Railyard voted MVP again!

I'm proud to announce we've been chosen as one of the Most Valuable Products in PE once AGAIN! Attendees at the 2010 PE4life / IBC Adopt-a-School Challenge Summit in Des Moines Iowa voted, and the Railyard Conditioning Course tied for first place with EKHO Heart Rate Monitors. We received 3 top 2 finishes at three recent PE conferences and we couldn't be more proud or appreciative.

Have you read the book, "Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain"? If you haven't, I highly recommend you do. It gives everyone in physical education and fitness added justification to continue our mission of exercise and fitness. The author, John Ratey, MD, describes the process by which vigorous exercise enhances the learning process and why. It a fascinating read and adds one more reason for a daily workout. In the book you'll read about the PE program in Naperville, Ill. that "Sparked" Dr. Ratey's interest. Two, very progressive PE teachers in Naperville started what they call, “New PE", whereby every child exercises one hour every day. Their program fostered much healthier children, Naperville schools are among the lowest in obesity in the nation, it produced a noticeable increase in academic achievement. Were proud to have Railyard in use in Naperville and to be a part of this exciting achievement.

More and more documented results verifying this is published daily as to the positive affect exercise has on a children learning ability. What is the problem people? Exercise helps children learn, exercise makes children healthier, America wants smarter and healthier children, seems to me part of the answer exercise. Let us, as a nation, support the PE programs in our schools and we’ll get what we strive for, a healthy generation of children that could reverse the predictions and become the longest living generation. We’ll be doing everything in our power, will you join us?

Our 80-page youth and kids fitness manual is now available online, download it free. It’s a wonderful tool for PE teachers, fitness professionals, parents, anyone who is interested in joining the effort to develop a healthier U.S.

I would like to congratulate Jody Ebstein, P.E Teacher, and Audubon Elementary School in Chicago, the grand prize winner of a Railyard Conditioning Course. Next month we will have more information on Jody and how she plans to use the Railyard in her classes next month.

Our hope is the Railyard Depot becomes a valuable forum where physical educators and fitness professionals will share information on their successes and trials in providing exercise for our nations children. Please write your thoughts down send them to us, and we will include them in the next month’s issue.

The fitness equipment manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, are forming a trade association (Afirm) to promote fitness and exercise. The Association will be a part of the SGMA, one of the leading proponents of the PEP Grant and the PHIT bill. As a founding member, I intend to encourage the industry to take a larger role in supporting Physical Education and fitness for children. What can the fitness industry do to help you provide exercise and fitness to your students and clients? Please post your suggestions on the Railyard Depot Blog and I’ll present them to the Association.

We are proud to announce the National Head Start/Body Start Program has selected our preschool exercise program and product, the Playtangle Jr. to be included in the 2010 Resource Guide. The Playtangle is manufactured and distributed by our parent Company, TherapyZone.com.

Since my last post, we've attended the Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arizona state AAHPERD conferences and were represented by G & G Fitness, our regional sales group, in New York and Ohio. My heartfelt thank you goes out to all the Physical Educators who visited with us at these events and their overwhelming positive response to the Railyard and the kids and children's exercise it provides.

We are firming up the 2010 conference schedule and will post it on our website shortly. If we are in your area, please drop by to say hi, I look forward to meeting you. We will be at at the California AAHPERD and the National AAHPERD in March where we will be introducing the new, Railyard Fitness Exercise Hanger. The Hanger is our entry into the suspension training market designed with the PE student and program in mind, you're going to love this!

I wish to introduce you to Vint Hargrave, All Pro Athletics in Florida, Vint has put up his new video on the Railyard. Vint has the largest Railyard outside of Denver and is providing youth sports conditioning to the young athletes in his area. Vint may be the #1 fan of Railyard Conditioning, here's a link to his video.
www.vimeo.com/8110858

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

We are proud to announce the Railyard Conditioning Course was awarded the honor of (3rd Most Valuable Product) by the attendees the at the PE4life PEP Grant conference last month. We beat out some old standards and a number of new exergaming products. I like to think this is a trend towards the total body, functional fitness the Railyard provides.
There are over 200 facilities around the country using the Railyard as an obstacle course for their children’s fitness and youth exercise programs. A number of these Courses are being used to provide conditioning for youth athletes. We believe this is how children should be developing their foundational and athletic skills. The exercises on the course and naturally functional and fun, both necessary for a successful conditioning program.

We will give away a $3500.00 Railyard on January 20, 2010 to one lucky "Railyard Depot" subscriber, go to our website to sign up and good luck!

Are we doing everything we can to promote fitness to the exerciser of tomorrow?

I believe we could do a much better job of introducing exercise to our nation’s youth. I’ve been to six national and regional PE Conferences in the past year and the exercise industry is noticeably absent. You will find the U. S. Golf Association, U.S. Tennis Association, Skate in School (in-line skates), Educational Disc Golf Experience, Bowling Proprietors of America, National Alliance for the development of Archery and the National Archery in Schools program, Ultimate Players Association (Frisbee), Orienteering 4 Schools, U.S. Figure skating, to name a few industries, all lobbying for time in our nations PE programs. You will find a few fitness manufactures such as me, a few sports and fitness equipment dealers, and a few fitness associations such as ACE, NSCA, and IDEA, everyone promoting their personal agenda. The fitness industry should have an industry association there with free curriculum, training, and support, as all the sports and outdoor activity industries. The fitness industry has the knowledge, people, and the justification to take a leadership role in the health of our nation’s children, not only for the growth and preservation of our industry, but for the health of our nation.
Railyard Fitness is proud to be one of the few company’s providing free fitness curriculum that can be used in every grade and by every student. Our fitness manual does not require the teacher have any of our equipment, just the desire to provide a fun, functional exercise experience to their class.

I believe it’s time all the different factions of the fitness industry come together as one to promote fitness, not a specific kind of fitness, fitness in general. National statistics tell us about 30% of adult Americans exercise on a regular basis (a generous number) and we are all marketing to this group, imagine if we could attract another 10% or 35 million exercisers, more people for the health clubs, more customers for product at retail, more clients for trainers, simply more revenue. Imagine 20, 30, or 40% more people in exercise, it would be boom for everyone in the fitness industry.

What do you think?

The Railyard Conditioning Course won 2nd place in the "Most Valuable Product" competition on June 19th at the PE4Life Summit in Rogers Arkansas!

I just returned from the Texas State PE Administrators Conference, what a dedicated group of professionals. We've recieved more inquiries from the State of Texas than all the rest of the country combined, after attending this event I can see why. Texas is on a mission to improve the health of thier children, I can only hope the rest of the country will choose to follow.

The Railyard Conditioning Course is the ideal exercise platform for children, and it's fun!

>> From a study published in the Swimming Science Bulletin. Authored by Brent S. Rushall & John Marsden.

"If resistance training is to be done with children and young adolescents, exercises should involve sub-maximal loads, such as one’s own body weight, light dumbbells, weighted bags and/or medicine balls. Sophisticated and restrictive weight exercises, particularly on machines, are not ideal for children".