Boot Camp for the Booty
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Though many make New Year’s resolutions to shape up, January is a rough time to start an exercise regime. It’s often too cold to walk or run outside, and with darkness descending at 5 pm, exercise options are limited.
Overstuffed from holiday indulgence and tired of lying on the couch, we made an appointment to attend boot camp at Vadim’s Fitness Studio on Central Park Avenue last week and were surprised at how much fun shaping up can be. Though the studio has been open for ten years, it was all new to us.
In just a one-hour session we sweated, stretched and toned and seemed to work every major muscle in a very efficient way. Accompanied by a sound track from Lady Gaga, exercise physiologist Michael Caceci lead us through a circuit training routine that was challenging yet entertaining. We rotated around the exercise studio doing 30-second stints using free weights, kettle balls, and elastic bands –and quickly learned to do the plank, jump through hoops, and squat and lunge while holding a heavy weight. The time sped by and the group groaned and giggled during a pre-dinner workout. The routine focuses on endurance, strength, balance, agility and coordination and Michael’s upbeat nature made hard work enjoyable.
This year Vadim Fitness Studio will move to larger quarters next door at 455 Central Park Avenue, where more customers can be accommodated and new training equipment including tire flips, battling ropes and power lift training will be added to the mix.
Boot camp is available in private sessions, or in groups, Monday through Saturday. The studio also offers one-on-one training, health and fitness assessments, full-body stretching, sports conditioning and performance enhancement, senior fitness and rehabilitation. Programs can be tailored to your individual needs.
Call for reservations first!
Vadim Fitness Studio
495 Central Park Avenue
Scarsdale
914-725-9553
email: info@vadimstudio.com
www.vadimstudio.com
Working out? Listen up! What will be your Gym Anthem of 2012?
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Certain songs make me nostalgic for a particular time or place. The first kiss song. That break-your-heart, break-up song. The crackling ember campfire song that makes me long for sleep away camp even though I hated sleep away camp. When these tunes come on the radio as I’m driving along in my SUV, I am instantly flooded with memories. Air Supply, Donna Summers, Joanie Mitchell. I know I’m lame (and old), but, as long as the windows are up, I sing along.
And then there are the Gym Anthems.
If you go to the gym a few times a week like I do, then you know what kind of tunes I’m referring to. Think top 40, heavy-bass, techno/dance music.
Gym Anthems are songs that come on the car radio and make me think of doing push ups. Of pedaling as fast as is humanly possible on a stationary bike in a Cycling class. Of counting reps as I do bicep curls with 2-pound weights in hand. Rihanna. LMFAO. Flo Rida. The strangest sensation comes over me when I hear one of these tunes outside of the walls of the gym. I’ll be driving to pick up my kids from school, and bam, on comes Rihanna’s latest and greatest, the one that sounds like this: “We fell in love in a homeless place….” and it’s like I want to start running on a treadmill at a 4% incline.
My response to Top 40 music is Pavlovian.
I’m pretty sure that’s when Rihanna imagined her album going platinum or whatever, she did not sit around with her producers fantasizing about some 40-year old suburban woman recognizing her #1 single as a cardio torture song.
I’m pretty sure that this tune was meant for rocking out at a club.*
*And, no, New York Sports Club doesn’t count.
Similarly, when Adele wrote her amazingly sad ballad “Someone Like You,” did she sit at the piano during a creative explosion and think, “I want to write the hottest cool down song of the year?” Does Adele know that every time I hear this song, I am stretching my hips after spin class and basically staring at my own crotch? DOES SHE KNOW THIS? I really feel like this is important information to share with the artist. I could use her own lyrics and everything, saying, Adele, I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited, but I couldn’t stay away, I couldn’t fight it….
So. This phenomenon got me thinking. Since so many people will be heading back to the Stairmaster this January, with a renewed club membership and a renewed sense of purpose, I thought I’d help you find the right tunes. What would be some fun pairings of music and gym activities for the New Year, like partnering wine with cheese or wine with a glass? What will be your ultimate Gym Anthems of 2012?
Here are some teams to try.
Doing box jumps: “Never Again” by Ja Rule
Running up and down stairs while your trainer looks on menacingly: “Titus Andronicus” by Titus Andronicus
Getting stuck in the last row during a filled-to-capacity spin class: “Fat Bottom Girls” by Queen
Counting sit-ups with the occasional wink-and-nod to your hot self in the mirror: “Gold on the Ceiling” by The Black Keys
Subtly adjusting one’s package, surreptitious nose digging, picking of thwedgie (thong wedgie), or yoga farting: “I Wanna Do It” by Sonny and the Sunsets
Running on a treadmill while watching a Zumba class through a glass partition: “Armada Latina” by Cypress Hill, featuring Pitbull and Mark Anthony
Sizing up the competition before a group fitness class begins, such as, who brings her own yoga mat, wears the newest Lululemon tank, has the biggest pocketbook hanging off the thinnest arm….you know, basic stuff like that: “Fly” by Nicki Minaj and Rihanna
Bouncing on an elliptical machine to a Guilty Pleasure Song that you don’t tell anyone you bought, and, when a friend walks by, you immediately change over to Coldplay on your ipod: “Love you Like a Love Song” by (yikes) Selena Gomez
Strutting and/or Peacocking and/or bending over the water fountain provocatively: “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer (men), “Vogue” by Madonna (women)
Relaxing during a shower and a steam using bath products pocketed from a W hotel: “5 O’Clock in the Morning” by T-Pain and Lily Allen
Waiting in line for a post-workout smoothie in your Free City hoodie: “Pumped up Kicks” by Foster the People
Sitting on the couch after deciding not to go to the gym in order to catch up on new episodes of The Bachelor: “This Year’s Love” by David Gray (Yes, there’s a song for that. Turns out, there’s a song for everything.)
Good luck, gym rats and couch potatoes. Let me know what you’re listening to while signing up online for your favorite spin bike, or doing tai chi, or reading Self magazine….
Columnist and blogger Julie Gerstenblatt writes with humor and candor about her life in Scarsdale, her friends and family, and the particular demands of motherhood and wifedom in modern-day suburbia.
Carolers to Serenade Shoppers in Scarsdale on Thursday Night
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The final evening of late night shopping in Scarsdale Village will be held on Thursday night December 22nd. Residents are encouraged to come down and enjoy free parking at all of the night meters. Hitchcock’s John King will be leading a group of Christmas carolers who will stroll the streets and serenade shoppers from 6:30 – 8:00 pm.
In addition, from 6:30 – 7:00 pm, flute players from Hoff and Hitchcock will offer holiday music in the lobby of the Harwood Building.
Stores will remain open until 8 pm to accommodate last minute holiday shoppers. Come to Scarsdale Village to shop and celebrate on Thursday night December 22nd.
This evening is sponsored by the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce.
Installing a Back-up Generator in Scarsdale? Here is What You Need to Know
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With the increasing frequency of local power outages there has been an uptick in interest among homeowners in the installation of automatic standby generators to power their homes during the 4-5 period it usually takes for Con Edison to restore electricity to Scarsdale.
However, recently residents who sought to install emergency generators spotted some issues with Village Code.
Regulations stipulate that the noise level of the generator measured from the nearest property line shall not exceed 55 decibels – but there are no generators available that meet this requirement. According to Salvatore Pace of Pace Electric in New Rochelle, the quietest generator on the market emits 62-65 decibels of sound.
Those who live on smaller lots may also find that the Village Code is too restrictive. According to the regulations, if the generator is placed outside the house, it must be placed in the backyard, set back twenty (20’) feet from the rear and side yard property lines.
Practically speaking, on a lot that measures 75 by 150 feet containing a 3,000 square foot home, the rear yard might be only 60 feet deep and 75 feet wide. If the generator needs to be 20 feet away from the side and rear property lines it could conceivably become the centerpiece of the backyard.
A meeting of the West Quaker Ridge and Middle Heathcote-Murray Hill Neighborhood Associations was held to discuss these issues, and as a consequence, Scarsdale Trustee Jon Mark announced that the Trustees Law Committee will review the code.
We asked Assistant Village Manager John Goodwin for some background on the code, and here is what we learned:
According to an email from Goodwin, “The Village's Local Law that pertains to permanent emergency generators, §310-7(S), limits the decibel level emitted from generators to 55 decibels as measured at the nearest property line and certified by an acoustical engineer. Thus, generators are permitted to emit more than 55 decibels at the unit itself, as long as the decibel level is decreased to 55 decibels at the nearest property line. Further, the Village law requires the use of appropriate sound-attenuating architectural materials and landscaped screening to minimize the visual and sound impact on adjacent properties. If after the permanent emergency generator is installed the decibel level is higher than 55 decibels, the Village requires additional sound-attenuating screening until the noise level can be certified by an acoustical engineer at 55 decibels.
When the Village was considering this law in 2006, staff researched and spoke with manufactures. The Village was assured that 55 decibels as measured from the nearest property line was achievable with the permanent emergency generators on the market as evidenced by the 100 building permits for permanent emergency generators issued since the law was adopted in late 2006.”
Have you installed a generator at your home or are you considering the installation of a generator? What do you think about the current regulations? Post your comments below.
Announcing the Scardale Community Support Council
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A new community resource has been formed to help in times of crisis. The group was established as a result of the open community meetings that were held last fall by Scarsdale and Edgemont Family Counseling to facilitate discussion, support and the exchange of information about the spate of suicides that touched Scarsdale at the time. The newly founded group called the Scarsdale Community Support Council includes representatives from the clergy, police, Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service, Scarsdale schools (mental health professionals, the administration, and the PTA), the Village Trustees, the senior community, the Scarsdale Forum and other civic organizations.
In times of need, the Scarsdale Community Support Council will serve to coordinate the community’s diverse resources in an efficient and comprehensive manner. They believe that by working together they can reach the greatest number of community members to provide social and emotional support in the event of a crisis.
According to Linda Hillman Chayes, who is the chair of the Council, “The Council began meeting last June with the goal of
providing a forum through which our various organizations can connect, sharing information and lessons learned, discussing how emerging needs can be identified, and formulating options for coordinated crisis response.”
“The mission of the Scarsdale Community Support Council is to establish a network of diverse community service providers who are able to act as an integrated whole to provide comprehensive, efficient crisis intervention, promoting the social and emotional well-being of our community.”
By fostering connections between community resources, the Council seeks to strengthen those resources and develop a collective capacity that serves our community well in good times and bad.
