Live Well

Healthy living is nothing new to Lake Wylie, where a quiet pace, nature-filled surroundings and active recreation opportunities create a lifestyle focused on fitness and wellness.

But if you’re new to the area or just getting back into a fitness routine, you may not be aware of the wide variety of ways to create a healthier lifestyle. In addition to traditional YMCAs and membership-based gyms, Lake Wylie is now home to intensive year-long boot camps, a high-end home fitness equipment store, spa services in a century-old Victorian home and extreme makeovers that challenge participants to revamp their entire lifestyle.

Some of the changes in health and wellness opportunities have come with Lake Wylie’s rapid growth and influx of residents from other places.

Former Carolina Panther quarterback Steve Beuerlein, for instance, opened Charlotte Fitness Equipment at RiverGate Shopping Center last year.

“With all the growth going on down at Lake Wylie, we saw opening a store there as a tremendous opportunity to be in a great location,” he says.

“It’s a strong line into Charlotte. Growth is coming that way and we felt it would be a mistake if we didn’t jump on opening around Lake Wylie.”

Christy Griffin, owner of Belle Vive Spa and Wellness Centre in Fort Mill, is no newcomer to the Lake Wylie region. She started as a trainer at the Fort Mill YMCA 10 years ago before opening her own business with an approach to wellness that includes fitness, nutrition, spirituality and pampering.

“When I first started, personal training was such a luxury item,” she says. “Now it’s more of a necessity for a growing segment of people who want to become better balanced all the way around in their lives. People are taking better care of themselves. Body, soul, spirit and mind, they’re trying to be balanced.”

Better overall health – not just losing inches and body fat – is the goal Lyn Addy sets for participants of her yearlong boot camp through The Peaceful Dragon in Steele Creek.

Started two years ago, the camp is designed for people looking to get back into workouts.

“It’s not just about fitness, it’s about overall wellness,” she says. “The whole idea of a boot camp is to make your life different, from attitude to habits. I’m loud and I’ll push people if I see them not doing what I know they can, but I’m not like a drill sergeant in the gruff sense. I look at it as an intense way to change your life. It’s all about making a big lifestyle change and sticking to it.”

Griffin says she and her Belle Vive staff get as much out of the extreme makeover transformation as the winner does. To them, it’s about helping someone change their lives forever.

“It’s so rewarding when I see someone who hasn’t felt good about themselves learn to make changes in their lives,” she says.

“It’s not just about the weight or the food, it’s about learning to take care of themselves. You’re changing someone’s life, you’re making a difference when they felt like nobody could help.”

Here’s a look at some of Lake Wylie’s more unique fitness and wellness opportunities:

Extreme Transformations

Long before “Extreme Makeover,”

“The Swan” and “The Biggest Loser” came to reality television, Belle Vive Spa and Wellness Centre in Fort Mill was helping local residents transform their lives with exercise, nutrition and healthier living.

For six months each year, Belle Vive owner Christy Griffin and her staff work with one lucky winner who wins the free transformation by sharing their personal story. The intense makeover includes personal training, nutrition counseling and sessions for hair, makeup and wardrobe. Results are unveiled at an often emotional celebration with family and friends.

April Cameron of Rock Hill, 35, won Belle Vive’s Extreme Makeover in 2006. After having her first child, Cameron was overweight and taking two medications to lower her blood pressure.

With Belle Vive’s help, she lost 60 pounds in seven and a half months – the best results of any of the spa’s past winners.

Cameron started by training with Griffin for an hour three days a week, then increased her activity level to 40 minutes a day with workouts on her own. She also recorded everything she ate in a food journal and overhauled her diet to include healthy choices and eight to 10 glasses of water a day. Mixing walking, Jazzercise, hiking and other cardio kept workouts interesting.

But the main success factor, she says, was accountability.

“Before my makeover, I’d plan to work out when my husband came home, but there were always other things that needed to be done,” she says. “When I won the makeover, I got a babysitter and learned to make time for myself. I felt I owed it to Christy to be there and to work hard.”

As the weight came off, Cameron’s self-confidence increased.

“Then I developed the feeling of ‘This is my body and my life,’ ” she says. “Seeing results made me want to take care of myself.”

Andrea Steele of Tega Cay went through Belle Vive’s Extreme Makeover last year. Now 44, she had gained weight with two pregnancies and with the stress of caring for her husband when he was diagnosed with cancer. Jim Steele, who’s now cancer-free, wrote in to the contest on his wife’s behalf.

“I wasn’t doing much working out at all, maybe walking a couple of times a week,” she says. “I gained a couple of pounds here and a couple of pounds there, and it had started to add up. I was absolutely thrilled to have an opportunity like this. I never would have done this for myself.”

Steele worked with trainers four days a week, starting with walking and working up to running and weight training. On off days, she worked out individually.

“The physical challenge was very hard and they continued to push me at each session,” she says. “But you have to put yourself in their hands. If they tell you to do another rep, you do another rep. The trainers get you on the treadmill, the elliptical, even take you hiking in the woods. You never get bored.”

A nutritionist helped Steele tailor recipes, read food labels and make healthy choices at the grocery store and at restaurants. Her husband and two sons also embraced the dietary changes.

After several months, Steele shed 25 pounds, lost a lot of inches and reduced her body fat by 9 percent.

“I was amazed at how my body changed,” she says. “I can run now. I actually have muscles. I got up to 25 ‘boy’ push-ups when I couldn’t do any ‘girl’ push-ups before. I’m able to get into a bikini again. I feel so much better about myself.”

Like Cameron, Steele saw the most success with fitness and wellness when she made herself a priority.

“I had to learn it was okay to carve out time for me, to make myself a priority too,” she says. “I don’t know how I would have made it through last year without having something for me.”

In addition to changing eating habits and workout routines, makeover participants also change cosmetically. No haircuts, colors, facials or other spa services are allowed during the six-month period. Just before the unveiling, each makeover recipient goes through a day of luxurious pampering with estheticians and stylists at Belle Vive.

Spa owner Christy Griffin finds great satisfaction from helping former couch potatoes get moving and develop a healthy lifestyle. A fitness fanatic as a stay-at-home-mom, she learned about personal training at the Fort Mill YMCA.

“A trainer there told me I was one of the hardest workers there, but I was doing it all wrong,” she laughs. “She showed me what to do; I ended up hiring a trainer and I became passionate about it.”

Griffin, 38, became a personal trainer herself 10 years ago. She opened Belle Vive in September 2003 and moved to a century-old Victorian home in downtown Fort Mill three years later.

“I’m a very spiritual person and I felt like God put me here to add some light to an industry that can tend to be dark and self-absorbed,” she says. “I wanted to have a place where people worked on themselves from the inside out. I wanted people to feel something different when they came here. People tell me that it’s a very relaxing, restful and calm environment.”

Not everyone will be lucky enough to be an extreme makeover recipient, but Belle Vive does the bulk of its business – about 75 percent – with spa and salon services. Haircuts, color, styling, extensions, relaxers and conditioning treatments are popular, along with manicures, pedicures and acrylic nails. Waxing and makeup applications also are available.

Need some pampering? For more indulgent services, try a spa package or a la carte service. Belle Vive features a wide variety of massage, including hot stone, deep tissue, couples, reflexology and mother-to-be. Slimming wraps incorporate mud and blueberries, while body scrubs use sugar to revive the skin.

Belle Vive’s facials were created in Hungary and blend an assortment of fruits, vegetables and herbs combined with botanicals and other organic ingredients. Choose from pumpkin, yam and spice; chocolate and cherries; or calming green apple and pear with poppy seeds and crushed walnuts.

Belle Vive also expects its wellness side to flourish when it opens an on-site studio later this year. The studio space will offer personal training, yoga, Pilates, free weights and fitness equipment.

Personal training packages are available in individual, buddy and small group sessions, with prices ranging from $250 to $500 for a 10-session package.

Griffin’s typical client is an affluent, 40-ish woman who wants to get back in shape after years away from fitness, but she has trained a wide variety of ages and fitness levels.

“I’ve trained people who’ve never exercised, people who budget their grocery money to be able to workout with a trainer, adolescents and children, even people trying to get into military academies,” she says. “I get a lot of people who feel intimidated and self-conscious at bigger gyms.”

Listening to clients’ needs and pushing them to reach their goals sets Belle Vive apart, says Griffin.

“You can find a trainer on every corner, but you have to have someone who’s the right kind of people person for you,” she says. “You have to have someone who can help you stay on track and keep motivated. In bigger places, you feel like a number. Here, you feel important, like you’re a priority.”

Former Panther

Packs a Punch

After 17 years as a quarterback in the National Football League, Steve Beuerlein thought retirement would bring two or three rounds of golf a week.

Instead, the former Carolina Panther, CBS sports commentator and busy father of four added business owner to his resumé with the acquisition of Charlotte Fitness Equipment. In just a year, Beuerlein has grown the specialized fitness equipment company from two to five stores, including a location at RiverGate near Lake Wylie. Plans in 2008 call for expansion into Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

“I felt like it was a natural opportunity for me because of my athletic background and the focus I’ve had to have on fitness my whole life,” he says. “My background in Charlotte as a football player gives credibility to what we do. People associate my name with fitness and it makes the statement that we know what we’re talking about.”

And they do.

Charlotte Fitness Equipment specializes in high-end exercise equipment for home gyms and fitness centers at apartment complexes, housing developments, high-rise uptown condominiums, country clubs, corporations and private athletic clubs.

The company sets itself apart in several ways.

First, high-quality brands such as Life Fitness, Octane, Cybex and Vision Fitness are available in the Queen City exclusively through Charlotte Fitness Equipment.

“There’s a huge difference between specialty fitness and big box fitness like the equipment you’d find at Sports Authority,” says Beuerlein. “Their products flat out don’t match up to what we sell. We wouldn’t put anything they sell on our floor. This equipment is better constructed and better built, but also comes with an extensive warranty and our own in-house service program. Plus, fitness is our sole focus.”

Second, the company hires employees who are extremely knowledgeable about fitness equipment and how to tailor it to the individual customer’s needs.

“We evaluate exactly what the customer is looking for and try to match them to the best piece of equipment based on their age, activity level and budget,” says Beuerlein. “There’s no reason to sell a top-of-the-line Life Fitness treadmill to someone who’s going to walk 15 or 20 minutes a day four days a week.”

Lastly, Charlotte Fitness Equipment takes an in-depth approach to service by offering educational training studios adjacent to the showroom.

Full-time personal trainers not only show customers how to use the equipment, but they also design a workout plan to bring desired results. Charlotte Fitness Equipment also offers VO2 assessments to measure metabolism and fitness levels, blood profiles to check cholesterol and personal training services.

“It’s very unique,” says Beuerlein. “It really allows a person to see where they are from a fitness standpoint and what they need to do get themselves in shape.”

Customers at Charlotte Fitness Equipment range from young professionals in their late 20s to baby boomers reaching retirement.

“Everybody wants to live longer and it’s proven if you stay in shape and exercise, you improve your chances of a quality lifestyle,” says Beuerlein. “This is an investment, but it’s an investment in your future and your health.”

Equipment for home gyms typically includes a cardiovascular piece such as a treadmill or an elliptical trainer, as well as an all-in-one-unit weightlifting piece that accommodates different strength levels.

Prices range from about $1,100 to $5,000 for cardio equipment and $1,000 to $3,600 for home gym pieces.

Charlotte Fitness Equipment also sells a wide variety of lower-priced accessories such as dumbbells, resistance bands, inflatable core workout balls, weighted medicine balls and equipment designed for specific exercises such as push ups and crunches. Special packages are available for sport-specific workouts such as golf, soccer, basketball and football.

Not designed just for sprawling homes with dedicated home gyms, the store’s fitness equipment can be tailored for houses with little workout space.

“There’s all kinds of specialty equipment that’s not the treadmill, elliptical and home gym variety that can you can put together for a great workout,” says Beuerlein. “You also can get a full workout with an adjustable set of dumbbells that go from 10 to 50 pounds with just a different pin setting.”

Among cardio equipment, Beuerlein has seen a trend moving from treadmills to elliptical trainers as customers become concerned about joint pain and arthritis.

“Low impact is a big issue, especially for the 40-and-up crowd,” he says. “Even though high-end treadmills are very soft and impact friendly, it’s still running. A lot of people want that cardio workout without the impact.”

The company’s No. 1 selling home gym systems are the M2, M3 and M4 units made by Inspire.

“They’re absolutely spectacular,” he says. “The functionality of the machines is second to none, and they use a very small footprint. It’s amazing that you can get 32 different, legitimate weightlifting exercises on one piece of equipment. It’s not a Bowflex type of machine, but it allows you to get a full body workout on one piece.”

Basic Training

The term “boot camp” may conjure up the image of a camo-clad drill sergeant barking orders, but in Lyn Addy’s case, it’s more about changing lives than cracking a whip.

Addy, 35, leads Lyn’s Boot Camp, a yearlong intensive fitness and wellness regimen at The Peaceful Dragon on Steele Creek Road.

A former dance teacher who studied at Winthrop University, Addy left tutus and tap shoes behind to train people who want to get back into fitness. Her boot camp involves three workouts a week and a 45-minute lecture about wellness topics such as nutrition, stress reduction, hormone levels, the importance of fiber, sleep and protein, or how to plan meals during the holiday season.

“It’s more of a lifestyle camp, a way to change your mindset about wellness and fitness,” she says. “I try to share everything they need to know about how to live a healthier life.”

Addy was a kung fu student at The Peaceful Dragon while working as a personal trainer and aerobics instructor in the area. Two years ago, owner Eric Sbarge approached her about designing a fitness program for people interested in working out but intimidated by traditional gyms.

Fit or flabby, most folks who go to fitness centers fall into three categories, Addy says. First, there’s the person who works with a trainer but doesn’t know how to develop an individual routine. Second is the person who does the same workout every time and never progresses past a certain fitness level. Finally, there’s the person who starts gung-ho but quickly becomes overwhelmed and intimidated and quits within 30 days.

Addy wanted to target all those people with a varied fitness routine and helpful information on living a healthy life, not just working out.

“We do something different every class and that keeps the body working to see changes,” she says. “We do running, kickboxing, heavy bags, zumba dance aerobics, relay races, obstacle courses, circuit training, step aerobics, weights, even an outdoor running trail or relays and games in the big backyard here.”

Classes meet at either 6 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. Each camp also is divided into small groups so participants have a built-in support system of fitness buddies who work on goal setting, motivation and workouts in addition to boot camp.

“They have assignments every week,” explains Addy. “It might be something simple such as emailing a positive or encouraging thought to their buddy or drinking at least one glass of water every day. It’s simple and doable and it keeps their mind on their progress.”

Lyn’s Boot Camp draws a wide range of ages – 20s to 70s – as well as body types, fitness levels and professions. About 40 percent are from the Steele Creek and Lake Wylie area; the rest come from uptown Charlotte, Gastonia, Matthews, Davidson and other areas. Month-long trial memberships also are available.

Jennifer Vance, 34, drives from Rock Hill for the 6 a.m. class three days a week. She joined in October after becoming overweight and out of shape over the last 10 years.

“Life happened, and no fitness routines I tried on my own really worked,” she says. “Everything about Lyn’s program connected with me – changing eating habits, focusing on more natural foods, varying your workout. Every time I go, we’re doing something different.”

A working mother of a 4-year-old, Vance has shed pounds and lost body fat, but is more focused on living healthier. The physical changes will come as a result of the lifestyle change, she says.

“I was almost in tears when I started,” she says. “I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone. But in the last four months, my confidence has grown so much. Now I’m planning to run a 5K. I never would have done that before. It’s a journey like a staircase. You might go up three steps and fall back one, but you’re still better off than you were before.”

Addy has seen other significant changes among her clients. One lady no longer takes blood pressure medicine. Another has learned to control her diabetes. A third cried when an injury sidelined her from boot camp for three weeks.

“You really see a person’s self image change so much,” says Addy. “People tell me they feel so much more confident, that they have energy and better focus at work and in their lives. They feel more productive. It’s exciting to be a part of changing someone’s lifestyle.”

Story by Leigh Pressley

Photos by Richard Rudisill

Fitness Sources:

Belle Vive Spa and Wellness Centre

134 Clebourne St., Fort Mill

803-548-8772

www.bellevivespa.com

Charlotte Fitness Equipment

12840 Walker Branch Drive

RiverGate Shopping Center, Charlotte

704-504-3524

www.charlottefit.com

The Peaceful Dragon/Lyn’s Boot Camp

12610 Steele Creek Road, Charlotte

704-504-8866

www.lynsbootcampthatworks.com

www.thepeacefuldragon.com