Get fit with Selkirk Biz, Glow Fitness and Iron Image this year
Selkirk Biz is bringing back the Selkirk Biz Fitness 50/50 Challenge. This program took a brief pandemic related break but is coming back this year to encourage area residents as well as employees of Selkirk Biz members’s businesses to get fit in a healthy way.
“It’s a health and fitness initiative hosted by Selkirk Biz, and we have collaborated with Glow Fitness and Iron Image. This initiative is basically to help participants achieve their personal goals,” said Selkirk Biz Executive Director Bianca Lessard.
She explained that this challenge is about achieving healthy habits and a healthy lifestyle.
“We’re trying to help out the business community and the public with encouraging sustainable eating habits, exercising, and also trying to foster connections,” said Lessard.
The start date for this challenge is going to be towards the end of February with initial check-ins scheduled for between Feb. 18 and 22.
Matt Evans of Iron Image explained that he had the idea for this challenge in 2017 when he was a board member at the Selkirk Biz and they were looking for a way to challenge residents but he didn’t want it to be a weight loss challenge. This challenge is about creating a healthy lifestyle and upping residents quality of life.
“Everybody does weight loss challenges and weight loss is not a long-term thing. It’s learning how to be healthy. One of the ways to teach people how to be healthy and fit is not just to lose an amount of weight because everybody rebounds after a huge weight loss challenge. This is just to show people like the best way to do it is have everybody actually compete and learn the skills to actually become healthy,” Evans explained.
The challenge itself is a 50/50. It costs $25 to sign up and at the end of the challenge the winner, which is calculated by both the percentage of fat lost as well as the amount of lean muscle gained will win 50 per cent of the pot. It will take place over 12-weeks.
Some residents may wonder why Iron Image and Glow Fitness might collaborate on a project like this because they could be thought of as competing businesses. However, the two business owners explained that they actually collaborate often trying to find the right fit for the people who come looking for a place to improve their fitness.
“We’re so excited to work together as a team to motivate and inspire our surrounding community. We’re all part of our community. (Both businesses are) locally owned, with invested business owners at both gyms and so that’s why it’s so exciting for us to team up and work like this and improve the health of our own community. I think we would both probably agree that a healthy community is a stronger, more prosperous community,” said Katie Hartle of Glow Fitness.
Evans also explained that this challenge doesn’t tell people how to achieve their goals but having the two gyms, who have different options, both be involved allows everyone to benefit in a way that works best for them.
“It’s okay to try different things and open yourself up to new challenges at different gyms and different facilities that cater to different styles. Health and fitness isn’t just about weights and cardio. It could be about pilates. It could be about self-defence, or different aspects of each and just as long as you’re getting in and doing something for yourself is the important thing,” he said.
Lessard explained that this challenge is not just good for the two gyms but also for our greater business community.
“If businesses were to participate, having a healthy employee in the workplace definitely affects the employees as a whole. Because exercising reduces stress and anxiety, and with that, that may equal, more engaged employees and increased energy levels, which means you’ll have happier people and better work quality,” she explained.
Hartle explained that physical health and mental health can connect in positive ways.
“You make your body stronger, you make your mind stronger, you make your neighbourhood stronger. And since we are all so connected to and part of these neighbourhoods, it’s good for us to and exciting to watch and help contribute to this healthy growth of our own community. As I mentioned, a healthy community is a stronger, prosperous community, and that’s the community we’re all a part of. It’s also a perfect way to beat the long, cold winters that we have here in this area. So, the timing is just right for a program like this, and our hope is to see friends, neighbours, and co-workers supporting, motivating, encouraging each other, and maybe joining this together to make it even more fun,” said Hartle.
Residents should know that you don’t have to be a business owner or someone working for a Selkirk Biz connected business to participate. Anyone from our local area of East St. Paul, St. Andrews, St. Clements, Selkirk or West St. Paul can sign up.
There, of course, are also some promotions that Glow Fitness and Iron Image are going to be offering in order to make participating in the challenge a little more accessible to those wanting to take advantage of these local gyms.
Glow Fitness will be offering a nutrition program.
“We are launching a women’s focused group nutrition program on February 17. It’s going to be led by a local nutritionist with a master’s in nutrition. It’s called Eat to Glow, and it’s a 12-week program because we wanted to give participants who are coming in through Glow an edge in this competition. We are offering anybody who signs up for the Selkirk Biz 50/50 a discount on this nutrition program, although it’s open to everyone,” said Hartle.
Iron Image is going to be offering a membership promotion.
“There’ll be a discounted membership price for the people that are signing up for this at Iron Image and then there’ll be a class pass discount as well,” said Evans.
To sign up for this challenge residents can contact Selkirk Biz at info@selkirkbiz.ca. You can sign up at Glow Fitness’s website at https://www.glowfitnessforwomen.ca/selkirk-5050-signup.html or you can drop by during their staffed hours to sign up in person. You can also contact Iron Image at matt@ironimage.ca to sign up.
Both gym owners encourage residents to sign up for this challenge.
“It’s not just about the money that you might be winning. You’re going to learn a life skill and be able to utilize this for the rest of your life. What you learned through here, it could become part of your lifestyle and with that, you gain more basically years of your life where you can be mobile and be healthy,” said Evans.
Hartle agrees.
“I would say the number one thing that people frequently say is they only wish they had started sooner because they feel so amazing. This is happening right now, this winter, this season, so it’s really the perfect time. With all the encouragement and motivation of your whole community being engaged in this program, it just seems, like the perfect time to do it. Why not go ahead and take advantage of this opportunity?” she said.
