20 — Sunday, January 17, 1999 - North Shore News

north shore news

‘& RASHION

Continuing quest
for body beautifu

NEWS pheto Paul MeGrath

Layne Christensen
Fashion Editor
layne@nusnews.com
CRITICS may brand it
“exercise lite.”

But fans of Body Beautiful
swear the West Van_ salon’s

toning beds have plenty cf

muscle.

“Eve tried the svms and |
can’t stand them,” savs Marie
McGuigan. “People in, people
out, all that loud music...”

The 44-year-ald office
manager has been coning to
Body Beautiful since July. In
that time, she’s noticed
increased muscle tone and flex-
ibility.

“I'm definitely shaping
up,” says othe | North
Vancouverite who gives credit
for her newly welte physique
to regular jons on the
safon’s toning beds, along with
her conmmitment to Weight
Watchers.

Linda Middlehurst has also
seen the benefits of a Body
Beautiful workout. She’s been
coming to the salon for vight
years, following its move from
Marine Drive ta Lower
Lonsdale to Bellevue Avenue

BODY Beautiful member
Sandra Sullivan works it,
while salon owner Tereza
Pavel looks on.

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and, this past fall, to G12 Clyde
Ave., across from the entrance
to the Park Royal Hotel.

“St you have any aches and
pains when you come here,
they're zone when you leave,”
says Middlehurst.

Romina Pavel, whe runs
the salon with her mother
Tereza, an esthetician, says
users Can expect to see results
atter only six weeks.

The salon’s seven toning
beds are by Figure Wise and
are the only ones of their kind
west of Newfoundland, says
Pavel. Salon members pay up
to $75 a month for unlimited
access to the machines, and
typically spend about an hour
to complete one full circuit.

As she moves through the
circuit, Pavel describes cach
machine’s fiunction.

“This one you basically just
lie there like a well cooked veg-
ctable,” ske says motioning to a
padded vinvl bed closest to the
door that shakes and vibrates to
release muscle tension.

“This one, the ladies affec-
tionately call the meat tenderiz-
er,” she says, patting the
rounded pads on the mid-sce-
tien of machine No. 2.,
designed to pummel flabby
buns into submission.

Other machines help to
firm inner and outer thigh,
whittle the torso and work the
abdominals.

“Mest people find these
machines are easier than any-
thing at the gym,” says Pavel.

And that raises a red flag for
workout experts like Mary
Mackenzie, fitness program-
mer for the North Vancouver
Recreation Commission.

Clearly
the

Relying on machines to do
the hard work for vou just
doesn't cut it, savs Mackenzie,

knowledge comes from
16 years” experience in the fit-
ness field and a master’s degree
in exercise physiology trom the
University of Ottawa.

“Physical activity is what's
needed for developing fitness,
and if vou’re not active you're
Not going to get the gains.”

She advises that anyone
considering a new fitness pro-
gram pick up a copy of the
Canada Fitness Guide, avail-
able at any ree centre.

Mackenzie hasn’t seen die
toning beds at Body Beautiful
but she does say in general
that, with any exercise, “the
more you are assisted, the less
you are going to gain” in terms
of positive results.

Pavel can agree with that.

“You can't just lie there,”
says the salon owner who
advises clients to work their
muscles by resisting against the
machine’s movements.

Many of the salon’s mem-
bers, most of whom are 50-
plus, bolster their toning ses-
sions with cardiovascular exer-
cise such as walking, she adds.

Aad that satisfies members
who sce the salon as a kind of
refuge where they can. visit
with friends while getting
some mild exercise.

“I’m not after body build-
ing and muscle pumping,”
says Mary McGuigan, who
enjoys working out at Body
Beautiful where classical music
fills the air and the lights are
turned low. “It’s verv relaxing
for the mind as well as die
body.”

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