Phil Castle, The Business Times

Crossroads Fitness kicks off the new year with a challenge designed to not only promote health and fitness, but also help participants stick to their resolutions.

“We’re just getting people to engage in healthy activities, to create consistency in their workouts,” said Paula Reece, who operates the Grand Junction health club with her husband, Dale, and serves as marketing director.

The challenge also fits with the overall mission at Crossroads to make health and fitness a life-long endeavor, Paula Reece said. “This is just one of the steps in the journey, the first step of the journey.”

Free to Crossroads members, the six-week challenge billed as promoting “the best you” encourages people to participate in a variety of activities, including workouts, group training sessions and seminars on such topics as nutrition and setting goals. Since weight loss ranks among the top New Year’s resolutions, the challenge also offers that option, Reece said.

In the process, participants earn points that qualify them to win such prizes as backpacks, t-shirts and water bottles. The challenge is flexible in that members try different activities and engage in the ones they enjoy. But the challenge also incorporates some of the fundamental elements of success in that it involves specific activities, tracks results and holds people accountable, she said. Participants are expected to log their activities every day and receive a reminder if they don’t.

While the first period for the challenge is under way, the second period is scheduled to start Jan. 25.

Crossroads Fitness operates downtown and airport locations in Grand Junction with a total staff of nearly 130 full- and part-time employees.

The club offers a wide variety of equipment to build strength and cardiovascular fitness as well as a range of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning group classes, Reece said.

One of the new cycling classes uses videos to create virtual rides along local mountain bike trails. Other new classes feature high-intensity interval training,
non-contact boxing and dance-inspired exercise with music from the 1970s and 1980s.

One of the chief benefits of joining Crossroads Fitness, Reece said, is the emphasis at the club on making members feel welcome, promoting their sense of belonging and making sure they’re not alone in pursuing their goals. “We really do care about the people who come here.”

A combination of constantly changing to keep pace with new trends and technology and an unchanging  commitment to customer service has worked well for a business that soon will mark 30 years in operation, Reece said. “It’s our passion. It’s our love.”

Crossroads Fitness operates locations at 225 N. Fifth St. and 2768 Compass Drive in Grand Junction. For more information, log on to www.crossroadsfitness.com.