Spring Training

By Ted Bodenrader

The groundhog has disappeared.

The second day of February has come and gone, and the creature has submerged back into its quarters, nestling comfortably for another six weeks.

Legend has it that the groundhog will retreat to its underground home front upon seeing its shadow, an omen that forecasts bad things to come. Whether it actually is its shadow or perhaps the bleak, dismal surroundings that causes such a withdrawal remains an uncertainty. But when this happens, one thing is for sure: this furry little creature wants no part of the outside world.

And in a sense, as frivolously reluctant creatures by nature, we are not unlike that rascally, little woodchuck, poking its head out from underneath the frozen, winter soil.

Some of us opened our front doors in early February, perhaps with the intention of turning our fitness wheels in motion, perhaps taking the first step toward attaining personal redemption.

And it was then that many of us saw our shadows all right, that dark eclipse protruding out over our front steps, reminding us of all that extra baggage we packed away during the grueling winter months. Others tasted a whiff of the arctic cold and safely returned to their sofas, their remote controls, and their bags of rippled potato chips. The light at the end of the endless winter tunnel, that blazing summer sun that spells a bright salvation, it seemed to flicker a whole light year away.

“That’s definitely a lull period, that dreadful period in February,” points out Kyle Libby, a certified personal trainer at HealthPoint, New England’s premier health & fitness facility. “People use the cold as an excuse not to get to the gym. They’ll think about warming up the car or having to wipe the snow off the windshield, so they’ll find it easier to stay home.”

Of course, no place on Earth displays the diversity between a ruthless, bone-chilling winter and a rich, beaming summer the way New England does. This Northeast corner of the States can be transformed from Alaska into Jamaica in just a matter of eight or ten weeks.

Within that time, snowboards are replaced by surfboards. Downhill skis are swapped for jet skis. Heavy coats and rubber boots become tank tops and flip-flops.

That intermission period between winter hell and summer heaven is that period known as springtime.

In other words, when March 22nd hits, the hibernation is over. It’s a day to get busy and to make up for lost time.

“Once people get that first taste of the warm weather, they start thinking about the bathing suits and the beaches and they say, ‘Oh damn, I better get in shape’,” Libby says. “It really is a psychological thing. For some reason, when spring comes, everybody wants to get in shape, although they know they should have been doing it year round. Then at the end of the summer, they go right back into hibernation.”

Mike Paternostro is a veteran personal trainer who has seen this very same cycle spin for two decades and counting. To him, it’s as regular as clockwork. As a Boston-based trainer, he has experienced twenty years of whipping civilians into shape. That’s twenty times the summer sun has dipped over the horizon and twenty times it has returned nine months later. To Paternostro – and a slew of others in the same profession – there really are only two dates to speak of, the two days out of the year when the clients come rushing into the health clubs in tidal waves. The first is the January 1st Resolution clan.

“And the other day comes right at the end of the winter,” says Paternostro. “There’s no particular date but it usually comes right at the turn of seasons, the first day that we get that unseasonably warm weather. People have been stuck in the cold all winter long, they feel that first bit of warmth and it’s like – BAM – they dump the coat and want to get in shape for the summer. To me, that day is even bigger than New Years.”

That’s because there really is something quite special about the blossoming of springtime. When temperatures rise and Frisbees start to fly, you can feel it in the air.

It’s a time of reform. It’s a time of new hope. It’s a time of coming out.

In Florida, 29 major league baseball teams will be knee-deep in spring training, preparing for their intense, summertime excursions. They’ll be sharpening up their rough edges, fine-tuning their tools, and sculpting themselves into that well-oiled machine.

Your spring training should consist of the same.

“I think it’s a great time to start working out, because the warm weather can be very uplifting,” Libby added. “And for the guy who has put on an extra ten pounds over the winter time, he can lose that by summer, no problem. For the more extreme cases, obese people expecting to have an entirely new body by summertime, it’s just not going to happen that quickly. But it’s a good time to start.”

The warm, radiant weather, however, should inspire more than just a soothing walk through the park. It should evoke serious changes into your daily lifestyle, changes that will transform your makeover into a permanent one, not just a seasonal one.

“I think the spring mentally inspires a lot of people,” adds Paternostro. “The problem is that most people don’t carry it over. People who come to see me in early spring want to get in great shape by the summer but at that point, it’s almost too little, too late. I tell those people to start training for the following summer but then they suddenly disappear when the seasons change.”

While the number of Americans joining public health clubs remains on a sharp upswing, statistics indeed show that gym memberships have become as much of a money-waster as those convenience store scratch cards. Only 75 percent of gym members actually use the facilities they’ve paid for.

Nonetheless, gym owners are bracing for the springtime rush, that late-March tidal wave that is swiftly gaining momentum with each warming day. Yet, within a few weeks, the heavy current will be swept away toward a deep, inactive sea.

Only those faithful 25 percent will firmly remain on shore.

“These people realize that you have to stay on top of it,” explains Libby. “You can’t give up just because it’s a pain in the butt to go warm up your car before you get to the gym. Some people do understand that.”

It is this minority that has willfully accepted that year-long commitment, refusing to differentiate between Christmas Day and Columbus Day, beach time and shovel time, winter blahs and summer hurrahs.

Just ask the 29 big league ball teams, when their work officially comes to a close come early autumn. Many will dip into wintertime comfort, rewarding themselves after a grueling six-month summer stint. However, the true champions of the sport, the real success stories, they remain on top of their game all year round.

With the winter thawing and the summer gleaming just over the horizon, make March 22, the first official day of spring, your personal opening day, the perfect time to take that first step toward sprouting your championship form.

And unlike that fickle little groundhog, popping his head out from the ground every winter, let’s hope the new you boldly comes out to stay.