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Shirley Jorgenson of St. Louis celebrated a major health win this year: a 2% increase in her bone density, which she achieved WITHOUT prescription medication.

The news came just 2 years after her doctor initially diagnosed her with osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis.

The secret to her success? Once-a-week strength training at 20 Minutes to Fitness, along with over-the-counter calcium supplements.

“After weekly workouts with Cathy at 20 Minutes to Fitness, it was confirmed to me that this workout produces results,” said Joregenson. “My doctor told me, keep doing what you’re doing!”

Joregenson’s results confirm what research from Harvard Medical School and others has said all along: strong muscles lead to strong bones.

Most of us know that weight-bearing and resistance exercises build muscle mass and strength, but few understand what’s happening inside of our bones. Like muscles, our bones are living tissue that require exercise to become stronger, and numerous studies support that strength training plays a crucial role in slowing bone loss.

According to a Harvard Medical School Special Health Report, “Activities that put stress on bones can nudge bone-forming cells into action–the result is stronger, denser bones.” Strong bones can help minimize the risk of fracture due to osteoporosis.

After the age of 30, we lose more bone mass than we gain. A combination of age, sedentary lifestyles and poor nutrition deplete bone mass, leaving us fragile and at-risk for fracture. Harvard Medical School reports that an estimated 8 million women and 2 million men in the United States now have osteoporosis.  As the number of people with osteoporosis rises, so does the number of osteoporosis-related fractures.

These numbers point to an epidemic that requires life-long intervention. Once-a-week strength training at 20 Minutes to Fitness is just that.  Performed under the watchful eye of a physical therapist or personal trainer, workouts are safe for all ages — including people in their 80s and 90s.

Our medically based, load-bearing workouts help prevent osteoporosis by reducing bone loss and increasing bone density. Offsetting age-related decline in bone mass encourages power and balance and enhances strength and stability. They provide a host of other health benefits as well.

The proof is in our results.  Just ask Shirley.

To schedule a free consultation and first workout, find a location near you at 20MinutesToFitness.com

We TOLD you that exercise would help keep you young!

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And here is (even more) proof that you will benefit from our 20-minute, once-a-week workout. 

“The muscles of older men and women who have exercised for decades are indistinguishable in many ways from those of healthy 25-year-olds,” according the New York Times.

The Times reported on research that studied the muscles of active older adults. They found that the older men and women who exercised “had much higher aerobic capacities than most people their age…making them biologically about 30 years younger than their chronological ages.”

The New York Times also reports:

“The muscles of the older exercisers resembled those of the young people, with as many capillaries and enzymes as theirs, and far more than in the muscles of the sedentary elderly.

“The active elderly group did have lower aerobic capacities than the young people, but their capacities were about 40 percent higher than those of their inactive peers.

“In fact, when the researchers compared the active older people’s aerobic capacities to those of established data about “normal” capacities at different ages, they calculated that the aged, active group had the cardiovascular health of people 30 years younger than themselves.

“Together, these findings about muscular and cardiovascular health in active older people suggest that what we now consider to be normal physical deterioration with aging “may not be normal or inevitable,” Dr. Trappe says.”

You can read more about the study, conducted by researchers at Ball State University and originally published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, here.

When you’re finished, contact us to schedule a visit.

We’ll show you how you can build muscle safely and effectively in just 20-minutes a week.

Gerry Hempstead celebrates six years of building strength at 20 Minutes to Fitness.

This is Gerry. You’ll find him photographed at various spots on the 20 Minutes to Fitness website.

Gerry — like everyone you’ll see on our website and in our ads — is a real person, not some fancy fitness model. We tell the stories of real people because 20 Minutes to Fitness delivers real results. And all it takes is working out once a week for 20 minutes.

We know it sounds too good to be true. But this is one case where it is not. Here you’ll train safely on physical therapy equipment under the direct supervision of a personal coach who handles all the details and makes sure you use proper form. We’re not saying it is easy. But it is efficient, effective and fun. It helps your mind and body feel better. Don’t believe us?

Just ask Gerry.

You can’t REALLY get fit by training just 20 minutes, once-a-week, can you?

We’ve been asked that questions hundreds of times over the years — 15 to be exact. And our answer is always the same.  Yes, it IS possible to build strength and get fit by training at 20 Minutes to Fitness  just 20 minutes a week. Study after study has demonstrated the effectiveness of our medically based training method, which involves taking each major muscle group to failure while  using safe MedX physical therapy equipment.

But, if you STILL don’t believe us, here is yet another study that backs us up.  You can find it in the New York Times, or read it here:

From the article:

Here’s some good news for anyone who does not have the time or inclination to linger in the gym and grunt through repeated, hourslong sets of various weight-training exercises in order to build muscular strength.

An inspiring new study of how much — or little — weight training is needed to improve muscles’ strength and size finds that we may be able to gain almost the same muscular benefits with a single, brief set of each exercise.

The catch is, that set has to be draining.

Read the rest here.

ATTENTION St. Louis-area friends: Save the date: OCT. 13!

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And that’s not all! Join us on Sunday, Oct. 13 and you’ll also:

  • Learn about our Physical Therapy and Movement & Mobility services
  • Check out our Styku Body Scanner
  • Find out how massage therapy can help speed the healing process
  • Ask about our Golf and Cycling fitness programs
  • Win cool 20 Minutes to Fitness gear!

Got questions?  Call us at 314-863-7836! We’d love to tell you more.

A New York Times report looks at the impact of muscle loss as we age — and how to rebuild it.

If you are a woman over age 50, this NYT article may be the most important article you read all month. It explains the impact of muscle loss on functional decline. The good news is, the article reports, it is possible to regain lost muscle mass through strength training. And 20 Minutes to Fitness can help — no matter how old or out of shape you may think you are!

Some excerpts on muscle loss:

“I, like many people past 50, have a condition called sarcopenia — a decline in skeletal muscle with age. It begins as early as age 40 and, without intervention, gets increasingly worse, with as much as half of muscle mass lost by age 70.”

“As Dr. Jeremy D. Walston, geriatrician at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, put it, “Sarcopenia is one of the most important causes of functional decline and loss of independence in older adults.”

“But — and this is a critically important “but” — no matter how old or out of shape you are, you can restore much of the strength you already lost. Dr. Moffat noted that research documenting the ability to reverse the losses of sarcopenia — even among nursing home residents in their 90s — has been in the medical literature for 30 years, and the time is long overdue to act on it.”

Read the entire New York Times article here.

20 Minutes to Fitness builds muscle strength

20 Minutes to Fitness has clients in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. All have benefited from our safe, supervised strength training program.  Our workouts are performed one-on-one on MedX physical therapy equipment under the guidance of a personal coach.  Our staff includes physical therapists and PT assistants and other highly trained professionals.

As the NYT reports, “Proper technique is critical to getting the desired results without incurring an injury.”  Contact us today about a free consultation and workout.

Sue Matlof

“My bone density had been decreasing, and I decided I had to add strength-training to my exercise. After 14 years, I keep coming because it’s fun, and I can do a lot for my health in just 20 minutes.”

Sue Matlof 14-year client of 20 Minutes to Fitness St. Louis

Track your progress with our Styku Body Scanner

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St. Louis area clients:  have you tried  the Styku Body Scanner in our Clayton studio yet? It’s a great, reliable way to pinpoint exactly where you’re losing inches and replacing body fat with lean muscle mass, and more.

How the Styku Body Scanner Works

A powerful camera creates a 3D image of your body that can be rotated and viewed from any angle.

Completing a body scan is quick and easy. You’ll be asked to stand on an automatic turntable in front of the scanner. The turntable will rotate 360 degrees while the scanner’s powerful 3D camera  creates an accurate 3D model of your body. The entirely non-invasive process takes less than a minute to complete.

Working with a trained 20 Minutes to Fitness professional, you will immediately review a 3D model of your body on a computer screen. A virtual measuring tape will show your measurements anywhere on the body. Body fat composition and other metrics will also be visually displayed.

Your first scan sets your benchmark. Subsequent scans allow you to monitor the changes in your shape and dimensions as your body responds to your fitness and nutritional regimen. You’ll be able to track your loss of inches over time; by comparing overlapping sections of your body from scan to scan, you can see for yourself exactly how and where your body is changing.

Try it! 20 Minutes to Fitness clients who purchase fitness packages can exchange individual fitness sessions for 30-minute body scan sessions. Individual and bundled pricing is also available.

To learn more or schedule a Styku session, call us in Clayton at 314-863-7836.

WANT TO BE LIKE JOHN?

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John Gudeman was a weightlifter and pole vaulter in college. He was an educator for 44 years. And today he is a Senior Olympian with gold medals in the high jump and running long jump.

How does he stay in such great shape?

John is a regular at 20 Minutes to Fitness, which he credits with helping to keep him competition-ready. “I can’t praise my trainer enough,” says John. “Vicki absolutely works the daylights out of me. She is totally fabulous. The people at 20 Minutes to Fitness are like family to me, and I’ve grown to love them.”

We love you, too, John! You are an inspiration to everyone you meet.

John Gudeman, Senior Olympian, 20 Minutes to Fitness client

John executes a gold medal-winning long jump at the Senior Olympics.

St. Louis Magazine reporter Jeannette Cooperman visited 20 Minutes to Fitness’ studio in Clayton and tried about our 20-minute, once-a-week strength training workout herself.  Then she wrote an article about what she experienced.

You can read it all here. Or here. Or here.  It’s all the same. We just don’t want you to miss it!