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Community Corner

ABOUT TOWN: Getting Started on Your New Year's Resolution (And New PT Group at the Stoughton Y)

Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e

NEW PT GROUP AT Y: The New England Sinai Hospital & Rehabilitation Center, under new ownership, has left the Old Colony YMCA in Stoughton.  In a seamless replacement for Physical Therapy availability locally, Bay State Physical Therapy is now working alongside the YMCA's team of health and wellness staff to provide care and transitions for members.

Offering exceptional, innovative rehabilitation services, Bay State Physical Therapy’s dedicated professionals strive to restore each individual's maximal function with integrity and compassion. 

Barbara Kasa is the Clinic Director and a Physical Therapist there. Barbara's clinical experiences have consisted of orthopedic, sub-acute and pediatric settings with a strong interest in sports medicine.  She also has a broad experience with post-operative rehabilitation and the geriatric population. 

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Clinical outreach includes Couch to 5K training programs, community runs, health fairs, and working with adolescent athletes for injury prevention.  She consistently participates in seminars and courses regarding current research in physical therapy. 

Treatments offered include Sports Medicine & Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Post-Surgical Rehabilitation, Muscle & Joint Pains and Strains, Neurological Rehabilitation,

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They are located downstairs in the Old Colony YMCA-Stoughton Branch at 445 Central Street, and can be reached directly at 781-341-1942. For more information, go to www.baystatept.com.

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“GETTING STARTED” PROGRAM: It’s the start of 2013 and people are making New Year’s resolutions for the coming year. The Old Colony Y in Stoughton is ready and waiting for community residents to descend on its "Getting Started Program," according to a press release passed along by Barbara Bengen-Seltzer.

The release continues:

This program is offered to every new member who joins the Y. In January, when many residents are making conscious decisions to improve their health and fitness, the Getting Started program will be particularly relevant: it provides guidance, strategies and action to health seekers who want to improve their health and fitness. It offers the new member a chance to design a customized workout program under the consultation of a professional personal trainer as well as meetings with the Y nutritionist to analyze eating habits and create an effective diet plan.

Says Sandy Joyce, personal trainer at the Y, “We help you develop your plan for fitness and diet. The Y is the only place that offers both fitness and nutrition counseling. Getting Started helps new members to develop goals that are meaningful to them and gives them a reason to keep coming back. Typical goals might be to lose a certain percentage of body fat or number of pounds or to increase endurance or build muscle.”

Workouts to improve fitness run the gamut from weight training, including circuits and free weights, to endurance training, to cardiovascular machines and classes, to swimming and body pump classes.

Derek Paiva, the Y’s health & wellness director, notes the diversity of participating members. “We have children as young as 10 and adults as old as 93 taking part in our activities. The ones who tend to stay longer and have more success with their personal goals are those who are engaged in several different activities because if they get bored with one activity they can move on to another. After Getting Started, we encourage members to follow up with personal trainers who can oversee their progress over time and help them adjust their workout components.”

Paiva points out that the recent addition of the nutritional component of Getting Started has strengthened the program because “an effective fitness program requires both workout and diet components.”

Getting Started includes one or more consultations with Y nutritionist Michelle Bogle to analyze a new member’s current food intake, identify strategies for calorie-cutting, and create mid-course corrections for greater effectiveness.

Says Michelle, “The main goal is to get people interested and aware of the role their diet plays in getting fit. Lots of people are surprised about simple things, such as the way the overuse of sugar in many diets, which lowers our auto-immune resistance. People are often unaware of how much they actually eat in a day until they write it down and are accountable for it.”

Where to begin?

“Start by changing just one thing in your daily diet and then review the effect,” says Michelle.

The Getting Started program is one factor contributing to the Y’s very high retention rate among members: in a 13 month survey the Y’s average retention rate was 70%, as compared with the club industry average of only 50% retention. When the Old Colony Y took over the former Jewish Community Center in 2009 the JCC offered about 1,300 units of service annually. Volume has virtually tripled since then to about 3,800 service units annually. The Y distinguishes itself from other Gym/Swim centers through its breadth of services, which include child care, after-school programs, a physical therapy clinic and a mental health clinic.

Getting Started reflects the Y’s commitment to community families and children: Ellen Greene, Y co-associate executive director, emphasizes that “the program effectively encourages ‘one stop shopping’ for several family members to become engaged in varied individual activities while strengthening family bonds. Adults can help their families become more active in an atmosphere that’s fun.”

Sarah Selmon, co-associate executive director at the Y, points out, “Getting Started allows our staff to really listen to the needs and interests of each individual, taking into account the unique experiences that affect a member’s daily life. We are able to direct them to classes, programs and services that will complement and enrich their existing lifestyle so they find success with their goals.”

The Getting Started program introduces new members to the benefits of Personal Training, which can be purchased for those members who want to continue training on a more intensive level or prepare for specific fitness challenges.

Selmon says, “Our trainers are able to customize exercise programs for individuals, pairs or groups—whether it’s someone who’s never exercised before or friends training for a particular event. Members report that personal training has helped them to finally see results, be a better role model for their families and have greater confidence.”

Getting Started also exposes members to a wide variety of cardiovascular activities and weight-training workouts available on site depending on personal preferences. And finally it allows one or more family members to introduce partners and children to activities that can be enjoyed at a common family destination, even for less motivated health-seekers.

All community individuals, families and children are invited to become members of the Y and enroll in the Getting Started program. Visitors are encouraged to learn more about the Y’s diverse programs at its January Open Houses: Saturday, January 5, 10 a.m. -1 p.m. ; Monday, January 7, 4-8 p.m.; and Monday, January 21, all day.

For more information, contact Ellen Greene (egreene@oldcolonyY.org) 781-341-2016 x262 or Serah Selmon (sselmon@oldcolonyY.org) 781-341-2016 x230.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: to Maria Rappa Connors, who works for the American Red Cross. Her husband, Donnie, is an owner of Dirt Dawg Training Center in Stoughton. And, to Donna Pelletier, owner-operator of Northeast Concierge LLC.  The Stoughton native now lives in Vernon, CT.

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Happy 8th Anniversary to former Stoughton resident Jerry Cibley and his bride, Jeri Katz. They celebrated on New Year's Day. They live in Foxborough.

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