Local Gym Seeks To Transform Bodies and Lives

Michael Stephens has challenged Five Towners to change their lives, one pound at a time.

For the next nine weeks, Stephens, a health and fitness expert and owner of in Woodmere, will put residents to task to make exercise and proper nutrition a top priority in their daily lives with his first ever “Your Best Body Challenge.”

Stephens, who has privately owned and operated the gym for nine years, is passionate about creating a more health-conscious society with a focus not so much on weight loss but rather lifestyle transformations.

“My primary goal is to help create a healthier Five Towns community through heightening the awareness of nutrition and exercise,” Stephens said.

The body transformation program, which started on Sunday, will not only benefit participants, Stephens said, but half of its proceeds will go to local cancer patients of the 1in9 Hewlett House. 

"I was delighted when Michael Stephens came to me with this idea," said Geri Barish, executive director of the Hewlett House. "We love this community and it is always about serving those in need. This has been a blessing in disguise."

Stephens admits that his inspiration behind starting this challenge came from the popular TV show “The Biggest Loser.” The show's concept of accountability among contestants appealed to Stephens as he tried to find a program that would keep his clients motivated and interested.

In his efforts to encourage and mirror this “accountability,” Stephens has created a 26-page step-by-step guide to reshaping your body, detailing specific exercise regimes, nutrition guidelines, results tracking worksheets and assessment checklists for his participants.

“This guide will serve as a blueprint for their success,” Stephens said.

Like many of the nearly 70 Five Towns residents registered for the challenge, Rosemary Tejeda, a hair dresser from Cedarhurst, admits to signing up not only to transform her body, but to hopefully help transform the life of a cancer patient. Tejeda cuts hair for cancer patients in South Nassau Communities Hospital and wanted to do something to give back.

“Although I want to be healthier, my main reason for doing this challenge is to help people who are less fortunate and are always fighting for their lives…those that are not given a choice.” Tejeda said.

Laurie Mostafiz, of Hewlett, also felt the need to do double duty when signing up. “It is a worthy cause, a good thing to do,” Mostafiz said. “I want to help them, and I also want to help myself."

While paying the $29 fee is not required to participate in the challenge, Stephens said he hopes that ultimately everyone would get involved since it is going towards charity.

All participants of the “Your Best Body Challenge” are eligible for $2,500 worth of prizes that includes a Precor Stretch Trainer machine for first place, a one-night hotel stay at Allegria Hotel in Long Beach for second place and home gym equipment courtesy of Gym Source for third place. Both a male and female winner will be picked from each of the three categories based on who has made the biggest transformation in lifestyle and size or inches when comparing before and after pictures and measurements.

The group meets every three weeks to track progress and weigh in.

Stephens has opened several classes on Sundays free to all participants of the program. A 50-minute overall body boot camp, a Latin dance-based Zumba class and a one hour TRX (total resistance exercise) class that uses straps anchored and  suspended from the ceiling. The straps force the body to work twice as hard on its own without the help of equipment, displacing the center of gravity, Stephens said.

The “Your Best Body Challenge” is open to the entire community, ages 15 and up, who want to be healthier and make a positive change in their life.

“We live in a society where individuals are extremely obese. If I can extend my knowledge and help people, then that’s what I am in the business of doing," Stephens said. "As long as you empower your body, you empower everything else.”