New fitness equipment at Sherwood's Bill Harmon Recreation Center is targeted toward all ages, sexes and abilities to allow strength and cardio workouts that focus on specific muscle groups or total body routines, center officials say.
The 38 new pieces of workout equipment are to be available for use when the two-story center opens at 1 p.m. today after being closed Friday and Saturday for the July 4 holiday. The upstairs fitness area was also closed Wednesday and Thursday for the removal of old equipment and installation of the new.
The upgrade in fitness machines is the first for the Harmon Recreation Center, which opened in May 2002. The center also has a basketball court, an Olympic-size lap pool and a walking-running track.
"We're replacing everything from bikes to weight machines to treadmills," city Parks Executive Director Sonny Janssen said last week. "We thought we'd bite the big bullet and replace all of it at one time. The majority of the equipment we have is 13 years old.
"Hopefully, this will keep our patrons happy and maybe let us pick up some new clientele," he said. The center has "normally 1,500-2,000" active members, he added.
The equipment will be leased under a four-year agreement with Advanced Exercise Equipment of Littleton, Colo., a commercial distributor of fitness equipment that also delivers and installs the equipment.
"It's about $130,000 worth of equipment," said Mariela Hernandez, the center's fitness coordinator and night manager. "It's definitely an upgrade."
The new machines will offer a variety of exercise choices for young and old, men and women, and even for patrons in wheelchairs, with Americans With Disabilities Act-approved fitness machines, Hernandez said.
On several machines, chairs are removable to allow a patron to "slide in a wheelchair or a more stable chair they can sit in," she said. That will also benefit older patrons, she said, adding that the workout area is open to people ages 15 to 85.
"I think we've been limited to what we could offer them," Hernandez said of disabled patrons. "Before, we only had one piece of equipment for them."
The new equipment includes a rowing machine -- something the center didn't have previously -- cardio machines, treadmills, elliptical bikes, heavier free weights, and weight machines that include leg-press, shoulder-press, leg-curls and chest-press capabilities, along with chin-up bar and step-up platforms.
"For the young people, they want to be able to lift more," Hernandez said. "That's something they've asked for. We tried to take into consideration what people asked for. The stepper and rower are targeted for the older patrons."
Exercise mats and medicine balls are also being added, she said, targeting female patrons who want to gain "lean muscle and not to bulk up."
The new equipment will have easier-to-read charts showing how to properly use each machine, Hernandez said. The center's staff will also be trained on the intricacies of each machine.
"A lot of it will be more user-friendly," she said. "A lot of users don't even know how to adjust the seats on the machines."
Leasing, instead of purchasing, expensive equipment, Janssen said, is the usual method for fitness centers now to avoid a big, one-time expense. It also allows for equipment replacement at the end of a four-year lease.
"The way to go nowadays is to lease the equipment out," Janssen said. "You keep rotating the equipment that way.
"We hope it's all worn out in the next four years," he said. "That means a lot of people are using it. That's what it's for."
Metro on 07/05/2015