JCC Blog

Category: Fitness, Wellness, & Sports

Feb13

by admin

Helping JCC members have #StrongerHearts

Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States?

Educating Baltimoreans about the prevention and treatment of heart disease is the main goal behind a new innovative collaborative initiative between LifeBridge Health (LBH) and The American Heart Association (AHA) called #StrongerHearts.

“This dynamic partnership between LifeBridge Health and the American Heart Association is already translating into new resources and programs designed to help JCC members enhance or improve their cardiovascular health,” says Barak Hermann, CEO of the JCC of Greater...

Jun20

by admin

Fitness Exercise Teens

JCC & Parisi® Launch High School Pre-Season Performance Training Bootcamp

The JCC of Greater Baltimore is thrilled to be launching a new partnership with the Parisi® Speed School powered by LifeBridge Health and Fitness, bringing high-school athletes from across the region a pre-season performance bootcamp.

The JCC/Parisi® program is designed for high-school athletes who want to reach peak performance at team tryouts rather than during the athletics season.

Athletes who participate will see improvement in their running technique, strength, cardiovascular endurance, footwork and plyometrics, and explosiveness. The bootcamp will also focus on injury prevention, conditioning, and mobility...

Jan22

by admin

Fitness Exercise Health

BODYBUILDING 101: The Importance of Discipline and Diet

There are a lot of benefits to taking up bodybuilding but quick results are not one of them, at least not according to JCC trainers and veteran bodybuilders Yaakov Bar Am and Abbie Friedberg. The way Yaakov and Abbie tell it, bodybuilding requires tremendous self-discipline and meticulous nutrition, years of hard work to start getting the results you want, and even more hard work to maintain those results once they do start showing up.

“You have to want to do it,” Abbie says. “First and foremost, you have to have the drive to do it because it’s a huge commitment. It’s like with any sport: just to go through the motions of doing it, it won’t get you to where you need to be, you really need to have that drive to get up there and do it.”

At least during competition season, Abbie says the source for that drive is...

Dec13

by admin

Personal Training Fitness Exercise

JCC Members Become Fitness Trainers

Much of the appeal of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore is right there in our name: Community. That’s especially the case for the Fitness Center, where many of our instructors and trainers started out as JCC members. Here are the stories of three of those members who made the jump to the other side of the gym.

Shelly Cohen

Shelly Cohen originally became a JCC member to take advantage of membership discounts on her children’s camps and after-school programs. When Laura Fink, an instructor she was taking several fitness classes with, suggested Shelly become a BODYPUMP™ instructor herself, she initially laughed the idea off. “I thought she...

Nov14

by admin

Health Holidays

A Healthy Thanksgiving…is it possible?

From Amy Schwartz, Senior Director, Fitness and Wellness

A cup of common sense, a few calorie-cutting tactics, and a newfound emphasis on family rather than food can add up to a healthy Thanksgiving.

Healthy Thanksgiving Meal Tips

1. Chicken Broth. Use it to moisten stuffing, baste the turkey, and braise pearl onions. Make your own or choose low-sodium canned broth.

2. Trim the fat from recipes and side dishes. Make simple switches…
- Roast the turkey on a rack so that the fat will drain off.
- Buy French baguettes for stuffing. They are made without fat or sugar.
- Roast, don’t boil, sweet potatoes to bring out their natural sweetness.
- Replace mashed potatoes with low-calorie squash.
- Flavor food with spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

...

Oct09

by admin

Fitness Health

Can Exercise Prevent Breast Cancer?

Amy Schwartz, Senior Director, Fitness and Wellness

October is breast cancer awareness month and I thought I’d take a look at the relationship between physical activity and breast cancer risk. Researching this, I found that there is substantial evidence that higher levels of physical activity are linked to lower risks of several cancers – including breast cancer. Physical activity includes working, exercising, performing household chores, and leisure-time activities such as walking, tennis, hiking, bicycling, and swimming.

Many studies show that physically active women have a lower risk of breast cancer than inactive women. In a 2013 analysis of 31 studies of the correlation of exercise to breast cancer risk reduction, the average reduction associated with physical activity was 12%! In contrast, a large study showed an increase in...

Sep18

by admin

JCC news

The Shapiro Aquatics Park

40 Incredible Years

It’s probably not too much of an exaggeration to say that without the Shapiro Aquatics Park, there might not even be a Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC. The two institutions have been intertwined from the very beginning. In fact, the first outdoor pool in the Aquatics Park was actually built in 1977, one year before the rest of the JCC opened. In the ensuing 40 years, the Aquatics Park has been essential to growing the JCC’s membership, giving people some of their first jobs, and showcasing its commitment to fitness and families.

Ilene Heneson was with the JCC’s Teen Advisory Board when The Associated, the Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, decided to build a new JCC in Owings Mills and what at the time was known as the Shapiro Recreation Park. There...

Jul25

by admin

Fitness JCC news

Making a Splash

Summer Renovations to Make OM Indoor Pool More Energy Efficient

For its 40th birthday, the Owings Mills JCC’s indoor pool is getting quite the birthday present: its first real makeover. Starting Monday, July 31 and continuing throughout the entire month of August, the pool will be shut down and will not reopen until approximately September 1. During that month, the JCC will install new roofing, new coping and tiles, a new deck, and a new motor for the pool’s fan. The goal, when renovations are finished, is to make the indoor pool more energy efficient, user friendly and flat out higher quality than it’s ever been before.

JCC Senior Aquatics Director Bill Kirkner calls the makeover “the first major aesthetic renovation” since the indoor pool first opened. Even so, it’s a renovation about six years in...