedX is simply the best, most effective strength training equipment on the market today. THE PAINFUL TRUTH At some point in their lives, at least 75% of people will experience back or neck pain. Whether it’s from an old sports injury or a car accident, the pain can be unbearable and affects every area of a person’s life. Many people have tried everything to rid themselves of this problem with no success and they have come to believe that they will just need to learn to live with it. In almost all cases that is simply not true. Fit 4 Life Synergy Centers has a proven track record of helping people get back to their lives, free of pain. We have established a 95% success rate with these types of patients by the use of our specialized equipment and programs. HOW DO THESE MACHINES WORK? It has been proven through extensive research that there are no machines on the market today that can isolate and strengthen the muscles of the lower back and neck like the MedX Lumbar Extension and Cervical Extension machines. Let’s take a look at the Lumbar Extension machine, which is designed to test and strengthen the muscles of the lower back. A research study was performed using the MedX Lumbar Extension machine, the Cybex back machine and the Nautilus back machine. After twelve weeks of strengthening exercises the study revealed that both the Cybex and Nautilus machines showed no significant improvement in lumbar strength. The MedX machine, on the other hand, provided between 100% and 400% improvement for lumbar strength. ISOLATION = LOWER BACK STRENGTH What makes this machine so special? The MedX Lumbar Extension machine has been developed to isolate the muscles of the lower back like no other, due to its patented pelvic restraint system. If the pelvis cannot move, then the only muscles that can move your torso are your lower back muscles. Without this isolating component too many other muscles, such as your hamstring and gluteal muscles, are utilized to move your torso. Similarly, with the Cervical Extension machine, we are isolating your neck muscles in a safe and controlled environment. It is particularly important, when dealing with backs and necks, that the muscles are isolated and stabilized to prevent further injury. At Fit 4 Life, we believe that pain is not to be tolerated, it is to be obliterated! What are the benefits of a slow training program? In order to understand why Fit 4 Life has chosen slow training, you must first have the knowledge of what slow training is. Slow training is simply a more time efficient, safer, and more effective work-out. By using one-on-one strength training with our trainers, your goals can be exceeded. Strength training stimulates the muscles to become longer and stronger, therefore you burn body fat. Let’s discuss the reasons why… Safe Environment and Time Efficient. The work-out is safer in the sense that there are no jerking motions to over-exacerbate the muscle. Clients who choose the Fit 4 Life, slow training work-outs, will achieve a 10 second positive phase (the lifting movement where the most energy is exerted) and a 10 second negative phase (lowering movement where resisting the weight). The purpose of the work-out is to fully fatigue the primary muscle being used. Sequentially, to do this one set of each machine is accomplished. There is no need to do several sets of each machine because once the muscle has reached full exertion; the muscle fibers have stretched to their maximum potential. Pushing he muscle to full fatigue a second time is unnecessary and could lead to injury. Another reason why, slow training creates a safe environment is because the Fit 4 Life trainers have had extensive training on technique and form on each exercised performed. Throughout your personal training session, the trainer will instruct you on the proper movements while motivating you to maintain this form within each repetition. Applying the correct form and technique with slow strength training prevents injury and leaves no room for error. Since this work-out is so intense, yet safe, the muscles you exercised need to have a recovery period of two days before being pushed to this level again. Hence, this work-out is not to be performed every day, resulting in time efficiency. Effectiveness. Slow training does not only have short-term benefits, but long-term as well. Over your lifetime, your joints wear down. This occurs over time with strength training equipment or running and jogging. The Fit 4 Life work-out is a slow paced work-out, so excess force is not generated onto the muscle. Not only does the slow training benefit you in the long run, but with the use of the best equipment on the market, Med X, you cannot go wrong. During strength training, you actually burn more calories than doing the regular cardiovascular work-out. More energy is being exerted throughout the work-out because there is a higher resistance than with regular cardiovascular equipment. With the Fit 4 Life work-out, you are not only burning numerous calories because of the strength training, but we also maintain a cardiovascular work-out. How is this possible? Fit 4 Life uses a circuit work-out. What this means is that throughout your personalized training session, there will be no rest time in between sets. By maintaining about a zero second rest between sets, your heart rate does not have the opportunity to drop to the resting heart rate, hence you have a cardiovascular work-out combined with strength training. OSTEOPOROSIS FACTS REVEALED Most people know about the risks associated with osteoporosis, or weakening of the bones. It causes bones to become brittle and more susceptible to breaking under the slightest pressure. We are conditioned to believe that osteoporosis is the result of a lack of sufficient calcium. This is simply untrue. It is actually caused by a lack of sufficient weight bearing activity. That is also the reason that osteoporosis usually affects women more than men. Throughout history, men have typically been more active and involved in heavier lifting jobs and more weight bearing activities than women. Not to mention, their bones are thicker and stronger to begin with. It has been found through extensive research that osteoporosis becomes a significant problem for seniors who tend to be more sedentary rather than mobile and active. THE BEST DEFENSE AGAINST OSTEOPOROSIS Involvement in a strength training program provides sufficient weight bearing activity to significantly increase bone density. Bones react to strength training the same way muscles do. Sufficient stress is placed on them so they must grow stronger to withstand the same weight next time. This is best accomplished through a program which is done in a safe, controlled environment with direct supervision. By participating in a consistent strength training program at Fit 4 Life, you are assured that your bones will be as strong as they possibly can be to prevent problems with osteoporosis later in life.