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This is by design because MVP wants to make transitioning from rehabilitation to fitness as easy as walking across the room.
“We are similar to a personal training service that you get at a gym,” said Aaron Edgley, the program’s director. “The real big difference is those at a gym don’t have the experience and some of the knowledge that you can get in a physical therapy clinic.”
That’s one of the things Maiken Hamilton appreciates about the fitness program the 15-year-old therapy practice is developing.
Hamilton started going to MVP after injuring her shoulder in a car accident last year. As she recovered, the registered nurse transitioned into the fitness program.
“I like that the fitness trainers are able to communicate with the personal trainer that I’m seeing,” Hamilton said.
This came in handy recently when she developed a sports hernia. Her personal trainer relayed the information to the fitness trainers who were able to adapt her workout.
“I told my trainer that I didn’t think I could exercise,” Hamilton said. “But she had already modified the program for me so I could exercise.”
At her next workout, when it came time for exercises Hamilton couldn’t do, her trainer, Lyndsay Hovee, gave her alternative exercises.
“I wasn’t just standing there waiting while everybody else exercised,” Hamilton said. “I was just doing something different. I like that I’m able to keep working out when I’m injured. ... In the past I would have just stopped exercising and it would have been awhile before I started again.”
Hamilton said she doesn’t remember ever sticking with an exercise routine for more than six months. “But I’ve only missed a couple workouts since I started the fitness program here in January.”
Hovee describes the exercise programs that she and Joel McGuire, MVP’s other trainer, lead as ground-based, total body metabolic resistance training.
“We feel that this is the best way to help lose excess body fat and build and maintain lean body mass,” Hovee said. “We don’t use the traditional machines, but incorporate weights into fundamental human movement patterns.”
The classes use medicine balls, kettle bells, dumbbells and other equipment for a variety of exercises. They also use foam rollers to work out kinks in their muscles.
Some of the clients don’t even realize that some of the exercises are patterned after everyday activities. One of these drills is called the Farmer Walk, in which you simply walk while carrying weight in one hand and engage your core in order to remain upright.
“I had one lady tell me that she was shopping the other day and it was just like that exercise we were doing,” Hovee said.
The workouts get as intense as participants want.
“We have everything from a 16-year-old boy to a 60-year-old grandma, so we have it all,” Hovee said.
Edgley says Hovee and McGuire have more certifications and experience than most trainers you’ll encounter at large gyms. Both are certified and licensed athletic trainers. Hovee has a bachelor’s degree in human performance. McGuire has bachelor’s degrees in athletic training and health fitness.
“It’s a broader base of knowledge and more up to date and science-based,” Edgley said. “It’s more medical.”
However, it’s not so medical that your insurance will cover your time on the Fit side of MVP.
MVP offers programs ranging from $119 to $359 per month for adults and $99 to $319 for children.
All of the programs come with a fitness assessment, unlimited access to Fit classes. The prices increase with the addition of semiprivate training, private training and additional testing
The Fircrest MVP offers a metabolic circuit class at 6 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays followed by an hour of strength training before the clinic opens for physical therapy appointments at 8 a.m. It offers the same classes at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Monday’s and Wednesdays.
The classes are open to more than just current and past physical therapy patients. Edgley says anybody is welcome to sign up for the program.
MVP’s Fit program was so well received at the Fircrest branch, Edgley says the company plans to launch the program at its Tacoma, Bremerton and Tukwila locations.
“It’s a really individualized, specialized experience,” Edgley said. “I think people really appreciate that.”
Craig Hill’s fitness column runs Sundays. Submit questions and comments via craig.hill@thenewstribune.com, facebook.com/adventureguys or twitter.com/adventureguys.
Get more fitness coverage at blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure, thenewstribune.com/fitness.
