Body Shop Fitness Center Frequently Asked Questions

How often may I use the Body Shop?

Members with a full membership have unlimited use of the Body Shop during all scheduled hours of operation. Members with a ten or twenty session workout card use a workout up each time they participate.

How often should I work out at the Body Shop?

Research indicates that optimum benefits occur when you work out three or more times per week. Working out five days a week, or even twice a day, is not harmful and will promote faster gains in fitness.

What should I wear when I work out?

You should wear whatever is most comfortable for you. Most of our members prefer loose, cool outfits appropriate for exercise activities. We do require, for health and safety, that you wear shoes and encourage you to bring a towel to keep yourself and the equipment dry.

What kind of workout can I get using Body Shop equipment?

Most exercise can be grouped into two general categories: (1) resistance training; and (2) aerobic training. Resistance training increases muscular endurance while it strengthens and tones muscles. Aerobic training improves the capacity of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and aids in weight management because of its energy demands. You may wish to work only the aerobic system or do only resistance training, but a total fitness program includes aspects of both.

For those who wish to enhance the aerobic component of their program even more, exercise bicycles, rowing machines, stair climbing stations, and treadmills are available. Adding twenty minutes of physical activity on one of these machines to your regular resistance training program will give an added boost to your respiratory capacity, enhance your cardiovascular system's performance, and burn off a significant number of calories.

How long should I work out each time I come?

Optimally, you should complete two circuits on the resistance-training equipment and include a 5 minute warm-up and warm-down. This will take about 30 minutes. Of course, if you want to achieve even greater aerobic improvements, an additional 15-30 minutes of exercise on the bicycles, rowing machines, treadmills or stair-climbers will be to your advantage.

Can using the Body Shop help me to lose weight?

First of all, is your goal to lose weight or to lose fat? The scale can be a deceptive measuring device - it does not give an accurate indication of your body composition - it does not tell you how much of your body mass is fat and how much is lean tissue. When people consider themselves in terms of their proportion of fat to lean body mass, most often they want to lose fat. In fact, if muscle mass increases due to exercise while fat mass stays the same or diminishes, you may actually weigh more but be proportionately more lean after training! Even though your total body weight may not have changed much, the leaner you are the fewer obesity-related health problems you will have.

For any additional information, please call the Body Shop office at 545-0324.