After more than three months of nearly daily workouts and dramatically altered nutrition, Steve Erck has lost 22 pounds.
His wife, Julie, has lost 6 pounds and is seeing more changes in her body shape. Her thighs are noticeably slimmer and she’s dropped two pants sizes following the alternate-days workout schedule she and the Ercks’ two sons adopted.
Dan, 14, and Aaron, 11, are showing off newfound muscles, and discovering unexpectedly deep wells of previously untapped energy.
“I went hiking with a friend the other day, and I didn’t even get winded when we got to the top of the hill,” Dan Erck said.
“That wouldn’t have happened three months ago. No way. I’d have been exhausted.”
Last April, the Ercks nominated themselves for a Denver Post fitness makeover contest, citing their nonexistent exercise routine and fast-food- heavy diet. (During their makeover, The Post is providing nutrition counseling, and a family membership and personal training sessions at the Apex Center in Arvada.)
Those gains didn’t come without some pain. There were days when the Ercks had to cajole each other to make the trek to the Apex Center, or leave their Arvada home to go for a walk or bicycle ride. Julie Erck knows firsthand the embarrassing positions that some fitness machines require of their users. Both she and her husband have a love-hate relationship with interval training, one of the newest additions to their regimen.
“They are good for you,” Julie Erck said gamely, determined to find something nice to say about the technique that requires several cycles of increasingly longer and more difficult aerobic sprints.
On her blog, “Going 4 Fitness” (neighbors.denverpost.com), Julie Erck’s July 10 entry acknowledged that working out requires as much mental as physical discipline:
“Working out with the boys was almost a bigger challenge than the workout itself,” she wrote.
The boys began wheedling to shave time off the day’s workout. Their father would have none of that, doggedly sticking to his routine.
“Steve was not breaking his routine,” Julie wrote, “I so admire that about him. I jumped on the recumbent bike, and (the boys) followed on the rowers beside me.”
They worked out for another 13 minutes — 2 minutes longer than any of them had planned.
“It is exciting to see how many calories one can burn on the recumbent computerized bike,” Julie Erck wrote, and noted that the readout makes an impact that lasts well beyond the workout itself.
The Ercks found themselves at an ice cream social. Jack Perry, Steve Erck’s trainer, was there too.
“Just a little ice cream, right?” he teased.
“You know it,” Julie Erck said later.
“You watch the numbers when you’re working out, and you know exactly how much effort it takes to burn off 100 calories.”
Clarie Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
