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JB MDL facilitates New Year resolutions

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dennis L. Sloan
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  With the New Year upon us, many people are seeking to start their New Year resolutions. With so many free services on base, why go anywhere else?

For those planning to get fit and eat healthy, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst has many resources and facilities to offer servicemembers. Many of the services can make the difference in success or failure of their resolutions.

Staying fit may be your goal this year and with more than three fitness centers located throughout the joint base as well as the Joint Base Health and Wellness Center. Fitness centers include: the McGuire Fitness and Sports Center, the Griffith Field House, Doughboy Gym and the Lakehurst Sports and Fitness center. All four centers are open to ID cardholders as well.

The Joint Base HAWC is a great place to start because it provides the community with an array of healthy eating and weight loss classes. With January being National Healthy Eating month, the center is offering Body Mass Index screenings or Body Fat percentage tests that are 99 percent accurate to include a free t-shirt. Another healthy resolution community members may be trying to achieve is to be smoke-free from cigarettes or tobacco. Classes are available in conjunction with medication to help.
The HAWC is located inside the McGuire Fitness and Sports Center and hours of operations are Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"The HAWC provides people with resources as well as guidance to make healthy life style changes," said Dana Maurer, 87th Medical Group registered dietician. "We have several programs available to meet everyone's needs".

With the HAWC and its healthy eating classes, the base dining facilities are working hand-in-hand to post Nutrition Informational Guides so every servicemember knows the healthiest meal choice.

Most JB MDL fitness centers include:

· Basketball, racquetball and volleyball courts
· Daily use of men's and women's lockers rooms and saunas
· Wide variety of free-weights to tension weights
· Up-to-date cardiovascular machines such as treadmills, elliptical, stair steppers etc. with remote head phones and satellite TV's
· Aerobic rooms
· Intramural sports ranging from basketball to racquetball leagues as well as volleyball leagues

The McGuire Fitness and Sports Center offers 20 instructional aerobics classes' weekly and outdoor facilities to include a rubberized track, soccer fields, flag football fields and even softball fields. Hours of operations are Monday through Friday, 4 a.m. to midnight and Saturday through Sunday 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The McGuire Fitness and Sports Center is a place where community members can achieve their fitness and health resolutions. "We have all sorts of programs, classes, equipment and instructors that can meet everyone's fitness and health goals from fitness 101 to a five day a-week weight program to get you in your desired shape," said Fitness and Sports Director of the Center, Billy Irions.

The Griffith Field House offers a full-service fitness center, two massage therapists who offer sports, therapeutic, Swedish and deep-tissue massages. Hours of operations are Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Lakehurst Sports and Fitness Center provides community members with a wide variety of special events such as the sports challenge, Captain's Cup, monthly 5K runs and walks, Joint Base 10-Mile Run and Lighter than Air Duathlon. Classes such as spinning, Pilates, yoga, Zumba® for all levels and body bump are also offered. Hours of operations are Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Doughboy Gym houses a physical rehabilitation center for Warriors in Transition, which is also open to community members. The gym has various free-weight and strength machines, as well as several cardiovascular machines. With two racquetball courts and a full basketball court the gym supplies community members with a men's and women's locker room to include showers and daily-use lockers. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

With all the resources the joint base offers to community members to continue or start their New Year resolutions, there is no need to travel off base to go to expensive gyms and pay for memberships, expensive classes or instructors because everything is free. So if you plan to lose weight, eat healthier, quit smoking or even just want to get back into shape, JB MDL is the place to be.