Lake Country Weekend Post

2 • LAKE COUNTRY POST • DECEMBER 26, 2015 GMTODAY.COM HEALTH New year, new you By Eric Oliver Enterprise Staff OCONOMOWOC — As the new year sneaks ever closer, thoughts turn to resolutions and getting fit. The Oconomowoc Community Center has several unique offerings to help get people in shape in the new year. One such class is TRX. Using a suspension band, TRX uses body weight to curb the intensity of the exercise. Although it can appear intimidating Oconomowoc's TRX instruc- tor Mark Skumatz said he has had a wide range of peo- ple take the class. TRX was developed by an ex-Navy Seal who had used a jujitsu belt and parachute webbing to develop the first TRX band, according to the band maker's website. "These classes are perfect because I have people that are in their late 20s all the way up to a couple I had in the same class that were in their 60s," Skumatz said. "All I have to do is modify it a little bit." The class uses total body weight resistance along with the band. The amount of effort a person puts into the workout is directly relation- al to the amount of results they see. Skumatz called it the perfect exercise for any age. Skumatz found out about TRX when one of his clients bought him the suspension band. He tried it and was hooked. He went to a gym in Middleton to take a certifica- tion class and started teach- ing it. An average TRX class for Skumatz embodies elements of High Intensity Interval Training. In a HIIT class, attendees perform multiple sets of different exercises and reps through a cycle. For example, depending on how many people Skumatz has in a class half of them will be using the bands and the other half will do cardio. It's very similar to a boot camp or step class. "It's kind of like a step class where you're moving and flipping over and doing it a little bit quicker," Sku- matz said. The results speak for themselves, Skumatz said. "I've had some workouts with them where I've come away and I'm probably more sore than I normally would be," Skumatz said. The TRX bands are also effective for people who need to vary their routine because of a medical injury or because it's just gotten bland. Skumatz said he suf- fers from tendinitis in one of his elbows. If he was train- ing traditionally with a straight bar and weights, he'd have to drop his weight when it acts up. Now he just alters his position and he can keep working out. "It really just helps you break up the monotony of a regular workout," Skumatz said. Skumatz's TRX class is from 6 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. Peo- ple can sign up for the class by visiting the community center in person, or by log- ging onto the city's website. Other classes Recreation manager Jen- nifer Froemming said there are several other offerings at the Community Center for people looking to up their fitness level in the new year. The center is starting a cardio core class after the first of the year which will be held in the mornings. It's going to focus on cardiovas- cular health while at the same time working on strengthening the core mus- cles of the body. Froemming said it's a new class to the community center and one she is excited for. The center also offers a popular cardio kickboxing class in the evenings which is taught by a certified black belt instructor. Froemming said it is an intense but fun class. In addition, there's a strength and conditioning class led by one of the cen- ter's trainers. Froemming said the three classes are all some of the more intense offerings. For people looking to try something new or to try something less intense the center also offers Zumba classes and a yoga/pilates/barre class. "We have a wide variety of fitness programming for numerous different ability levels," Froemming said. Email: eoliver@conleynet.com Oconomowoc Community Center has several unique exercise classes heading into the new year Submitted photo TRX is a highly customizable fitness class that utilizes body weight resistance. By Karen Pilarski Enterprise Staff PEWAUKEE — Laurie Wirth of Pewaukee is a very active person to say the least. She enjoys snow skiing and taught it for many years. She was also a sky diver for 19 years. There is nothing like adven- ture to add extra thrill when she is not working as an accountant. Rock climbing is an activi- ty that makes her happy. It is a sport that requires strength to climb up and down jagged rock forma- tions. Strength is something Wirth has in abundance, and she needed it when a devastating disease — ulcer- ative colitis — almost knocked her down. The descent A few years ago she expe- rienced stomach cramping and rectal bleeding. "I kept going back to my doctor at the time to try and isolate what was wrong with me," Wirth said. She was diag- nosed with ulcerative colitis, a bowel disease that causes inflammation and ulcers in the colon. "Symptoms vary from person to person, but some symptoms are weight loss, diarrhea, stomach pain, and fatigue," said Dr. Daniel Stein, gastroenterolo- gist and director of the IBD program at Froedtert Hospital & the Medical College of Wisconsin. It is a disease that is being researched to find the cause and cure. It is said before you can get better you may hit rock bottom. "At my worst I was going to the bathroom 24 times or more a day," said Wirth. She was put on medication and the symptoms were kept at bay for a while. Then last year during the holidays she got the flu. "That is when things starting plummeting for me," she said. She caught a bacterial infection in her colon due to her immune system being compromised. Wirth said it was a snowball effect where the symptoms kept getting progressively worse. She lost 40 pounds over a short duration due to the illness. She remembers sobbing and telling her former doctor she thought she was dying. Her skin was grayish yellow and her body was rawboned. A close call As luck would have it, however, Wirth bumped into a friend who has a brother on a digestive disease board at the Medical College of Wisconsin. For Wirth, it was as if there was a divine intervention. "It was like finding the missing puzzle piece. God was helping, I know it," she said. She was referred to the Medical College of Wis- consin, Wirth admitted her to the hospital, and she felt good that his team were there for her. She was hospi- talized for two weeks to try and get the inflammation down. "I was walking around like an old person, my body felt tender," she said. Rocking back to put her socks on was unbearable due to being sick. Any type of human touch was excru- ciating to handle. Within the first few days of being admitted she signed a "do not resuscitate" order. "I was so ill that if I died, I was fine with it," she said, blinking away tears. The mere weight of cloth- ing had been painful against her fragile body. She was vomiting so much and water had even tasted toxic. "I was just done, the quality of life was horrible," Wirth said. The ascent Stein and his staff were aggressive in her treatment, giving Wirth a strong dosage of Remicade, and the medicine was effective. After 14 days she was released from the hospital, although she has to go back every 8 weeks for an IV treatment. Although she was able to avoid a fall, she is not off the cliff just yet. If the medicine stops working there is the possibility of having her colon removed. For now, however, she is stable. "I'm alive and here," she said. Wirth now has plans set in stone such as professional and personal goals. Most of all, she is looking forward to better health. Email: Kpilarski@conleynet.com The climb to survive Submitted photo Dr. Daniel Stein, gastroenterologist and director of the IBD Program at Froedtert Hospital & the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Laurie Wirth after speaking at the Wisconsin Club during a benefit for the Digestive Diseases Research Foundation. Woman's journey battling severe illness The Enterprise wants to publish your health news, including new locations, innovative practices, expansions and cutting edge ideas. We'd like to hear from doctors, therapists, athletic trainers, teachers — or anyone with a finger on the pulse of the Oconomowoc health community. Please send health news items and photos to eoliver@conleynet.com Send us your health news WATERTOWN — Bethes- da Lutheran Communities announced it promoted Gretchen Block to division operating officer for its Eastern Division. She was promoted from her role as regional director of Wiscon- sin to now overseeing operations in Illinois, Indi- ana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin. One of Block's key roles in her new position, accord- ing to the announcement, will be to collaborate with the division operating offi- cer of the Western Division to streamline processes so that programs in all 14 states, supporting people with intellectual and devel- opmental disabilities, run efficiently and as similarly as possible. "The people we support have goals, and we help turn those goals into reality by allowing them to live the lives they want by run- ning successful, mission- focused programs," Block said in a statement. Block first started volun- teering with Bethesda when she was 12 years old, according to the announce- ment, and later becoming a full-time direct support professional in 1991, work- ing directly with people who have developmental disabilities. Block Bethesda Lutheran Communities promotes Block

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