Get Healthy This Month With Help From Ultima Fitness And The Village Of Wellington
Story and Photo by Julie Unger
It’s time to lace up those walking shoes and pull up your calendar. Ultima Fitness & Wellness, arm-in-arm with the Village of Wellington, is providing extensive opportunities to get up and move during the Palm Healthcare Foundation’s fifth annual “Let’s Move: Commit to Change Physical Activity Challenge” throughout the month of March.
Let’s Move is a free program, modeled after a national campaign that former First Lady Michelle Obama started for people to get more active and eat more nutritious food. The Palm Healthcare Foundation challenges participants to be active at least 30 minutes each day.
Wellington Community Projects Manager Scott Campbell is looking forward to the kickoff event, which is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Wellington Amphitheater on Saturday, March 4.
The Green Market at Wellington will also be going on at the same time, and residents will be able to walk over to the new Wellington Community Center to sign up for classes.
“What we’re really looking to do is show what the village and its partners have to offer in terms of physical activities,” Campbell said.
The focus, he explained, will also be introducing residents to various programs, events and activities that take place throughout the year organized by both the village and Ultima.
Last year, Wellington was one of 48 teams competing in the challenge, ending up in fifth place in the county for recorded activity.
“The whole point is to get people out and active within the community,” Campbell said. “We really want to enforce that mentality throughout the entire year, rather than just in March.”
Jill Merrell, owner of Ultima Fitness, is looking forward to being the fitness provider for Wellington and continuing to participate in this initiative. Ultima became involved in Let’s Move early, liked the program and partnered with the village to help expand it.
“Ultima’s goal is to see how we can help make our community be the healthiest community in the county,” Merrell said.
Ultima Fitness General Manager Jeffrey Keller is looking forward to welcoming Wellington residents who are not members, and encouraging those who are, during March’s special events.
“This is our fourth year doing Let’s Move. Each year it has gotten bigger and better. This year, we’re hoping to make it even more so,” Keller said.
From March 1 through March 7, Wellington residents can redeem a free guest week just by coming in to Ultima, located in the Wellington Plaza at 12799 W. Forest Hill Blvd.
Starting March 8, there will be special free guest days, complimentary martial fitness classes, barre classes, small group training classes and a taekwondo class. Spaces do need to be reserved for specific classes, he said.
“On each Saturday in March, those are free guest days as well,” Keller said. “So anyone can come in, utilize the facility and take these classes throughout the month. We want to encourage people to be active.”
To sign up for classes, call (561) 795-2823. To register with “Well Wellington,” the Ultima/Wellington team with the Palm Healthcare Foundation, visit www.letsmovepbc.org.
Let’s Move participants, who can also create their own teams, will visit the site regularly to log minutes once the month-long event begins.
