 Hi, I'm Doug Bishop, Director of Communications at the Greater Burlington YMCA and welcome back to Y Connection. And as always, I want to thank Channel 17 for having us and giving us this opportunity to connect with you, the community, about all that is happening at the YMCA. We've talked about a variety of subjects since we came back on the air last winter and we're back today to talk about fitness, but today we're going to focus on our new building. So we'll be opening in January at our new facility at 298 College Street, just 150 steps east up the hill from our current location. And we're very excited. We're appreciative for our contractor, Engelberth, who's kept us on schedule, or actually ahead of schedule, allowing us to open this January. And so we're going to dive deeper onto some of the features in the building. We have with us today Paul Garwood, who is our Director of Fitness. And also Ryan, Ryan Gray returns. He was here a few months ago. Ryan is our Assistant Director of Fitness. And we're going to start off with something that's pretty exciting. And that is, in just a moment, we're going to take a look at a video. We've been working with local architects, Freeman French Freeman, on the design of this building. And as we can't let people formally or officially into the building until we have our certificate of occupancy, and right before we open the doors, we thought it'd be fun if they could create something. It gives people the sense about what the building looks like. What we're going to, we have two videos put together. This one will take us into the north end of our lobby. Take us up some stairs and into the fitness area. And then we're going to break it down in a conversation and learn a little bit more detail about all those offerings in the new building. So let's take a look at the video. So here we are coming into the north end of the lobby. That far end would be College Street out the far doors. You can see there's lots of space in our lobby. We're going to go up what we refer to as the grand staircase, which will lead us up to the fitness area. On the first floor, what we would have had is the locker rooms if we continue down that hallway. As we get to the top, look at a fitness area over to your left. You'll see the green turf carpeting. And as we turn, we're going to see the first of two out of the three fitness studios. We have three dedicated fitness studios in the building. And this is our largest studio. And we're going to talk about a few of the details there, which are pretty exciting. Looking at the second studio here, which will be where we have our spin bikes, but not exclusively used for spin. But it'd be nice to have those bikes there all the time so they're not moving in and out. And now we're going to take a panorama of our fitness floor with a cardio weight equipment. And we at the Y particularly get excited when you see all those windows. All of the glass, the natural light is something that's quite a bit different from what we have in our current facility. So that's really exciting for us to take a look at that. So quickly, I'll just note that something we don't see in the video. And then we'll move into some details about things that we did is our gymnasium. So we're having a gymnasium like we do in our current building. It's not in the video because I had to go down a hall and spend a little time trekking that way. So we didn't think we needed to show it. But it's great multi-purpose use. Is that right? So Paul, tell us a little bit about the options that we'll have in that space. Yeah. So the multi-purpose space is going to be really incredible for us. One big change that we have is an additional set of cross-court basketball nets. So currently in our gymnasium, we have two full-court nets at 10 feet. We'll have the same in our new building. But we'll also have four additional baskets on the sides with a drop-down divider in the center of the gym as well. So we'll be able to run simultaneous programming, which will be really exciting for us. Those cross-court baskets as well will be able to adjust down to eight feet as well so that we can serve a younger youth demographic as well. So we're really excited for that. Excellent. And the way that the floor is marked, it actually gives us some other options as well. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, sure. So again, we have the full court for basketball, which will actually have sideline three-point range shooting, which is really great. We're looking forward to that, I'm sure. In addition, we'll have free throw marking for our cross-court baskets as well. We'll have a full-size volleyball court lined. And then we'll have two full pickleball courts as well. Yeah, pickleball is something that is relatively new. Certainly most sports are newer since we had our 1934 gymnasium built. We're currently using. But pickleball is really catching on, and it helps us serve a wider demographic. Largely older population, not old, but older myself included, would use that. And it's kind of exciting for us to get into that in a way that we haven't had a chance to in our current facility. Certainly. I also want to talk about the building generally and how this excites me with respect to fitness is we're going to have accessibility in a way that we never had in our current building. And by that, I mean everything from an elevator, which we don't have currently, ease of access for anyone of any ability to get in the building and access every single part of the building. The ease of getting into the pool is another factor. All the universally accessible design features will be in this building from the locker rooms, restrooms, you name it. But what I hadn't really understood until a conversation we had this week in Ryan, I'd love to hear more from you about how accessibility plays a role in the fitness equipment specifically. Yeah, we were really mindful in our equipment selection to allow that diverse population of individuals to have access to fitness equipment, which isn't the standard across the fitness world of things. We went with a line offered by Cybex, which is called Total Access. Total Access is unique in that the seats actually move away from the exercise equipment itself to allow individuals to access who may be bound by wheelchair to use the piece as a normal user would use in their everyday life. And so that's in both some of the weight equipment and also some of the, is there a cardio equipment that's accessible as well? Yeah, so we opted with a brand called Cyfit who offers a variety of exercise equipment. And one of the models that we'll have in the new facility is called a Pro One. It's a hand cycle and it's used for an ergonometer as you would an upright bike or recumbent bike or a rower. Gives a lot of data output, but allows individuals to utilize the piece of equipment either with the seat that's on the piece or to wheel the seat out to use from a wheelchair. This stuff really gets me going because we at the Y are so focused on being sure we can serve the entire community and where our heart was there always, our building didn't always keep up. So to have the two match is exciting for us as we go in. Another area where I see a pretty significant change from our current facility to the new one is a consultation space. And Paul, right now for people who haven't come to our space, our current space, I'm gonna describe it, it's really more HVAC system going through that room than anything else. And really only a modicum of privacy there. So it's gonna be a game changer as far as there's one-on-one conversations. Can you tell us a bit more about how we envision using a consultation space on the service floor? Yeah, certainly. So it just allows for that comfortable conversation talking with a member about their health and fitness goals, particularly as it relates to personal training. It's just something that we don't have access to currently. Ryan's office in our existing building is right in the health and wellness space and he often has those conversations in the open and we're really looking forward to having that comfortable space to allow for those conversations to happen. And that's everything from a new member orientation can go and use that space to really more formal evaluations, right? And you can do some measurements and other things you can and have the privacy for that because some people approach their fitness differently and particularly for some of us who are getting back into it after having been away for a while, you're a little more self-conscious. So having a private space, I think is important in helping people reach those goals. And Ryan, I imagine you work a lot with, you do some personal training yourself with some of our members and also oversee that staff. So I envision, would I be envisioning correctly that our personal trainers would be using that space? Yeah, our main goal of personal training is to be there as a support system for our clients and to have a room that embodies that support and allows for those conversations to happen in a comfortable setting is phenomenal for us. So we're really excited for that. A second or a third feature that's significantly different is a track. Right now we have, which would have been typical of sort of our era, YMCA, again, our current building was built in 1934. It's just a wood hanging track, if you will, above the basketball court, which I think is 25 or 26 laps to the mile. What are we looking for for a track in the new building? Yeah, so we have a two lane track in the new building, it'll be a 13 lap to the mile. So we're excited for that and it's really awesome the way that it navigates through the building. And people may have seen that when we went through the video and we'll run the video again at the end of our conversation, but yeah, it goes right through the space, doesn't it? Yeah, exactly. It's really, really cool to get in there even now to see the space. So I can only imagine how awesome it's gonna look when we get in there. Yeah, it integrates nicely and I think people can still feel the energy of the fitness area while on the track and part of it actually comes out and hangs over or cantilevers over the gymnasium as well to get a good loop in there. I think when I envision how that could be used, I think about the long winters we have in Vermont and the challenges that that can present, particularly for the aging population in our area and that we aim to serve. So I envision a lot of walking, good walking space. How else do you see a warm-up space as well, that track? Yeah, certainly. I see it really as just a way for people to come together and to have that social aspect to the workout when they come to the Y as well. I mean, that's something that's really important to us. So we anticipate of those two lanes having one that is primarily more for walking through the facility and then another that'll be more of a jogging lane. And for someone who's really looking to get that high pace workout in, we would expect that to happen on a treadmill just to be more comfortable in that space. So it's really a walking or jog warm-up space to integrate it to the other part of your workout. So another part of the workout opportunities that we provide are group exercise classes. And we've been doing that in our current space. We have fantastic instructors, everything from yoga to spin, some high intensity classes, Pilates, Tai Chi, you name it, Zumba, but we haven't always been able to offer the space that we would like. Again, our multi-purpose gymnasium now serves as preschool childcare space, basketball court, Zumba, yoga studio, everything. Now we'll have three separate dedicated group exercise studios. And can you describe, we saw two of them. And again, for folks who watch the video at the end as well when we show it, at the top of the stairs, you have the largest room. There's one a little further back to the north side. And then we also took a peek on the south end studio where we have the spin bikes. Tell us a little bit about that large studio and how that's constructed. Yeah, so we're really excited for that studio. Having studios in general is something that's really exciting for us. That studio in particular is the largest of the three. It has a really great suspended flooring. So it's a true hardwood floor, but it has that natural give that we look for similar to a basketball court flooring, but allows for that high-intensity workout for our members and participants in classes to be really comfortable doing those movements. So to take a little bit off of that pounding that may take place in a high-intensity class or a Zumba class where it can get a bit hard on the shins with the construction of this, that give is really gonna take a lot of that wear and tear out. It's so much more appropriate for the movements that we do. And then as we move again to the south end where we saw the spin bikes and there's, we've created that room so that there's space that spin bikes just have to basically be slid off to the side, but then make other use of their room. And can you tell folks about the bar and the TRX opportunities in that? Sure, sure. So we have mirrors in that studio. Of course, it's a spin studio as well. We have that ability to pull those bikes off to the side and open it up. So in addition to that, we do have the bar, which will allow us to expand on some of the bar classes that we offer currently. And for those folks who may not be familiar with bar, and it was new to me relatively recently, it's sort of a traditional use, you may think of it for ballet, where you're literally holding the bar and doing movements off of that. And there's now exercise classes that are based on that concept that we offer. So in addition to the bar, TRX, people may not be familiar with that. Can you tell us how that fits into that space? Yeah, exactly. Kind of same concept as bar in that it's something that we're able to offer currently in our existing building. But we really are able to expand with the new space that we have in our new facility. So above those mirrors and the bars, we have a straight bar that goes across the top of that room. It's pulled off of the wall, which allows for more range of motion for the TRX classes as well. But essentially for those who don't know TRX's suspension training, basically there's an anchor point on the ceiling or on this bar, which is how it will be in the new studio. With two straps that pull down with handles, you can hold onto those handles with your hands, there are even foot attachments as well. But it's just a way to elevate a lot of body weight movements that someone would do just on a mat. I've taken the TRX class in the spring that we currently offer in our existing building. And I really liked it. You know, if, again, sort of demonstrate, you can hold those straps and pull yourself up or, as you say, get your feet in there and do planks and other things with suspension. I found it to be a great sort of total body workout, which was really nice. I don't know if I was supposed to be as breathing as hard as I was, but I got both the strength exercise out of it, as well as some cardio. So we've got a lot going on there and a building feature that kind of goes along with our group X rooms on the second floor is we have three locker rooms, men's, women's and a universal locker room on the first floor. But we have express lockers at a few locations throughout the building. So if you're just coming in to take a class or use any of the facilities upstairs and you just have a small backpack or a sweatshirt or something like that or change of shoes, put them in the small express lockers we have around the building and you can get going. Ryan, we're gonna turn into our conversation to an area that I know that you're gonna be personally involved in quite a bit and you're very excited about. And that's sort of what we're calling our wellness. We're rebranding a little bit in that we traditionally talk about our fitness floor or fitness space and we're really looking at this second floor in general is health and wellness because it's really a much broader conversation that you can have when you're becoming inclusive like that and not just fitness oriented which may scare people off if you think it just with that lens. Let's start as we're coming up the stairs on the left there's some green turf and some other machines there. And we're calling that our dynamic. Yeah, so that would be a dynamic area for us. It has turf flooring which is fairly unique for an indoor facility so that'll allow us to do some very awesome programming in that space. And we also have used what hammer strength calls a perimeter rack which is essentially your traditional squat rack but in a smaller footprint. So we'll have some equipment storage, the rack space itself to be able to program out of there as well. And then we also put in a piece of equipment called a synergy unit which is a very functional piece of equipment allows for a high degree of versatility and movement in general. We're really excited to run what we're terming small group training out of that space to really hone in on that group experience. So you had a taste of it in our TRX class which is probably our first offering of a small group dynamic. And that space is gonna allow us to expand that programming exponentially. Yeah, that's really significantly different as you say from what we're currently offering. All of the equipment in this building is basically going to be new which I suggest get that out of the way folks. All new equipment, we're not bringing up some of our older machines but this is just different altogether. So where we have a cardio offering or a treadmill in our current building and we'll have new treadmills in the new building we don't currently have an equivalent space to speak of for this dynamic training area. No. So that's exciting. But on the cardio, we are going to have lots of cardio equipment, what's that look like? I mentioned treadmills. What else are we gonna have? Yeah, we're running 14 units of treadmills, eight ellipticals, three stair climbers. So you're a traditional stair master in a life fitness branded model. And we have some rowers, upright bikes as well as recumbent bikes. And then a handful of sci-fi pieces that are fairly unique. One of them is a lateral stepper which is in a recumbent position but you're getting some lateral movement. The other one's more of a traditional elliptical setting. And then from there we're moving with two octane pieces that we currently have in our facility called lateral Xs. And they're a really unique lateral workout from a standing position. So we're not just upgrading to new pieces of equipment, treadmill to treadmill, we're getting a bunch of whole entirely new pieces as far as what it will offer you in your workout. Yeah, both of the pieces themselves and also the experience that you have while using them. So we will have the option to have app integration and TVs through our treadmill units which will allow individuals to hone in on their own individual experience while using equipment. So no longer craning my neck, staring at, you know whatever what else wants to watch, I'll be able to look at the screen in front of me and whether that's sporting event, CNN, whatever it is I can put it right on my screen. Yeah, or you can opt out from watching TV altogether and have your statistics show up for your workout which is a huge bonus going away from the universal TV where you essentially in our current facility wouldn't have an option other than moving rooms physically in our new facility you have the option to engage or not engage with TV. Nice, in that space and again for folks recall as we looked at the video we'll look at it at the end. So the cardio is kind of along the windows to your left in the main part of our health and wellness area and across the front of the building. Paul as we come in from there we're gonna get into some of the weight machines, right? And we're gonna have, are we having both free weights and sort of the machine based, selectorized machines? Yeah, exactly. So the selectorized pieces are what Ryan was talking about earlier, the Cybex pieces in addition to some of those total access where the chairs or the seats will actually move away from the piece. We'll have a range similar to what we have now in our strive equipment but all brand new updated and Cybex really is top of the line. And that's where I get to decide that, okay three plates is where I'm comfortable whether that translates to 30 pounds or whatever but the number of plates I can adjust in my workout as I go along. And I think you were telling me something about how the plates and the weight differential is a little bit different on our new equipment, right? Yeah, exactly. So in addition to those larger increments where you can pull the pin out and select the weight that you're looking for there are smaller increments that you can refine down to even just two and a half pound difference or increases or decreases between sets. I would think that's valuable for someone who's either new to working out or getting back into it after some time away that you don't feel compelled. You've got to make a jump to the next plate if you will. You can really refine it and lock it in there. It's a much safer progression. Right. And the free weights on the floor up there, right? Well, can you tell us about that? Yeah, in the same respect to the incremental changes with the selectorized pin loaded equipment our dumbbell selection is also incremental from five to 37 and a half pounds. And what I mean by that your traditional jumps are in five pound increments. We're gonna move away from the traditional where we're currently offering five pounds to two and a half pound jumps from five to 37 and a half pounds. I'm sorry, weight offerings would look like five, seven and a half, 10, 12 and a half and so on. I'm up through 37 and a half pounds. And then we're expanding our max end weight offering as well moving away from our hundred pound dumbbell all the way up to 125 in the new facility. I like the sounds of it in that it makes clear to me that the breadth of those who may be interested in using our facility will be able to find the experience that they need. You know, we have some folks down there that I see now that are fairly serious lifters. And this is part, this is really the foundation of what they want their workout to be. They'll still have a home there with what we've got but to what I did some personal training with you last spring Ryan, we were not using some of the larger weights. We were using some of those smaller weights and maybe that incremental amount would be helpful for that type of situation where you were working me up over the course of some weeks to increase the strength that I was gaining from the weights. So perfect opportunity for all who are coming. And that personal training, I mentioned that you helped me this past spring. Personal training opportunities, will those continue at a new facility? They will, yeah. And our ability to offer a better programmed experience for our clients is just gonna increase that much more with our equipment offerings. I think of versatility as a word that comes to mind with all of our equipment selection and whether that's the track itself or selecturized the dynamic area, the free weight section, all of the equipment is so well versitile in terms of its use, we could program a million and one different ways and I'm looking forward to all of that opportunity. Sol sounds, you know, game changing for us in some ways. I like the fact for me it's a continuity of the same welcoming environment but now what we've offered from that customer service perspective will be matched by the equipment and really be the top notch experience people are looking for. With the ultimate goal from the wise perspective is helping people wherever they are in their journey on health and wellness is our goal is to have whatever they need in this facility. Touching on a couple of quick points also, technology, there'd be an open guest wifi throughout the building that people can access. So if they've got, they wanna access some music service on their phone or something as they're working out, it'll be available. We're making a move towards having a new app that why members, we're hoping to have that ready to launch with the new facility in January. We've got some work to do there but that'll be changing things for us a bit. And again, sort of the facility wide, the windows, the light, the windows, the light. I don't know that I can say that enough but we love that aspect of the new building. Let's, if we can now just take another look through the video and now that we've talked through in a little more detail some of the things that we saw at the beginning, people may have a better picture now of what we just covered. So again, starting through the north end of our lobby, the far end of the lobby is all glass looking into the aquatic center, the two pools, there's couches and tables, the real community space that'll be very welcoming. Down that hallway straight ahead on your right will be a member drop-in childcare, the locker rooms and around the corner down there to the gymnasium. But we'll go up, we'll see that dynamic fitness area on the left, the green turf that Ryan was talking about and you'll see the track, the way it's integrated right into the building. Looking to that hardwood floor with that suspension that Paul shared with us, a little bit of information about that space. Little softer, whatever activity you're doing in there. And we'll look, you can see those lockers there, the micro lockers or the small lockers, the express lockers, I think we're calling them. So our spin bikes, you can see that bar on the left. What you don't see there, it's not in that as the TRX bar that'll hang from the ceiling that we can do the TRX classes. Again, look and see the way the track is integrated there. You've got your cardio equipment down the left and along the south windows in the front. Those selectorized weight machines and free weights here in the main part of the floor. So I hope this has been an opportunity for people to get a really deep dive on what we're gonna be offering in fitness in the new facility. And I think while the equipment is exciting, I just have to emphasize again, what we're striving for always is for people to feel welcome, to feel like the Y is a place where wherever they are on a fitness journey, that they've got a partner with Y staff, the sense of community that they gain among fellow members so that they're all working in the right direction. It's something we're very excited about and I'm glad that you could come and share a little more detail with us. So thank you, Ryan, our assistant director of fitness and Paul Garwood, our director of fitness. And I appreciate again, Channel 17, giving us this opportunity. Our next program coming up, we'll focus on the aquatics features in our new building. We have another animation prepared by our architects at Freeman French Freeman. So I hope people will join us for our next episode. And we are updating our website as we speak. And we're gonna have a lot of information that we shared today and more coming to our GBYMCA.org website before the end of the month, including opportunities by the end of the month or the beginning of November for people who are interested to look at what the options are for signing up. And I'll share with you some things, some news that just sort of was coming about today is not only a new facility, but we'll have some new pricing where we're gonna offer for lower price, access to our facility, really trying to expand that base of who we can serve in the community by offering pricing that we think will fit best with everyone's financial abilities. So thank you again for watching Y Connection and we'll see you next month.