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Vail-area fitness experts give simple tips that can lead to big change, minus the grind of a hardcore program

John O’Neill
Vail Daily
Brooke Orr of Edwards holds a plank position while her workout partner Suzanne Larson does sets of jump lunges during the Breakfast Club Workout at the Westin on Thursday morning.
Chelsea Tuttle | Special to the Daily |

Exercise means suffering. There is nothing enjoyable about a diet.

All too often, shifting toward a healthier lifestyle is synonymous with utter frustration.

But, it doesn’t need to be. Striking a balance between developing healthier habits and happiness is a fundamental key in sustaining any approach to a positive lifestyle change.



Through small and strategic steps, you can successfully introduce change, lose weight, sleep better, have more energy or simply forge a better relationship with your body. And, it doesn’t have to be a drag. Instead, it can be a fulfilling process.

“Be patient, set goals and push yourself,” said Christy Madison, a local personal trainer.



Step 1: Moderation

Madison is a newcomer in the local personal training world but has nonetheless been making waves with her progressive, refreshing approaches to personal transformation.

One of these approaches has been her Breakfast Club class at the Athletic Club at The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa in Avon. Each Tuesday and Thursday morning, the class gathers for a fun-spirited and challenging circuit routine. The group encourages one another through each exercise, and the morning ultimately ends with a nutritious smoothie.

Her methods encompass not just athletic challenges, but also attitude, nutrition, competition and, ultimately, recognition and gratification — all key ingredients of a successful and sustainable path of personal transformation.

She also gives her class takeaways, so even outside of the gym they can continue toward their goals. The first is moderation. Not just in calorie intake or exercise, but in taking on a new routine in general.

“If you completely cut something out of your life, you are going to end up breaking down, freaking out and feeling lost,” Madison said. “I see a lot more positive change with moderation, such as keeping an old habit as part of your life while introducing something else that is positive.”

She compares this experience directly with food. If you are a sweets eater and you go cold turkey on the sugar, you are more likely to binge on it because you will miss it. It is better to introduce something like fruit alongside the sweets and make the shift gradually, therefore laying a better foundation for getting rid of the not-so-nutritious sweets.

Step 2: Focus on nutrition

She also preaches nutrition as a key to making an effort in the gym go further. Hence, the reason she ends her classes with a smoothie.

“I personally believe nutrition is by far the most important thing to focus on,” she said. “You can work out all you want, but, if you eat badly, you won’t see the results. It’s that simple — nutrition can be life changing.”

She’s serving up the smoothie as well as an education. She teaches her clients what components of food serve the body and in what ways. She discusses the difference between protein, fiber and carbs, and how to get enough energy without overeating or starving oneself.

She also factors in stress — what causes stress, how to deal with stress and how the very idea of undertaking new habits can cause stress.

“There is this common problem with people who want to lose weight, that they are stressed about losing weight,” Madison said. “Sometimes, that can cause someone to put back on weight they lost. It is a vicious cycle.”

Step 3: Set goals

Her other key to success involves goal setting. She encourages her clients to look realistically at where they are now and then where they want to go and how long they want to take to get there.

“It is great to have goals and approach them in a healthy manner,” she said. “It is important to have small goals along the way. There is so much motivation and self-inspiration that help new patterns in their life come into play.”

Her ability to trounce the negativity associated with a transformation toward health has been successful. During the first session, six of her clients lost a combined 52 pounds over six weeks. She started her second five-week session with 100 percent of the previous group signing up again, plus a number of new participants, forcing the athletic club to make more room for a bigger class.

Personal Transformation

Perhaps the popularity and success of the Breakfast Club class stems largely from her own experience with personal transformation. She found an approach that worked and stuck.

“After college, I was always self-conscious of my body even though I worked out a ton,” she said. “My whole life I was bigger. I didn’t have the education to realize what I was doing wrong.”

Through her own studies of personal training, health, fitness and nutrition, she figured out how to exact the changes she wanted to see in healthy way. The self-consciousness was soon replaced by self-confidence.

She knew her own mistakes and also knew the mistakes that were plaguing others as they tried to lose weight, tone up, eat healthier or simply feel better.

“I went to the Athletic Club and made a poster about my own transformation, and that stirred an interest,” she said. “People got so excited and motivated from that. You really can make a big difference in your own life. It helps a lot knowing the right ways to go about it, so you can enjoy it.”

The mountain-town effect

Personal trainer and athlete Rife Hilgartner believes everyone has the ability to make a change. He has been in the personal-training business for more than 10 years. Before that, he taught spin classes and coached youth sports.

“Helping people move better, feel better and live healthier is the bottom line of what I do,” he said. “I try to help people live better.”

Living in the Vail Valley, he says, is a major part of that — similar to living in Summit County or any other mountain community with a wide variety of healthy, challenging activities. Taking advantage of natural surroundings is a pivotal part of undertaking a healthier lifestyle and enjoying the process.

In a way, health and High Country surroundings drive one another. Those who work out inside do so to go out and enjoy the running or riding on the trails, swimming in the lakes or rafting the rivers. In turn, recreating outdoors furthers that healthy lifestyle.

“We do our work inside, so we can enjoy our time outside,” he said. “If you want to go for a little hike or go skiing, we have those opportunities every day. Getting outside and having new experiences is so encouraging.”

He encourages people to look outside the bubble and let the drive to be outside, to be fitter or to be healthier arise from the inside. He encourages people to recognize that while it may not be easy, it is worthwhile and that in and of itself is an enjoyable experience.


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