By Grace Bennett • Photos by Isabel Greenberg
For too long now, I’ve harbored stubborn inches in certain spots and a higher number of excess pounds I’d be delighted to permanently shed. After a certain age, that can be a deceptively challenging task and the desire to work with a trainer took hold. I’d heard about the professionalism at Prescriptions for Fitness, now in its 15th year, and so I asked owner Scott Reilly if I could experience Prescriptions and report for Inside Chappaqua. After 15, one hour sessions working with Derek– following a session with Scott too– I’m happy to be seeing and feeling a difference, and my friends and family are too!
I wanted to train in town and so appreciated the new digs in an attractive house at the top of Maple at 255 King Street. According to Scott, whose motto is “getting Chappaqua fit: one client at a time,” my desire for convenience was hardly unusual. “We have a lot of clients “on the go” who also choose Prescriptions for its “expertise and targeted training.
“We personalize workouts to meet the high standards of professional, educated individuals in the area,” he continued. “ We also work with kids and teams, so naturally the goals and training for a 17 year old hockey player is going to be very different from a 50 year old man with cardiovascular issues!”
The hour-long sessions combine cardio with circuit training which has been deemed the most efficient way to burn fat optimally. “For maximum results, we encourage clients to get as many ‘reps’ in with each portion of the circuit, with a limited rest, before repeating or moving on to the next part of the circuit. We alternate reps with cardio activities.”
Moving Past Plateaus
A key challenge in successful workouts is plowing past “plateaus.” That’s when you are, say, five to ten pounds short of achieving a goal but can’t seem to get any more mileage out of a workout. “If you give your body new and different challenges,” Scott says, “it will propel you out of your comfort zone so that you can get ever more strong and fit.”
Scott has been training clients in physical fitness since high school when he was captain of the varsity wrestling team at John Jay High School. He went on to eventually manage a string of Gold’s Gyms before opening up Prescriptions for Fitness in Chappaqua, at its first location, 15 years ago. He is married to Lyn Reilly, who sells real estate in Newtown, CT. Their two daughters, Jillian, 8 and and Devyn, 4, are both avid dancers.
Many Prescriptions clients have trained there for a decade or longer and avidly attest to positive results. Chappaqua regular Paul Jenkel said he joined Prescriptions after watching his wife Barbara’s health profile literally transform from her workouts there. She had come to Prescriptions following a cancer scare and an osteoporosis diagnosis. Training two or three times a week with intense cardio and weight bearing exercises reversed her diagnosis. Another client, Chuck Rockefeller, has improved his golf game and overall fitness “tremendously” via a multidisciplinary golf clinic Scott set up at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club. “We are one of the only facilities in Westchester with Titleist golf performance Institute certified trainers who will evaluate and design an exercise program tailored specifically to your individual golf game,” explains Scott.
Scott is never surprised by the transformations he witnesses but always proud to be of service. Fitness goals, he says, are “a journey…you want to move forward, not backwards. There’s no easy way to lose weight and keep it off permanently without a commitment to regular exercise and training too, particularly as you hit middle age and those upper baby boom years. When you get in better shape, you feel and think and sleep better and you naturally make better food choices too.” With the holidays behind all of us, training this winter might just be the perfect time to give optimal health a try. For more info, visit www.prescriptionsforfitness.net.
Grace Bennett is the Publisher and Editor of Inside Chappaqua Magazine. Shutterbug Isabel Greenberg is a sophomore at Horace Greeley High School
