Optimus: The Center for Health
At Optimus: The Center for Health their mission is PROMOTE. PREVENT. PROTECT. Optimus achieves this goal by promoting a healthy lifestyle, preventing chronic disease by advocating healthy lifestyle habits, and protecting individuals from lifestyle-related diseases by incorporating these habits into their everyday routine.
The Center has a state-of-the-art workout facility located on Southampton Road near Providence. Exercise options include free weights, cardio machines, resistance machines, and a large open workout room with all of the latest get-fit gadgets. To complement the workout facility, Optimus has a full schedule of group classes, including Hatha Yoga, Pilates, Fitness Boot Camp, and Healthy Cooking. Classes are held at various times of the day and week and are taught by certified instructors.
“We have a highly qualified, enthusiastic, academically strong, and motivated staff that is dedicated to preventing chronic diseases,” said co-director Tom LaFontaine,PhD. “Our staff is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine and/or the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the two premier organizations in the field. We have a state of the art facility for exercise, state of the art laboratories for exercise and resting metabolism assessments and offer a premier program for businesses desiring to improve the health of their employees through Nationwide Better Health and INTERxVENT USA.” Visit www.interventusa.com to learn more about this program.
Optimus believes that, with the average annual healthcare cost per person in the United States beyond $3,000, and preventable illness making up about 70% or more these costs, it is smart for business owners to invest in the health of their employees. With this in mind, Optimus offers the Optimus Health Promotion program that has services and programs aimed at improving the health of employees.
Besides business clients, Optimus also features a number of individual services. These include such programs as Personal Health and Fitness Mentoring, the Optimus Lifestyle Management Program and EnergySmart™, a program that uses a resting metabolic assessment to help you achieve a negative calorie daily meal plan. Since daily calories are based on knowledge of a person’s metabolism, the meal plan can better help persons to lose, maintain, or gain weight to achieve fitness goals. There is also nutritional counseling available and massage therapy to improve rehabilitation, performance or relaxation. Optimus also offers metabolic exercise testing in which a person’s exhaled air is collected an analyzed to determine maximal oxygen uptake (best measure of cardiovascular fitness and perhaps the best predictor of long-term health status), training heart rate zones, and maximal heart rate.
Optimus employs ten persons, including part-time and contracted services. They support active transportation among employees and clients by providing bike racks on the building property and encourage staff and members to use non-motorized transportation as much as possible. “We also are involved in promoting the use of trails, facilities for active recreation, etc. in the community,” said LaFontaine.“We fully support the PedNet goal of a connected community where non-motorized transportation is a reasonable and efficient choice for citizens.”
The center opened in April 2007 to meet the needs of individuals and businesses that wanted to prevent disease and promote health. LaFontaine has over 35 years of experience in the disease prevention and rehabilitation field. He stated that one reason he started Optimus is that 70-90% of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and many cancers are preventable by living healthy lifestyles. “We offer programs and services plus a state of the art exercise facility that educate and guide persons towards preventing these diseases or managing them if present."
There are a large variety of membership options available at Optimus. Advanced payment, monthly installments, and punch card memberships are available. They also offer discounts for families, groups, and employers in the Columbia area. For more information about Optimus: The Center for Health visit www.optimushealth.com or call (573) 777-7474.
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