This Spotlight Holds a Bonus for You

I’ve been waiting to do this spotlight for months. The mix of two moms, who run and own their own businesses, it can get tricky. Amy and I have that in common. I am fortunate to have Amy in my life. She provides a calming presence for me at Get Fit NH but also with her love for helping the human body work as it should. Amy owns Chichester Massage. I was able to turn to Amy for help many times but the most significant was when my daughter had Lyme. A 10 year old should not ache from head to toe. Amy was able to help Karalynn when she (and I) needed it most.

Amy tells her own story here. Two sides of the same coin. She tells how Get Fit NH helped her when she needed it most.

"I started training at Get Fit NH after meeting Dean and Nancy in a business referral group that I had joined to promote my business Chichester Massage. As a massage therapist, their integral training program made sense to me combining cardio, core, strength/resistance exercises to maximize the potential of your muscles. The best way to refer someone to a business is to try it yourself so I decided to give it a go. I did not struggle with maintaining my weight but I became winded very easily and felt pretty weak so my goals were to improve in those areas. I remember being very sore in the beginning but also excited as I noticed my energy increase, endurance and strength develop so everyday activities were easier.

At age 38 I felt like I was in the best shape of my life thanks to Get Fit NH and then I became pregnant. I was worried that I would lose all I had gained but I soon realized it was the best thing to set myself up for success. Despite my age my doctor didn’t consider me “high risk” because of the shape I was in and the training actually prepared my body and the baby for the birth process. I trained until the day before I had my daughter, with modifications of course, but I believe that had a huge impact on the ease of my pregnancy and getting back in shape post baby.

These days I struggle with balancing the responsibilities of being a mom, wife and business owner but my main goal is keeping up with my 5 year old (who is starting kindergarten, yikes!) and being a good role model for her with healthy eating and exercise. Since there never seems to be enough time in the day I have found meal planning to be essential these days. Nancy’s crockpot workshop and all the sharing of recipes for meals, smoothies etc have been invaluable and have taken me out of my comfort zone to try new foods. I love the support and encouragement from Nancy and the 9am ladies. Even when training is challenging there is lots of laughter. Get Fit NH has been a wonderful asset to me both personally and professionally. I have been a massage therapist for 20 years and keeping my body strong and healthy has contributed to the longevity of my career.

1. It enhances your post-workout recovery
You spend your time tightening and toning your muscles as part of your workout but muscles need to recover and be lengthened out again to restore flexibility and perform at their best. A therapeutic massage helps loosen up your muscles allowing you to recover from the impact better and faster than you normally would.

2. It soothes the pain of sore muscles
Your muscles can really ache after an intense workout but massaging and stretching them can help work out the knots, flush out the toxins that contribute to the "ouch" factor and get the blood flowing again so they don't hurt so much.

3. It makes your muscles work better
Regular exercise not only puts a strain on your muscles, ligaments and tendons, but also connective fibers under the skin known as your fascia - which help the muscles work smoothly and efficiently when they're in good shape. The fascia can get really gunked up with repeated exercise and that makes it harder for muscles to slide past each other easily. Massage helps by loosening up those fibers and releasing restrictions so the muscles are doing what they're supposed to with much less effort.

4. It helps you feel better, mentally
You have been working hard and a massage is a healthy way to reward yourself. Not only does it feel good but studies show massage lowers blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol levels proving it to be an excellent stress reliever.

Fitness is all about meeting new challenges as you work to improve your physical and mental well-being. As part of a balanced program massage can help you get to where you want to be."

Don’t forget as a member of Get Fit NH you receive 10% off at Chichester Massage!

It might not be recovery week but don’t wait to take advantage of what massage can do for you.

Thank you Amy for all you continue to do,
Coach Nancy