Funding pays for fitness trail fixes

Torrington Middle School

TORRINGTON — Ten additional grantfunded elements will be added to the Torrington Middle School World Class Fitness Trail this summer, thanks to the following organizations: $50,000 from the Robert Rosenheim Foundation, $5,000 from Wal Mart and $1,500 from Fit Together of Northwest CT.

Five grant funded and community supported fitness trail elements have successfully been installed at Torrington Middle School. The team held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 23 celebrate this healthy initiative.

Elements included pull up and push up stations, a hurdle, parallel bars and a trapeze rack. phase two will include: a boulder traverse, fitness overhead ladder, an (2) up and over, (2) vault, traverse wall, (3) high jump station.

This next phase will focus on core fitness, aerobic exercise, and balance/flexibility in order to achieve a higher level of fitness. More than 75 of health care spending is related to chronic diseases that are directly impacted by physical activity, nutrition, tobacco use, and other modifiable risk factors.

Research demonstrates that just one hour of physical activity each day can help reduce the risk of heart disease, help manage weight, and lower cholesterol, blood pressure, decrease risk of type 2 diabetes, and improve mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

The Community Fitness Trail Team has been hard at work over the last year to bring this dream of a healthier student population and community to life. Additional funding and volunteer support for the community build scheduled for this summer is still needed. Please contact TMS principal Bryan Olkowski at bolkowski@torrington.org or call 8604964050 for information or to contribute towards this community health initiative.