What's Your Body Age? Elite Offers 'Exercise is Medicine' As First Step

Sometimes the hardest part is taking the first step. Literally.

Elite Sports Club in Brookfield is joining a national movement called Exercise is Medicine, aimed at coaxing people who are sedentary and at risk for diseases into getting moving at their own pace.

The company is offering a special 60-day "medical membership" for $60 in which personal trainers will build a unique eight-week plan based on each individual's health and abilities.

Elite also is offering the public free "body age" assessments this week to determine real body age versus chronological age.

The catch? You need to get an "prescription for exercise" from your physician.

Elite owner Kay Yuspeh said the idea — championed by the American College of Sports Medicine — is to bridge the gap between the doctor's office and the gym. Yuspeh wants to give area physicians a specific program they can recommend their patients try in order to start exercising.

Just 30 minutes of walking a day can significantly reduce the chance of chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and even cancer, and relieve stress, Yuspeh said.

"You could walk 10 minutes three times a day," she said. "Add years to your life and life to your years."

Gerry Govin is a believer.

Govin, a retired surgeon who lives in Brookfield, said he has been ill for a dozen years with a chronic degenerative muscular disease.

"I would have died in the hospital if I wouldn't have been in good shape," he said after a recent work-out at Elite's site on Burleigh Road. "I think that exercise is the only way to get better."

Never too late to start moving

Govin also appreciates that Elite has trainers of all ages, such Mike Bolan, who is in great shape at age 70. "We have a lot of people my age," Bolan said.

A group of about 25 men and women in their 70s and 80s regularly play tennis on the Elite courts. Others do their walking in the indoor pool, an alternative for those with joint problems.

"You're never too old to start exercising," Bolan added.

"We're a very comfortable club, no matter what age or size you are," Yuspeh said.

Elite Sports Clubs has and one each in Glendale and Mequon. Yuspeh, who won a Governor's Trailblazer Award in 2007 for women business leaders, and her husband Richard bought their first club in 1986 and have expanded to operate four state-of-the-art sites.

The Burleigh Road site celebrated its 25-year anniversary last year, and the Barker Road just surpassed its 10-year milestone. In addition to fitness programs for adults and teens, it offers preschool services, piano lessons, rehabilitation programs and more.

Elite has hundreds of physicians who personally are members at the four locations, Yuspeh said.

"Anyone interested in participating (in the special 60-day program) can have the Elite staff contact their respective doctor for a referral," she said.

Elite's website details the eight-week program, how it would work and what goals would be sought.

Govin said the trainers make sure he doesn't hurt himself and stays within his abilities.

"A journey begins with the first step," he said.