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Where to go to stay fit before, during or after work.
Those who work downtown should be getting in some good exercise every workday. Many get that exercise through walking. Some people have to walk several blocks from their employer-paid parking spot to their building. Others’ job is to walk around a lot, such as the parking ticket-giving fellow around East Fourth Street and South Boston Avenue. You can even get some exercise walking to lunch and back. If you decide to have chicken-fried steak, for example, you should pick the farthest-away option.
Other than these ways to slip a walk into your day, downtown offers a number of other options for staying healthy.
Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPros) recently started a new program called the F.I.T. Series. The purpose of the series is to make young professionals aware of fitness opportunities all around Tulsa.
“The city of Tulsa offers many recreational activities, including bicycling, rock climbing, rowing and many recreational sports leagues,” says Ross McLaughlin, with TYPros’ Next Generation Crew. “The F.I.T. Series also helps members become acquainted with others who have similar interests.”
Of course, Ross also threw out those pesky obesity numbers for our state, such as 25 percent. That’s how many Oklahomans are obese. Plus, we always have the pleasure of making it to the bottom of every “healthiest state” list, because of a number of our bad habits that keep us unfit.
You might be surprised to learn that many of these opportunities to get healthy are right in downtown Tulsa. For example, Tulsa River Parks isn’t too far from downtown. Now that the weather is getting warmer, more and more businessmen and women will gear up in their spandex at lunch and go for a run. I checked out www.mapmyrun.com for a number of routes you can try out.
A number of downtowners head over to First United Methodist Church for its 4 Life Fitness program. This is part of the Sweeney Strong program, named for the late Neal Sweeney, who was a church member and advocate for family fitness. You don’t have to be a member of the church to attend any of the early-morning or lunchtime fitness classes, which are taught by certified instructors. The church offers a bootcamp every Tuesday and Thursday that you can suffer through at lunch, too. Check out the church’s Web site to learn more about its fitness programs.
If running downtown or going to bootcamp isn’t your style, why not go to the gym? The new YMCA downtown is supposed to be really nice. I saw the pictures — looks fancy. There is not a lot of info on the YMCA’s Web site yet, but I’m sure the organization would love to give you a tour. The best part is that it’s right next to Billy’s on the Square, so let that be your motivation to work out at lunch.
For me, I’ve become a regular at Tower Fitness in the Mid-Continent Tower. I kind of don’t want to tell you about it because I don’t want it to get too crowded. But I also want it to stay open forever, which means it will need more than just me going there. Tower isn’t huge. It isn’t fancy. As far as I can tell with my limited gym knowledge, it’s got all the necessary elements: lots of elliptical machines, good treadmills, bikes, stair climbers and all sorts of weight machines. Tower also offers a body flex class two days a week and just started a yoga class once a week.
So come downtown. Walk to the gym and lift weights. Take a jog down to the river and on your way back, get in a bootcamp session. The best part is that on your way back to work or your car, you’ll run into some great lunch options that’ll make it all worth your while.
Check out TYPros’ next F.I.T. event on March 25. In the spirit of March Madness, TYPros is hosting the H.O.R.S.E. Invitational at Fair Meadows Sports Grill & Loft. Visit www.typros.org for more information.
