Fitness Center Update

Fitness Center Survey Ends Today!

Click on the link below to take the Fitness Center Survey!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/fitnesscenterhourssurvey

Survey ends at 5:00PM on

 Wednesday, December 17th. 

Don't forget the Fitness Center's Holiday hours!

 Wednesday, December 24th 

Christmas Eve

5:30AM- 12:00PM

NO TOT SPOT

2 Specialty Classes

9:00AM - "No cookies in this core!"- 

Core Challenge with Kelly

10:05AM - "Egg nog be gone!" - 

Body Blast with Katie

Reservations are required, please sign up in advance. 

Thursday, December 25th 

Christmas Day 

CLOSED

Check out Julie's latest article below!

Happy New Year!  Start the Year off right with a pair of new shoes!

Submitted by Julie Adams, Fitness Director – fitness@westboroughcc.com

When is it time to replace those athletic shoes?  I wear athletic shoes every day to work, then I have my workout, then I walk my dog, so I average about 10k steps a day on my feet.  I replace my shoes every 3-4 months and while it may seem excessive, movement starts from the ground up.  If you don’t have the right support in your foot, the problems will head up your kinetic chain and a problem that can be rectified by some new shoes shows up as knee or hip pain. So, while Rich and Michelle have some of the coolest shoes on the market and sometimes it seems like they get a new pair every other month, they are just keeping their feet happy, which in turn keeps their body happy, which in turn keeps our members getting their great workouts!
Check out the article below for some great tips!

How do I know when it is time to replace my athletic shoes?

by Ayne Furman, DPM  Fellow, AAPSM

When athletic shoes should be replaced depends upon amount of usage, signs of wear and age of the shoe. The four main components of an athletic that can break down or wear out: outer sole, midsole, heel counter and shank or cut out area of the shoe.

The outer sole material is made of a carbon rubber, which is meant to be very abrasion resistant. Some athletic shoes will have a harder and more resilient rubber at the heel of the shoe since this is where most of the wear will occur. Once the outersole has worn through to midsole or there is more than 4mm difference from the other side of the heel the shoe should be replaced. 

The mid-sole is normally composed of a foam material: Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), Polyurethane (PU) or a blend of both materials.  The midsole is intended to be shock absorbing and in some shoes serves to control excessive foot motion.  After certain amount of repetitive load is placed on the midsole it will compress not rebound and absorb shock or control the foot as well as it did when new.   In some cases, the midsole can deform and compress unevenly which can create an alignment change of the foot. 

This can lead to over use type injuries.

Midsoles should be considered worn out:

1. After 300-500 miles of running or walking, 45-60 hours of basketball, aerobic dance or tennis.
2. Shows signs of unevenness when placed on flat surface.
3. Display noticeable creasing.

The heel counter of the shoe helps hold the heel on top of the midsole and prevents excessive heel motion. The heel counter should be considered broken down when it feels flexible when compressed side to side, or appears deviate to

 one side when viewing from the rear of the shoe.

The shank or mid cut area of the shoe can fatigue with use. 

This area of the shoe should be inspected periodically.

Even without use shoes can “wear out”. Depending upon the environment the shoes are kept in; the outsole, midsole and some of the upper materials can dry out and not function optimally.  Therefore, it is best to replace athletic shoes that are over a year old whether they are worn out or not.

Replacing athletic shoes when necessary maybe costly in the short term, but will prevent injuries and keep you active in “the long run”.