Squats, lunges and pushups, oh my!

Tamara Brushert planks during the Trim Down Tulalip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article by Sarah Miller, photo by Patrece Gates

The summer is winding down. The days are slowly getting colder. Soon fall will be here. For some, the summer is a time to hit the beach and soak up the rays. However, some decided to participate in the Trim Down Tulalip fitness challenge, held by the Health Clinic’s Fitness Trainer Patrece Gates. During the trim down, Patrece helped people get into better shape and encouraged them to not only become more active but to be more wary of what they eat.

“In the beginning, we had 36 people sign up,” Patrece commented. “However at the end, we only had thirteen. There was a total of 72 pounds lost during the challenge.”

This is Patrece’s third year doing the challenge. She brought in Snohomish Boot Camp to help whip everyone into shape. Each week, on Thursdays, a fitness challenge was held at the Boys and Girls Club gym. The boot camp style exercises helped get the ball rolling on not only losing weight, but conditioning muscles.

“This year, they did a lot of squats, lunges, push-ups and sit-ups,” Patrece continued. “It was a lot of basic work outs. We had the gym split up into different stations. Everyone would be at one station for a couple of minutes and then we would rotate. People were really into it.”

The trim down held weekly raffles for different workout equipment such as weights, stability balls, and yoga mats.

“The participants were really disciplined and they really enjoyed working out hard,” Patrece said. “There weren’t a whole lot of problems with it this year, everything ran smoothly. Seeing everyone show up and seeing them excited to weigh in was my favorite. I think these challenges are very important to the community. It helps them become more disciplined with weight loss and healthy eating, it keeps them active and gives them ideas on working out and it brings people together in a positive way.”

To get started on your own journey to weight loss and healthy living, you can contact Patrece at 360-716-5643.