With that being said, I feel we still are heading in the right direction of moving up as a community. In the past few years, Louisville has been named a friendly bicycling city by Bicycling Magazine in 2010 and Travel Channel in 2013. Recently, Bicycling for Louisville held a 2014 Bike Kick Off event to promote networking and coordinate efforts to improve biking in the area. Places like VO2 Multisport have held free clinics such as Bike Fitting 101 and other bike maintenance classes. Bike Louisville is another great online source for biking. The folks at Forest Giant and Urban Design Studio are teaming up to build an app to collect data that will guide Metro toward building better bike routes. (Check out WFPL's article on it.) All this just is just related to biking!
So if you are not into biking, in 2013, Louisville was named a Walk Friendly Community by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, Chapel Hill, NC. The Waterfront with the new pedestrian bridge, Parklands, and Jefferson Memorial Forest are all free, interesting places to get some fresh air and exercise. Monthly, Parklands and Jefferson Memorial Forest hosts free or very cheap hikes if you want to join a group. Walktober has great links to walking places and tips too. Fleet Feet Sports store hosts free injury screening clinics occasionally too to keep you out there running and walking. If you are thinking about picking up running, there are lots of 5Ks in the area to sign up for to stay motivated in your training. Check out sites such as Swag's Calendar or River City Races for races.
Healthy Hometown is another great website and initiative in the area. It offers free classes throughout the year from quitting smoking to nutrition classes. They update their Facebook regularly for when the classes are offered. Also twice a year, Hike, Bike, and Paddle event is held to encourage an active lifestyle - FREE!
Louisville may not be at the top now in the American Fitness Index, but we are heading in the right direction. Several new fitness places have had grand openings in the past few months - Get Fit 24/7, B.You Springhurst, Pro Martial Arts, You Do Yoga, and soon 502 Power Yoga . Besides all the above, Louisville has lots of affordable (even FREE) fitness classes! Several places offer a first class is free, so if you are not for sure what you like, try a little bit of everything.
The hardest part is just getting out. Grab a friend to hold each other accountable, try something new, train for a race together, or check out a running club. The friend factor is what helped, Adam, on his fitness journey with Pure Fitness Training. I am hoping through this blog you can find something that you enjoy doing that gets you active. Louisville has so much variety in the fitness arena that the decision is on you to find what works with your interests, schedule, and budget. There are trainers, instructors, and nutritionists that will fit your personality and encourage you along your journey. Do not give up if you try something that did not work for you, try something else. This year I am stepping out of my comfort zone and checking out as much as I can for you so you know what to expect when you visit gyms and classes.
Want to share your fitness journey, brag about your favorite place to get your fit in? E-mail me your story to helpfully encourage someone else to get out there and get their fit in- fitinlou@gmail.com
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