Sweating out a Philly challenge

Let me be frank, I’m not glowing. It’s sweat – beads of it – seeping though almost every glandular pore and onto the King and Queen. For the last couple weeks I’ve been flipping out,

Let me be frank, I’m not glowing. It’s sweat – beads of it – seeping though almost every glandular pore and onto the King and Queen. For the last couple weeks I’ve been flipping out, trying to do my part to make Temple’s student body the leanest in the city.

About three weeks ago, when I was shuffling through the usual plethora of e-mails in my TU account, I spotted one with an unusual subject head sent from one of my sorority sisters – Flip Fitness.

The attached bright orange and green ad read “Wanna Flip?” and was followed with “Who’s Philly’s Fittest College?”

After reading the flyer, I realized that I’d just been sent a world of possibilities.

See, now that I’m completing my last year here at Temple as a senior journalism major, there’s no doubting I’ve put on the ol’ freshman 15, which is actually a low estimate in my opinion, considering it doesn’t account for the following three years.

Aside from the thought of shedding a few pounds, what interested me about the competition is that Flip Fitness
is no walk on the treadmill. It’s a workout program that involves a deck of 52 cards.

Temple’s competing against five other universities – LaSalle, Drexel, St. Joseph’s, Villanova and Philadelphia University – for prizes including $2,500 per team, a feature in PhillyFIT Magazine and, of course, the title of Philly’s Fittest College.

As if the idea of trying something new (I’d like to think I’m pretty open-minded) and shedding off a few pounds weren’t enough to persuade me, I showed up at testing day to find out that Flip Fitness has an inspiring story to tell. Co-founder Heather Hoehn created the program as an incentive to help fellow co-founder Susan McInerney’s mother – who was bed bound with little hope of recovery – to engage in physical fitness.

Now at age 75, McInerney’s mother is alive and well, and I’m joining in the fight myself.

On testing day, I coughed up a mere $15 bucks for a bright T-shirt, a deck of cards, and a fitness schedule. I was feeling pretty good about my new purchases and then came the tough part the dreaded weigh-in. After removing my boots, coat, scarf, and my bracelet (it was a Tiffany’s tag bracelet and all my ladies out there know they can be pretty heavy), I’m proud to say that I stepped up on the scale.

Some women might feel uncomfortable
revealing their magic number, but I’m confident to say that it was … (Don’t you love those editors!)

My heart rate was recorded at 100 beats per minute. On the last day of the competition, Feb. 21, everyone will be retested and the team (eh hem, Temple) with the largest total decrease in weight, heart rate and body fat percentage, wins the title.

The race officially began at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 24 when I, along with 10 other brave students, headed to the group fitness gym at the IBC to play a card game I’ll never forget.

I learned a new meaning of cards: the 10 of hearts I now associate with 10 toe touches and drawing an ace designates a painful 30-second wall sit.It didn’t seem like it was so bad, however, until fellow teammate Rob Szostak, a junior tourism and hospitality management major, and I began our journey home with a walk down the stairs. Ouch. After my first Flip Fitness workout, I was hurting for two days.

Now that I have been exercising for 11 days, I’m beginning to get the hang of it. I can still feel my new moves working each time I exercise (I usually do it on my own now), but I’m having more fun than ever and I remain motivated for the sake of my fellow Owls.

Along with flipping, I take a personal defense course now that keeps me moving and I walk a lot. The exercise is definitely there, but we all know it takes more than physical fitness to win the title, unfortunately.

I’m a sweet tooth to the second degree and all the salads in the world can’t save me from wanting a chocolate chip cookie at the end of the day.

So far, I’ve lost a total of three pounds. My personal goal is to lose 10. Though this competition will be a month-long journey, I’m determined to flip all I can, stay away from Valentine’s Day candy and hopefully help Temple win the title of Philly’s Fittest College.

Kristin Granero can be reached at kgranero@temple.edu.

1 Comment

  1. we always go in Fitness Gyms because right now we are very health conscious and like an active lifestyle~:,

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