Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bay Area Boot Camp Combats Holiday Stress
Working Out Helps Women Stay in Balance and Celebrate the Season

The most wonderful time of the year? The holiday season can in fact be a time full of joy, cheer, and reconnecting with family and friends. However, for many people - and for women in particular – the holidays bring an extra helping of stress and exhaustion.

Between work, parties, shopping, baking, cleaning, and caring for elderly parents or kids on school break, what can women do to alleviate the hassles of the holidays?

“Work out,” said Bay Area Boot Camp COO and fitness expert Mary Beth Gonzales.

“The holidays are the time of year when many people stop working out,” Gonzales explained, “But actually the holidays are the time when people most need to exercise in order to deal with added stress.”

Numerous experts - including scientists at Harvard Medical School – have confirmed that in addition to relieving stress, exercise also causes your body to release hormones that can make you feel energized. In other words, making the time to work out can actually help you accomplish more in a day.

Participants in Bay Area Boot Camp, an innovative total body training program co-founded in 2004 by Gonzales and fitness competitor Heather Glenn, represent living proof of Harvard’s claims.

“Holidays can be stressful enough, without the added annoyance of clothes not fitting right because of too much pumpkin pie and too few pop-squats and pyramid runs.  When I work out, I feel energized and strong, and I’m more attentive to my eating habits,” said Joan Holland, who lives in Saratoga and has been attending Bay Area Boot Camp in Campbell for the past 18 months.

“Aside keeping my favorite jeans fitting the way I like, boot camp gives me a more positive outlook, about myself and in general, so I’m in a better mood and less susceptible to stress and irritation,” Holland added.

“Days that I don't attend boot camp I notice that my energy level and mood are much lower and my stress level goes up,” saidRosa Lainez-Gonzalez, a full-time student from San Mateo who recently completed her third month of boot camp.

Lainez-Gonzalez is determined to stick to her Bay Area Boot Camp program throughout the holiday season.

“The holidays are a busy time. It’s very easy to get caught up with family, events etc., and fall out of your normal routine - especially your workout routine. Knowing I have a support system of trainers and women at Bay Area Boot Camp will motivate me to continue going through the holidays so that I don't feel that guilt that most of us feel once the holidays are over.”

For Rosa, along with many other Bay Area Boot Campers, New Year’s resolutions might just be a thing of the past.

ABOUT ALAVIE FITNESS:

Founded in 2004, AlaVie Fitness (formerly Bay Area Boot Camp) is a women-owned and operated fitness organization dedicated to helping people improve their physical well-being and increase their self-confidence. AlaVie Fitness is featuring a series of special holiday offers – including gift certificates, travel fitness kits,  deep discounts on annual memberships, and more – to help people stay in balance during the season and hit the New Year running.

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