Athletic Club 'pumps' fundraising for ALS victim

By Nate Rice , Correspondent
Gloucester Daily Times


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Twenty-five people sweated it out during an intense workout class yesterday for charity.

The one-hour "Body Pump" class was part of a two-day fundraising effort hosted by Manchester Athletic Club for one of its members. Peter Virden Sr. was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, last October. The disease causes muscle weakness and loss of muscle control because the central nervous system stops sending messages from the brain to the muscles.

Participants donated $25 each to the ALS Foundation to take part in the preview session. The club will offer "Body Pump" full time starting July 30.

Two instructors, Sonja Deardon and Tiffany Knowlan of Fitness Revolution in North Hampton, N.H., led the 9 a.m. class that tested participants' strength with different types of weight exercises, set to upbeat music.

"It's a very high-energy class," said Keith Callahan, general manager and managing partner of the Manchester Athletic Club. There were no mirrors in the room, so participants could focus on the instructors, he said. "It was excellent," said Dawn Toye of Magnolia. "It was challenging and a lot of fun, and it was different from what I usually do."

Each song played was used as encouragement and guidance for working out a different muscle group in the body. The instructors stood in different positions on a stage to show the proper form of each choreographed exercise.

"I love the energy, it offers so many real results," Nolan said. "It's a great way to bring people together."

Participants chose the amount of weight to lift for barbells and free weight exercises. "It is as challenging as you want it to be," Nolan said.

Brian Fleming of Gloucester, a spinning instructor and personal trainer at the club, said he enjoyed the workout and is training to be able to teach the class. The choreography and exercises will change every three months.

"I'm looking for variety," Fleming said. "There's a definite flow to it. There's enough level of difficulty to it that people want to get better at it."

The overall fundraising effort took in $3,000 to $4,000 on Wednesday night, when between 150 and 200 people showed up for a tennis social and silent auction, Callahan said. Virden was in attendance.




Callahan said he was impressed with the speech given by Jamie Heywood, founder of ALS Therapy Development Institute, and by the presence of institute researchers.

The club set a goal of $5,000, but is still tallying the amount raised. If its efforts come up short of the goal, the club will donate the difference.

Callahan said he was impressed with the speech given by Jamie Heywood, founder of ALS Therapy Development Institute, and by the presence of institute researchers.

The club set a goal of $5,000, but is still tallying the amount raised. If its efforts come up short of the goal, the club will donate the difference.


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