Second Wind Therapy & Wellness: Where health and community meet
By Amber Bonem | A new specialty gym providing personal fitness training has recently opened in Shell Point offering those afflicted with a variety of illnesses its own style of specialized therapy and training.
Jamie Wolf, owner of Second Wind, knows chronic illness better than most. Jamie’s loving husband has Parkinson’s and heart disease, her daughter has type 1 diabetes, and her father died from heart disease and Parkinson’s. She has seen first-hand the difficulties of dealing with chronic illness, the depression that can come with it and the frustration with the health care system. This experience has driven her to create a place where everyone is an athlete and they are more than just a number in the health care system.
Even though Second Wind helps a lot of people with chronic illness, don’t let that fool you – this is a place for people of all ages and abilities. This is still a gym where you can come in and use the boxing equipment, TRX straps or get personal training from highly trained staff. Jamie Wolf, Gary Engle, Mike Merrow and Amber Engle can help whether you are looking to lose weight to feel better, improve sports performance, mobility or just improve your quality of life. There are several classes available that are guaranteed to make you sweat.
Second Wind’s focus is to H.E.L.P. through Hope, Exercise, Learning and Pain Relief. Gary Engle, the Director of Exercise Physiology, said, “People walk through the door defeated, they come in and we give them hope.” They have a powerful way of restoring hope – through Rock Steady Boxing. Rock Steady Boxing is for people with Parkinson’s disease where they put on gloves and throw punches with both heavy and speed bags. These classes are offered at various levels but they all offer the same thing – where people get to take back control and feel powerful. Rock Steady Boxing has shown to help slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease and help regain some abilities that may have been lost through the disease.
Beyond the specialized equipment, group classes, and personal training, Second Wind offers something even more needed in the health community – community. Their facility was created with the concept of creating a place where people can hang out and be with like-minded people. There is a library, comfortable seating and coffee so people can learn and be with others. Linda, one of Second Wind’s athletes, says what keeps her coming back is, “…being in the same boat with other people. We get to help each other.”
They have some incredible athletes. If you ask Jamie about one of the most memorable moments she’s had since opening, she’ll tell you about Karl, aged 80. When he first came to Second Wind, he would come in in a wheelchair and take the Rock Steady Boxing class. On Jamie’s birthday, instead of rolling in, he walked in using a walker. It was such a major win for Karl…..and the greatest gift for Jamie. Experiences like this are the reason Jamie created Second Wind.
Whether you want to improve sports performance or improve the quality of your life, walk into Second Wind, tour the facility, they’ll let you try everything for free for the first 3 days, and then they’ll give you 25% off your first month of membership when you use code ESPB-SW. This gives you an opportunity to not only try it out but also experience the camaraderie and community they’ve built. All of the details have been thought of to create a safe, supportive place that no matter what…everyone is treated like an athlete.
In honor of November being Diabetes awareness month, Second Wind Wellness is offering FREE Fat-Blasting-Booty-Building Bootcamp training classes every Saturday beginning October 29th through November 19th . The classes will run at 8am and 11am and last a total of 30-40 minutes. These are fun, high-energy classes which combine high intensity interval training (HIIT) with active rest training for a metabolic-boosting, fat-burning workout guaranteed to burn more calories in less time than a traditional gym exercise. After each class, participants will be given goodies and tips to help them further succeed with their health goals.
Second Wind Therapy and Wellness is located at 864 Parris Island Gateway in Shell Point. Check them out on Facebook here and on the web at secondwindwellness.com
Amber is the owner of GoFlex Training, an in-home personal training service here in Beaufort. She’s a nationally accredited personal trainer through NASM and ACE. She specializes in training the 50+ crowd but loves training with all ages and abilities. Check out Amber and Go Flex Training on Facebook here.
