Winter Park Athletic Club

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Starting right where you are today, help your body reach its genetic potential with a program that guarantees measurable results. Your time investment is only two workouts per week under the careful guidance of your personal trainer, giving your body enough time to rest and recover as it improves in strength and vitality. Your personal trainer empowers you with all the tools you need to achieve your optimum weight or fitness goal.
Our Slow Method™ is scientifically proven to help the body accomplish more with less weight. It stimulates the muscles while protecting the joints, and has even been effective in healing lower back pain. This method allows our trainers to quantify results after each workout, allowing you to track your progress.
Begin your journey to your best weight and good health by joining Winter Park Athletic Club today.

Our goal at Winter Park Athletic Club is to help you achieve total body health through strength training and nutrition. Because we are a personal training center, not a big gym, you receive the full attention of your personal trainer who sets goals, ensures your safety, establishes accountability, and tracks your results.
Our clients have achieved success for goals as diverse as reducing body fat, relieving back pain, reversing aging, or simply attaining personal fitness.

Your trainer uses a scientific method to measure your progress, focusing on stimulating your muscle groups, to rest and recover; vital elements missing in traditional exercise programs. From the outset we establish your baseline, moving in incremental stages as your performance improves. Through the application of our Slow Method™ and appropriate stretching just twice a week, your metabolism increases, your body burns more calories and your journey to good health is well on its way.

If you desire to lose weight and maximize the benefits of your fitness program, we highly recommend a nutritional lifestyle that focuses on balance in the diet. 40-30-30 nutrition refers to the balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat. It provides energy, protein for muscle recovery, and enough fat to regulate sugar levels and stabilize the insulin level in your body. Your trainer will speak to you about the benefits of the Zone diet, a nutritional lifestyle choice that provides the balance that your body needs to reach its optimum.

When Dave and Eve Thomas founded Winter Park Athletic Club, it was to fill the then void for personal trainers who would help clients achieve their fitness goals by guiding them through proper positioning to get the most benefit from their strength training routines. That was in a time when there were very few personal trainers in Central Florida, and the personal fitness industry was in the emerging growth stage.
The former Mr. Orlando and Central Florida Body Building Contest winner, who also excelled at the national level, had found his passion in assisting the people who often asked for help during his regular workouts. Having researched several methods of personal training, he discovered and underwent training in the Slow Method™, a more scientific approach to fitness. This method incorporates the tenets of stimulation, rest and recovery, the cornerstone of what is missing in the big gym environment.
When Dave opened the doors to his dream personal training center at its current location, he had built a team of personal trainers who were all trained in the Slow Method™, and who practice what they preach in their exercise and nutritional choices. He is proud of the fact that no matter which trainer clients receive at Winter Park Athletic Club, they receive a consistent workout, they are not overexerted and put into dangerous situations, and they receive satisfying results. "We have built a friendly, positive work environment," says Dave, "and our trainers help our clients understand our exercise and nutritional philosophy, ensuring that they develop the right mental attitude to achieve their genetic potential."

The goal of the Slow Method™ is maximum stimulation of targeted muscles, and this is achieved by lifting the weight slowly and steadily through the entire range of motion. This slow motion is safer than fast repetitions and it delivers a quick, time efficient, sweat free workout, totaling no more than 30 minutes, including time for stretching. This weight program delivers the full benefits of a cardiovascular workout as there is no break between machines, which can only be accomplished in a crowd-free environment such as that provided by Winter Park Athletic Club.
Over a 20 minute period, the trainer takes the client through a routine that focuses on the target muscle group, stimulating the muscle group for the entire set to gain maximum benefit. The machines used have many more adjustments than those in a regular gym, allowing us to customize any machine to any limitation one may have.
The final 10 minutes is dedicated to stretching the muscles, conditioning them for rest and recovery.

This slow workout allows the client to accomplish more with less weight; at least 40% less weight in fact. This method accomplishes a thorough workout of the muscles without putting unnecessary strain on the joints.
Since the muscle group being targeted during the entire exercise is not given an opportunity to recover during the workout, muscle fatigue is the natural result. It is at this point that muscle repair and growth begins, and when growth is stimulated, the body gains strength. Since repair is such an important part of the process, the muscles need adequate time to rest, therefore we recommend a workout no more than two days a week.
Because there is no rest between machines, clients also gain the effects of a cardiovascular workout as they weight train. Stronger muscles require more blood, even at rest, so the heart grows stronger to keep pace with the body. For every pound of muscle built, your metabolism increases and the body will burn an extra 100 calories day.
The Slow Method™ is a more efficient workout that saves on time while giving the muscles a thorough workout, helping your body attain its true potential.

We deliver measurable results because we take a scientific approach to personal training. We maintain a firm baseline from which we measure each client's growth. This means that your trainer establishes and adheres to a consistent routine, with consistent environmental factors, exact settings of the machines, exact client positioning within the machine, the duration of each exercise, the pause between each exercise, and the exercise order. Your trainer controls the variables, changing only the time spent on each exercise and the weight of each machine, charting your progress and giving you quantifiable results.
If you want results that can be measured, then contact Winter Park Athletic Club to begin your tailored program today.

I ruptured a disc in my lower back and was in constant debilitating pain. Dave Thomas started me on an aggressive program of stretching. Within a couple of weeks, I stopped taking the prescribed anti-inflammatory and pain medications. After a year, my pain was gone.
(Ric was so impressed with his results, he became a personal trainer at WPAC.)

I started the Zone diet with a little cynicism and skepticism at first, but within a week I started seeing results and was completely flabbergasted. Not only did my appearance change, my energy level shot through the roof, sending my self-confidence to new heights. I have lost 48 pounds, decreased my cholesterol 60 points, and lowered my blood pressure.

At fifty-one, obese, and having had knee surgery, I knew I needed professional help. As I travel for business, I needed a flexible program. In addition to my weight training at Winter Park Athletic Club, I exercise on my own and follow the Zone diet. After eight weeks, I have lost 12 pounds. More importantly, I have energy again, better concentration, fewer food cravings, my clothes fit better, and my self-esteem is returning.

When I personalized my eating regimen and showed up for our scheduled appointments, I felt actively involved in improving the quality of my life. Six months ago I weighed over 150 pounds with about 37% body fat. I'm 121 pounds now and 27% body fat.

Why Winter Park Athletic Club
Stimulation, rest, and recovery are the cornerstones of what we practice at Winter Park Athletic Club. In general, people in gyms exercise without a baseline and without paying attention to whether they are fully recovered. Recovery is an important part of the Slow Method™, and it is essential to improved performance.
Consistency in the baseline factors is key to measuring your growth at our personal training center, and your trainer pays keen attention to the details to ensure a controlled environment, changing only the necessary variables. Clients are also educated on the benefits of flexibility. Our clients are pleased as they note the improvement in their performance, and see their bodies undergo change with only two workouts each week.
Our trainers have the experience needed to adapt your workout for your specific needs. If you have joint problems, special needs, or any other injury, your trainer will develop a routine that not only works around your condition, but will often aid in your recovery. Your trainer becomes your partner, teaching you what to expect, best practices, and providing positive guidance on the best nutritional choices to accelerate the achievement of your goals. This leads you on the path to your best health, not only for the course of your exercise program, but for life.

Exercise and nutrition are keys to living a quality life at your best health. People struggling to achieve weight loss, wellness, or fitness goals can achieve the balance they need to gain best results by making nutritional changes.
At Winter Park Athletic Club, we highly recommend the Zone nutritional plan, a lifestyle change that is easily adaptable. Guided by a 40-30-30 rule of protein, carbohydrates and fats, our clients find that their blood sugar level is regulated and they have energy. Cravings are prevented and stored body fat begins to be eliminated.
Your trainer will teach you the benefits of the Zone diet, and nutritional lifestyle choice that provides the balance your body needs to reduce body fat, increase energy, and feel satisfied.
Our clients have proven over and over that the health benefits of this lifestyle change are positively dramatic. Come experience the benefits of moving into the Zone, and learn how to make the small changes required to equip your body to achieve its potential.