‘Neighborhood gym’ holds open house
Beach Cities Health District’s Center for Health and Fitness. File photo
The Beach Cities Health District will be opening up the doors to its Center for Health and Fitness, 514 N. Prospect Ave., this Saturday, Jan. 6, with a slate of free fitness classes and discussions as part of an annual Open House exhibition.
“We like to get people excited in the new year, and so we’re opening up our doors to our neighbors in the community,” said BCHD spokesperson Catherine Bustamante.
The Center for Health and Fitness is a cornerstone for the Health District, encouraging the wellness of members such as Carol Schiewe, a survivor of two forms of cancer and a rare degenerative brain disorder who works out five days a week with BCHD trainer Derick Malit. Scheiwe’s combination of breast cancer and thyroid cancer led to a situation where she has to continually burn fat so as to ensure she can keep the disease at bay.
Her story, initially published in BCHD’s LiveWell magazine, encouraged others to press on with their own fitness goals.
“Carol really inspired people – she even told a story about she was approached in the grocery store by people who read about her,” Bustamante said. “We’re a neighborhood gym, and we’re not just about physical well-being, but social well-being.”
The Center for Health and Fitness’s programming also includes honors for people who attend the gym more than 300 days each year, incentivizing against buying a membership and letting it gather dust.
Classes scheduled for Saturday include Intro to Yoga Basics, Small Group Training and Barre Burn classes, as well as healthy eating, medical exercise training and blood pressure check lectures.
The CHF Open House runs from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6.