Happy New Year Train With Ron!

I hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. As we kick off another year at TWR we are very excited about the new programs you will experience.

First, I want to congratulate everyone for an unbelievable 2009. I’ve said it before, you work harder than anyone at any gym across the country. You guys flat out, get after it. Please give yourself a pat on the back, it’s something to be very proud of!

We have several fun and new programs for you to experience in 2010. Before I turn it over to the guys, who will share these programs with you, I wanted to introduce Dan and Monika Arturi. They began their journey with TWR in October of 2009. They wanted to make a change in their health and lives so in conjunction with working out at TWR they’ve been writing a blog about their training and eating inside and outside of TWR. Please take the time to read their blog at: www.WeTrainWithRon.com.

I also want to make this offer available to everyone who trains with us. If you would like to chart your success via your own site, let us know and we will create a page for you to track your journey. I know Dan and Monika have inspired a lot of their friends and family. I know it’s something you can do too. Please take us up on helping you go to the next level regardless of your goals.

Now I’m going to hand it over to Matt and DB.

Thanks!

Ron

PURE STEEL 2010:

Congrats to everyone who were members of Pure Steel in 2009! Not only was it proven to make EVERY person stronger, but people are noticing more built physiques, bigger arms, and broader chests. We will continue Pure Steel starting this Tuesday January 5th, 2010. If you have never participated in a bench press based upper body program designed to increase your strength and size feel free to join us!

GOAL WALL 2010:

Great job to those of you who strived to achieve your 2009 TWR fitness goals by displaying them on the Gold Wall. In 2010, we will be utilizing the wall a little differently to keep you motivated. The wall will be divided in two. One half will be "WHY TWR WORKS" and the other half will be the "TWR 2010 Fitness Calendar".

"WHY TWR WORKS", will be a collection of articles from magazines, newspapers, testimonials, 2009 success stories, before and after pictures, etc. that prove why the methods, techniques, and philosophies at TWR. This side of the wall will be a means of educating and motivating you guys to keep working as hard as you do. Please email any information you think reflects TWR and would be informative to the TWR community to Matt or just bring it to the gym.

"TWR 2010 Fitness Calendar" will show different events TWR clients are training and working towards in the upcoming months. For example, if DB has a triathlon coming up he would mark the date on the calendar. Please help us fill up the calendar with the different 5ks, weddings, marathons, track meets, weigh-ins, hikes, bike rides, or other events you are working towards in 2010.

Happy New Year!

Matt

Happy New Year to all you TWR’ers!! I've definitely enjoyed my year with all of you. We did some great things with the Goal Board, Monthly Meetings, TWR Record Board, and The Hill Challenge. I’m very thankful I was able to be a part of those activities and help each of you reach your fitness goals in 2009.

As we welcome in the New Year I'm excited to announce our first TWR Biggest Loser Challenge (see details below). This 8 week challenge will be starting this month. Details will also be posted in the gym this week and is open to anyone who wants to start 2010 with a bang!!

Also, for any of you budding Triathletes I’ll be offering 12 and 16 week training programs to help get you to the finish line. Whether it's a sprint distance or the 70.3 Half Ironman, I'll put you on track to tackle it with confidence. We'll use the TWR sessions for cross-training and weight work.

We will have separate sessions for cycling. Coming soon -- TWR will have 2 Compu Trainers available allowing you to do long rides and training sessions on the bike indoors. As with any Triathlon program a lot of work will have to be done on your own outside the gym. However, we will organize some group runs, group rides, and brick workouts on Saturdays this summer. More details on the DB-3-Sport Training programs will be available later this spring.

Again, I couldn't be more proud of all of you and your dedication to fitness both inside the gym and outside in your daily lives. You are truly an inspiration to the three of us here and are without a doubt the hardest working athletes (yes, all of you are athletes) in Chicago! Keep it up and let's make 2010 the best year yet!!

DB

Biggest Loser TWR 2010

Fee: $25 per participant

Prizes: Winner takes all entry money, and will receive a gift certificate for a massage at Kaya Spa which will be given out after the Finale on March 6.

Dates: We will start the contest on January 9 (Saturday) for Official Weigh-in — competition will be 8 weeks long, ending March 6 (Saturday). Contestants must be present at the first official weigh-in to begin the contest. You will then be required to weigh-in at least once per week at TWR during the 8 week period (personal weekly weigh-ins will be approx 7 days apart). Finale or final weigh-in will be done on March 6.

Additional Information: Weigh-ins will be done using the TWR scale and that scale only. Winner will be determined by % of body weight loss. For example, a 100lb person losing 10lbs will have a 10% body weight loss.

We encourage participants to use TWR, and all of the programs that are offered as much as possible during the contest. We will provide excel spreadsheets for food logs and exercise logs to track caloric intake/expenditure during the contest. If you have a heart rate monitor we encourage you to use it to track what you're burning each workout. We will also provide suggestions on a healthy diet which we always try to do at TWR. Our goal here is to encourage healthy eating and exercise habits, which if done in a safe manner may result in a slimmer waistline and healthy weight loss.

Throughout the contest updates and results will be posted on the TWR Record Board on the Gold Wall.

Good luck!

DB