Westmeath's Fittest Company meets Keith Duffy

Maurice and Lucy Looby had the pleasure of meeting with Keith Duffy to promote their event: Westmeath's Fittest Company in association with Irish Autism Action.

Keith, who is an avid fitness fan, has pledged his support of the event, which is to be held on Saturday April 26 in Columb Army Barracks, Mullingar.

Half way into the training schedule for Westmeath's Fittest Company has seen some remarkable improvements in competitors fitness levels.

With 6 weeks of training completed we are starting to get an idea where the individual team members strengths and weaknesses lie.

The competition has been devised with the 5 central components of fitness in mind: Cardio-vascular endurance, muscular endurance, flexibility, absolute strength, and power (or strength + speed).

There are also some aspects of skill involved. Each team member chooses 2 events to compete in. With 6 on each team , this will make up the total of 12 events.

Over the last 3 weeks the teams have been trying out some of the events. One of these is Press Ups.

Timed over a minute, the object is simple: do as many as you can. Some impressive scores were seen here with two men scoring over 70, and three of the ladies getting over 60!

Team members were from Whelehans Pharmacy, Westmeath County Council, D & N Electrical, and KIDS Creche, Killucan. Mergon International put in some high scores also.

Tricep dips (on a bench or tractor tyre) were also timed over a minute as were sit-ups, with scores for the dips coming in at 60-70+ and sit-ups at 40-45; for the men AND ladies!

With 6 weeks of training left all lot can happen over that period of time!!

On the fundraising front, it was great to have Niall Murphy from Irish Autism Action along to our most recent training session to explain a bit about the history of IAA and where the much needed funds will go.

To make it a bit more interesting Profiles Hair Design of Mullingar have kindly donated a €200 voucher to be awarded to the INDIVIDUAL who raises the most money on his or her sponsorship card.

Include this with a prize of 60 fitness classes with Maurice Looby Fitness for the TEAM that raises the most money, and the stakes are rising.

For further information on the event, or training sessions check out Maurice Looby Fitness Facebook page, or log on to www.autismireland.ie