nature’s health club experience

So, you’ve decided it’s time to take action to improve your well-being. The search is on to find just the right place. Just where can you find a health club that offers a wide variety of healthy opportunities and, importantly, that’s affordable? How about free for a lifetime?

Nature’s Health Club is the answer.

Preferred Care, area health care agencies, and the Finger Lakes Visitors Connection have joined together to launch the Nature’s Health Club initiative to encourage people to join the most cost-effective health club in all of New York State. Partners in this healthy living initiative recently launched a marketing campaign that encourages people to visit the Finger Lakes Region, to take advantage of the area’s only free outdoor health club membership.

Nature’s Health Club is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides close to 5,000 square miles of opportunities for outdoor fitness in hundreds of varied, natural venues. Hiking. Biking. Running or brisk walking. Boating, whether in a kayak, a rowboat, or sailboat. Water activities, including swimming, tubing, water skiing. Golfing. Even a few more weeks of skiing and snowboarding. And healthy choices at area restaurants. Miles and miles of opportunities to take advantage of the region’s outdoor resources to pursue a healthy lifestyle. And it’s all free!

“Preferred Care is committed to helping members of our community find ways to live well and enjoy life,” explains Laura Gladwin, MS, AFP, Director of Preferred Care’s “You’re in Charge!.”

“Nature’s Health Club provides the perfect outlet for people to enhance their overall well-being, and we’re proud to be a part of helping spread the word about all that the Club has to offer.”

“Nature’s Health Club can motivate people in a way that no fitness center can,” explains Valerie Knoblach, president of the Finger Lakes Visitors Connection. “Walking in fresh air and enjoying a country landscape, selecting fresh and healthy choices from area farms, and enjoying the benefits of participating in fun activities with family and friends – that’s what this is all about.”

The idea of Nature’s Health Club was first explored in the summer of 2004 when a number of organizations came together to create the Healthy Living Alliance, a group dedicated to building a vital community whose residents and visitors could take easy and affordable advantage of the region’s natural resources in order to achieve their wellness goals. That organizing group included Finger Lakes Visitors Connection (FLVC), Ontario County Public Health, Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic, Finger Lakes Health, and Thompson Health.

Once Nature’s Health Club was defined, the Alliance worked to align themselves with other community partners to extend the reach of its message. Preferred Care quickly joined forces with the Alliance and became the primary sponsor of the initiative.

To help spread the word about Nature’s Health Club, the partner agencies will launch a marketing campaign in April. Equipped with television and radio advertising as well as billboards in downtown Rochester, the campaign encourages visitors and residents of the Finger Lakes Region to get out and make use of the area’s almost 5,000 square miles of opportunities for fitness, fun, healthy food, and relaxation.

To learn more about Nature’s Health Club and its many healthy living opportunities, visit www.natureshealthclub.com.