JCC Blog

BODYBUILDING 101: The Importance of Discipline and Diet

There are a lot of benefits to taking up bodybuilding but quick results are not one of them, at least not according to JCC trainers and veteran bodybuilders Yaakov Bar Am and Abbie Friedberg. The way Yaakov and Abbie tell it, bodybuilding requires tremendous self-discipline and meticulous nutrition, years of hard work to start getting the results you want, and even more hard work to maintain those results once they do start showing up.

“You have to want to do it,” Abbie says. “First and foremost, you have to have the drive to do it because it’s a huge commitment. It’s like with any sport: just to go through the motions of doing it, it won’t get you to where you need to be, you really need to have that drive to get up there and do it.”

At least during competition season, Abbie says the source for that drive is pretty simple: “I guess...

A Healthy Thanksgiving…is it possible?

From Amy Schwartz, Senior Director, Fitness and Wellness 

A cup of common sense, a few calorie-cutting tactics, and a newfound emphasis on family rather than food can add up to a healthy Thanksgiving.

Healthy Thanksgiving Meal Tips

1. Chicken Broth. Use it to moisten stuffing, baste the turkey, and braise pearl onions. Make your own or choose low-sodium canned broth.

2. Trim the fat from recipes and side dishes. Make simple switches…
- Roast the turkey on a rack so that the fat will drain off.
- Buy French baguettes for stuffing. They are made without fat or sugar.
- Roast, don’t boil, sweet potatoes to bring out their natural sweetness.
- Replace mashed potatoes with low-calorie squash.
- Flavor food with spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

3. Just Say...

The Shapiro Aquatics Park

40 Incredible Years

It’s probably not too much of an exaggeration to say that without the Shapiro Aquatics Park, there might not even be a Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC. The two institutions have been intertwined from the very beginning. In fact, the first outdoor pool in the Aquatics Park was actually built in 1977, one year before the rest of the JCC opened. In the ensuing 40 years, the Aquatics Park has been essential to growing the JCC’s membership, giving people some of their first jobs, and showcasing its commitment to fitness and families.

Ilene Heneson was with the JCC’s Teen Advisory Board when The Associated, the Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, decided to build a new JCC in Owings Mills and what at the time was known as the Shapiro Recreation Park. There certainly were other...

Revive Your Body, Revive Your Life

A Conversation with J Fitness Trainer Abbie Friedberg

J Fitness Trainer Abbie Friedberg made the decision to “change [her] world” in her early 30’s.

Abbie’s parents both passed away at young ages following  battles with cancer. Her mother fought  for fifteen years, her father for a little over a year.  The two passed just 15 months apart, her mother at 60; her father at 66.

This took a huge toll on Abbie, but it also catapulted her forward, mentally and physically.  Her mother, Abbie recounts, was a true survivor.  For 15 years, her mother stayed focused on attending all the important family milestones.

Abbie explains, “My mother lived from one event to the next. She said,  I want to...