Featured in Metro Sports, Self, FIT, Fitness, and Outside magazines and CBS, Good Morning America. Click here to read the article in the Washington Post!

Come join the Madfitness team as we fittrek the America's Walk for Diabetes on October 25th at 10:00 am at Freedom Plaza. For more info, call Madeline at (202) 262-7058

It's the Best Total Body Outdoor Workout Ever!
Sundays 11:00am City Fitness Gym, 3535 Connecticut Ave NW

Come join us every Sunday 11-12:30
*If it is your first time, please arrive 15 minutes early.
Location: City Fitness Gym, 3525 Connecticut Ave in NW DC
(next to the Cleveland Park metro)
You do not need to be a member and you don't need equipment.
Wear sneakers and clothing appropriate for the weather.
Weather Policy: There is no bad weather, just bad clothing.

Testimonials

"Madeline was leading a Spa Challenge that I signed up for over a year ago. I signed up for her challenge because I wanted to feel better and live a healthier lifestyle. Growing up, I was not the athletic type and spent most of my day sitting and watching television and studying. I had no endurance or physical strength. After losing my Mother to breast cancer, I knew I could not go on like this, life is too special.

As part of the Spa Challenge, Madeline invited me to try Fittrek. On my first trek, I thought I was going to die. It was two and a half hours and one of the longer paths. We went through Rock Creek Park and through Georgetown, speeding on the trails and sidewalks with our poles. The next weekend, I went back for more. Since then, I Fittrek every weekend and I've participated in walks with team MadFitness. I've trekked in the pouring rain and on icy, snowy trails. It has all been a great adventure. I've met many interesting people old and young. Everyone has a story and some of the older trekkers have been inspirations. I want to be as active as they are when I'm years into my retirement! Fittrek has changed my life by giving me confidence in my physical abilities and getting me addicted to the happy, relaxed, "just exercised" feeling. It's true that fitness is about a long term lifestyle change. I've lived it and see the results and hope to keep improving."

Judy Yiu

Peggy (center) fittreking America's Walk for Diabetes 2002

She's "fifty-nine and trekking" according to Peggy Miller, who with her husband, Biard MacGuineas, hiked nearly 200 miles in North Africa. "In the High Atlas we hit snow and ice; in the Sahara, deep sand--a little like snow at 100 degrees." In recent years Peggy has hiked to Machu Picchu in Peru and through the Copper Canyon in Mexico. In 2001, she completed the 60-mile Avon breast cancer walk. Both Biard and Peggy train regularly with Madeline in City Fitness Fittrek Classes using the trails of Washington's Rock Creek Park to keep in shape.

Peggy Miller
Assistant Director of Publishing
American Council of Life Insurers

Benefits

The benefits of walking and running have been known and studied for years. A regular walking or running program can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure and reduce body fat. In addition to these well known benefits, Fitness Trekking and the FITTREK(tm) program offers several distinctive training benefits.

Increased Energy Output/Decreased Impact

The upper body contains 50 percent of the body's muscle mass. The recruitment of the muscles in fitness trekking increases oxygen consumption by 20-25 percent, when compared to trekking or walking without poles. Calorie demands can be increased 20-50 percent per mile. The result is a more efficient cardiopulmonary workout with far less impact, when compared to walking without poles. A paper published in 1981 by Dr. G. Neureuther reports that trekking poles reduces up to 13 tons of load on the lower body while trekking on flat terrain for one hour. These numbers increase to 28 tons while walking uphill and 34 tons for downhill (averages based on moderate hills). Multiplying times the number of walking session per week and then per year illustrates how substantial the reduction of lower body joint stress can be with FITTREK(tm). If runners replace only one or two running sessions per week with fitness trekking the reduction in impact would be even more dramatic due to the higher impact levels associated with running. Runners are proving to be avid FITTREK(tm) participants because of the recognized benefits of increased heart rate with reduced impact. This will reduce the chances of over use injuries and minimize the accumulative wear on the knees and spines, a common site of premature degenerative conditions in long term habitual runners.

Easy To Control Intensity

A challenge often faced by exercisers is not increasing the heart rate but rather limiting or maintaining a desired level or zone. De-conditioned exercisers heart rates may sky rocket out of control during a short jog at a slow pace. In fact, it may be impossible for them to maintain any pace of jogging with out increasing heart rates dangerously high. Another common problem is lower body muscular fatigue. In de-conditioned and overweight exercisers the tibialis muscle often reaches exhaustion (lactic acid accumulation) before an adequate exertion level can be attained for cardiopulmonary conditioning even while walking. FITTREK(tm) poles minimize the lower body muscle demand, sharing the load with upper body muscles, increasing the duration and energy out put capabilities. In contrast conditioned runners are often reluctant to replace running with walking because of perceived difficulties in obtaining a desired heart rate. They may feel they're not training with enough intensity. Fitness Trekking allow them to obtain this intensity. Utilizing FITTREK(tm) weighted gloves and or backpacks permit fine tuning of the energy output.

Balanced Upper Body Involvement

Walking with hand weights is often practiced to increase intensity and upper body involvement. Walkers often incorporate hand weights weighing 5 lbs. or more. While increasing exercise intensity, this practice has several disadvantages. It creates unnatural body posture. Holding two 5lbs dumbbells in front of the body places a tremendous amount of stress on the lumbar region of the spine. Hand weights subject the muscles and joints of the neck, shoulder and spinal column to constant downward stress. Hand weights only recruit a few muscles. Hand weights don't adequately recruit triceps, latissimus dorsi or pectorals muscles. Fitness Trekking with poles and FITTREK(tm) weighted gloves allows exercisers to increase exercise intensity in a bio-mechanically correct manner. Correct body posture is maintained. Each pole plant reverses the resistance direction relieving the downward force and recruits the triceps, latissimus dorsi and pectorals muscles. The result is safe and balanced upper body involvement.

Improved Stability

Jacobson, Caldwell and Kulling reported the increased lateral stability provided by using trekking poles with a load (back pack) and with out. FITTREK(tm) poles greatly enhance exerciser's stability and control when performing body work movements such as lunges, step up and squats. This enhanced stability and control reduces injury risk. Shared Work Load In Bodywork Movements In addition to increasing stability and control, the poles enable exercisers to share the work load with the upper body allowing them to effectively control the percentage of load on the lower body. The advantages of this are; decreased injury risk from over loading, de-conditioned exercisers can perform body work movements that otherwise may be too strenuous and increased body work for the upper body.

Injury Rehab

The world renowned Steadman and Hawkin Clinic endorses the use of trekking poles for many of their re-constructive knee surgery patients because of the lessened lower body stress and increased stability afforded by trekking poles. The FITTREK(tm) class may be in accordance with their rehabilitation program. FITTREK(tm) PLUS may be appropriate if exerciser modifies agility components to their abilities. Exercisers with re-constructive shoulder surgery may find Fitness Trekking beneficial in improving muscular strength and endurance. Instructors can not diagnose, prescribe or advise participants on rehabilitation. Participants should be encouraged to follow the advise of their physicians or physical therapist. Linear Progression Training The FITTREK(tm) program is designed to facilitate a linear progression of training intensity as an individuals fitness level improves. Utilizing the different class types and FITTREK's gloves and packs an exerciser can be guided on their "journey of self improvement" in a safe efficient manner. Stress Reduction Outdoors Studies have shown that even limited exposure to nature can profoundly influence our happiness, health and productivity.