Consider these...

- Are your physical capabilities tested prior to beginning?

- Can you find a Fitness professional or center that can carry out these necessities?

- Examine a facilitys staff (Certified, degreed, past experience relevant to YOUR needs), equipment (Maintained, rusting, broken, many out of order signs), maintenance and upkeep (Bathroom cleanliness, wet spots, smell, garbage, etc.)

- Are they trying to sell you'

- Does there seem to be young kids servicing your wellness concerns?

When Beginning a program:

- Get a thorough fitness evaluation that assesses your cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility, body composition (Fat, Muscle)and a medical health history outline that stratafies your risk for diseases

- Have a Fitness Professional combine your unique medical background and current level of fitness that designs you a powerfully individualized program. (Make sure you have contact with a fitness professional that knows your limitations, medically and physically!)

- Work with and consult a Fitness Professional with Nationally Recognized Certifications (American College of Sports Medicine, National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, National Strength and Conditioning Association are a few and the most respected)

- Sensible, Specific, Basic Exercises, If it wont help you in everyday life, it aint for you!

- The proper individualized nutrition program based upon your goals, likes and dislikes. Not a fad diet, one size fits all diet, or magic diet. Consult a nutritionist or certified dietician.

EXERCISE IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE dont let anyone tell you differently!!

Phil Sottile

Phil Sottile, the director and owner of Intelligent Fitness/Athlete?s Edge, has 15 years of experience in the health club industry having pioneered two previous fitness companies (one taken to IPO) and owned his own fitness centers. Mr Sottile has certified, educated, and tested other fitness instructors as a contributing author to a fitness certification course, extensively lectured to students at Dowling and Nassau Community colleges, motivationally spoken to high school students, educated our seniors, has hosted his own broadcast of INTELLIGENT FITNESS on 105.3FM Radio, has appeared on NEWS12 LONG ISLAND as ?Personal Trainer to Long Island?s Kids?, currently co-hosts THE INTELLIGENT WAY TO WELLNESS on CABLEVISION CH.20, sits on the Technical Advisory Committee to BOCES and WILSON Technological center, and has been reported on by several local magazines, newspapers, and bodybuilding periodicals.

Sottile is a staff writer for New York SportScene Magazine and is also a guest writer for Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine. He has had several works published on topics of Health and Fitness and is a seasoned writer of philosphy and human emotion in his forthcoming book, THE PATH OF THE LONELY ROAD.

Additionally, he is a drug-free bodybuilding competitor and annually promotes two popularly growing bodybuilding shows, The Natural Long Island Experience and All Natural Revolution. Sottile has a background in Corporate Finance and Marketing and holds several levels of certified distinctions from Health Fitness Instructor to Fitness Therapist from the most respected, nationally accredited Organizations, such as; The National Academy of Sports Medicine, The American College of Sports Medicine, The National Strength and Conditioning Association, The International Sports Sciences Association, and The American Association of Health, Fitness, and Rehabilitation Professionals. INTELLIGENT FITNESS currently owns a sports medicine clinic and oversess operates the fitness department to a large gym in Suffolk County, New York.