Instead of bolstering fad diets or extreme workout regimens, one Pickerington business is focusing on nutritional programs backed by scientific research to provide general health and wellness tips to its clientele.
Max Muscle Central Ohio, which opened roughly a year and a half ago at its location on Clint Drive, offers customizable nutrition plans to help clients achieve their fitness goals. The plans are based on a wide range of components, including gender, age, daily schedule, activity level and food preferences. Numbers such as weight and body fat percentage are assessed in-store and factored in as well.
“I don’t get focused so much on the body mass index,” says owner Nate Williams. “We focus more on body fat percentage. That really defines … what’s healthy.”
After a client’s body fat percentage is determined, a certified fitness nutrition coach calculates the best combination of nutrients for the individual at hand. It’s a process that Williams says yields a unique result for each client.
“There’s no ‘one size fits all;’ no one does the same thing,” says Williams.
For instance, runners may have higher amounts of protein in their plans, as that’s what repairs muscles. Similarly, endurance athletes burn a lot of carbohydrates, so enough carbohydrates must be consumed to replenish what is lost.
Plans have also benefited clients who just want to keep themselves and their families healthy. Melissa McNeely, a former resident of Pickerington, has been a faithful client of Max Muscle for more than a year. She says one thing Max Muscle has taught her is to prepare more healthful meals for herself and her three children.
“Stuff that you would normally feed the kids, I’ve learned a healthier way to do it,” says McNeely. “Because when you’re limited on time, it’s funny how you end up eating what your kids do.”
Williams also provides information on nutritional supplements. Too many people misunderstand the purpose of supplements, he says, so he works hard to educate his clients on how to use them – and whether they need them at all.
“There’s a lot of mass and misinformation about nutrition,” says Williams. “There’s a lot of supplement information out there and it’s just a matter of trying to figure out fact from fiction.”
McNeely agrees that finding the facts can be a difficult task.
“It was like everything I read in magazines, I believed,” says McNeely. “But I found out that that’s not necessarily the truth.”
Though each nutritional plan is unique, all plans bear one aspect in common: an approach intended to prepare customers to make realistic, long-term lifestyle changes.
“It’s very customized on coaching, so after the program’s over with, it’s actually maintainable,” says Williams.
This January, Williams also opened a fitness facility, Fuel Fitness Training, directly next door to Max Muscle. Members have 24-hour access to the facility, but non-member clients can train with Williams during scheduled sessions.
Rose Davidson is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Recipe
Protein Pancake
Ingredients:
1 scoop MaxPro Vanilla Protein Powder ¾ small banana (mashed or blended) 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 large egg white
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together until mixture resembles pancake batter. Add water if it appears too thick or powdery.
Pour batter onto a skillet on medium low heat and cook for two minutes on both sides. Be careful, as the banana can burn quickly.
Pancake can be eaten plain or topped with butter spray or fruit. Enjoy.
