What did you do over the weekend? I’m not trying to brag, but we had an awesome day Friday! It was a beautiful sunny day. We got lots of old and new friends together. We flipped tires, threw kegs, shook battle ropes, did fireman carries, and practiced MMA moves. We listened to some awesome music. And people won lots of freebees.
In case you want to know what you missed, we had our 2nd Annual Health and Fitness Festival! It was an event centered on introducing our community to multiple health opportunities through our many participating partners. Here at SPARK Physiotherapy we believe that, despite your background, experience, or medical history, the primary driver in your personal health is always YOU! You are responsible for making your health happen. And we don’t want you to get discouraged by this. It should be a huge motivator and encouragement that YOU can decide to make necessary changes or continue making positive decisions daily to achieve your health and fitness goals.
Being proactive about health and fitness can sometimes be scary. Whether it is making healthy food choices or waking up early to squeeze a work out into your day. So why not up the ante even more? SPARK Tough was located on the infield throughout the event to challenge attendees to succeed at things they may have never tried or even thought to try. SPARK Tough is a seasonal 6-week exercise program aimed at using primitive exercises to challenge participants physically and mentally to compete to succeed at seemingly impossible tasks. Why not flip a 300 pound tire? Fireman carry a 95 pound dummy? Or hurl a keg as far as you can? I think many people were tentative at first but everyone that participated found a way to succeed!
Our partners hold the same mindset about health and fitness and they work to inspire the same proactive approach in the community. Not only do we think similarly but when it comes to working as performance physical therapists, we often recommend and even work collaboratively with these partners to meet the goals of our mutual clients.
Meet Our Community Partners
With multiple locations throughout VA and MD, Capital MMA is the expert on martial arts including muay thai, boxing, and jiu-jitsu. We love their active mindset and many of them were the first to try out our SPARK Tough events during the day.
Onelife Fitness is a premiere fitness facility with locations throughout the DMV that include group fitness classes, one-on-one personal training, athletic training, and sports lessons for its members.
Healthy Back Store provides many of our clients with products ranging from back support to mattresses that improve their function and quality of life at home, work, and in between.
Aldo’s Italian Kitchen is located in our building at 2850 Eisenhower Avenue. If that is not convenient enough, they are known for delivering their delicious catered food to employees throughout and around the building. It’s a great place to grab lunch or dinner to take home in the evening.
Sweet Fire Donna’s is a local barbeque and beer joint that was generous enough to provide their amazing barbeque and cole slaw at the festival. This is a place that we love at SPARK.
Xtend Barre is an exercise studio that combines pilates, dance, and other moves to create an excellent strengthening program for its participants. They have so many locations that it’s beyond convenient.
Real Training is a personal training company that works with its clients to meet their personal health and fitness goals. This focus is on real training and real results.
Potomac Kempo is a mix of karate and kung fu. It is a fun and challenging work out for participants of all ages. While at the festival they gave great demonstration of kata form.
The Fun Runz is an organization that connects well-deserving foundations with enthusiasts that want to raise money through races of different lengths. They are “running for a cause not just because.”
Advocare is a company focused on nutrition, weight-loss, energy and sports performance products.
Potbelly’s is the place for sandwiches around here. They have all types with a variety of different toppings that are always delicious.
Raffle Prize Winners
Throughout the day, attendees received entries into our raffle ticket drawing for participating in SPARK Tough field events and visiting all our partners. The whole event ended with an exciting raffle drawing filled with prizes totalling over $2,000!!
Prize 4 went to Scot Cleveland, a repeat recipient from last year, and included one week of group training at Real Training, one week of classes at Xtend Barre, and a gift certificate for $25 at Sweet Fire Donna’s.
Prize 3 went to a SPARK Physiotherapy veteran, Denise Hopson, who had been very active throughout the day. The package included Nutritional Counseling from Real Training, two weeks of free classes from Potomac Kempo, and a gift certificate for $25 at Sweet Fire Donna’s.
Prize 2 went to Tracy Jack, a legend here at SPARK. Despite a relatively recent injury, she made it out on the field to participate in true Tracy fashion. The package included a Capital MMA gift certificate for almost $200, a Real Training gift certificate for $45 of training, a free one month membership to Sport and Health, two VIP admissions for a Fun Runz race, a box of Spark from Advocare, a gift certificate for $25 at Sweet Fire Donna’s, and a lunch for four people from Potbelly’s.
Grand Prize went to a new friend of SPARK Physiotherapy, Steffanie Pulido. This package was valued at over $900! It included a SPARK gift certificate for over $200, Capital MMA gift certificate of almost $200, Real training certificate for $45 of training, two VIP admissions for a Fun Runz race, a 12 pack of OTG from Advocare, a one hour hitting lesson from Pitch, Hit, and Run, 1 month free membership from Sport and Health, a $75 gift certificate to Aldo’s Italian Kitchen, a $25 gift certificate to Sweet Fire Donna’s, and a $50 gift card to Wegman’s!!
So I ask again, after all this, where were you???
I hope you are motivated to Make Your Health Happen! (#MYHHgetbetter). There is no time like the present and we look forward to seeing you out there. If you need answers look to our partners first! We have seen them work and consistently work beside them because we trust them. We all want you to take the reins and begin to work toward your health and fitness goals.
Dr. Kristen A Lattimore, PT, DPT, CSCS, CMTPT
Licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Certified Myofascial Trigger Point Therapist
Dr. Lattimore has experience as an athlete and coach of the speed and jumping side of Track and Field. She is passionate about integrating her knowledge and experience with fast and powerful exercise into the practice of physical therapy. She also enjoys working with patients whose concerns and complaints have been overlooked and perpetually deferred to the next medial professional.
Kristen continues to challenge herself with varied exercise including interval running, weight lifting, yoga, and Pilates. She is passionate about making her patients their best selves and adding power and intensity back into physical therapy. She can be reached at [email protected].
