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At one time, North
Philadelphia’s Golden Block (“El
Bloque de Oro”) neighborhood was
considered an eyesore, with its
abandoned buildings representing
the area’s blight. Today, it’s
turning into the city’s Latino
business district, vibrant with
colorful murals, new retail
shops, the Taller Puertorriqueño
art gallery—and it is also home
to the Watts Fitness Studio.
For Peter Watts, a native of
Puerto Rico, the Golden Block
was the perfect place for the
fitness studio he’d dreamt of
during his years of success as a
personal trainer in New York and
Philadelphia. He saw a strong
need for his plan: Philadelphia
consistently ranks as one of the
country’s “fattest cities.” That
statistic, coupled with the fact
that cardiovascular disease is
the No. 1 killer of Latinos
living in the United States,
told Watts that Philadelphia’s
Latinos were in big trouble when
it came to their health.
“There’s nothing around here.
The [Philadelphia] Latino
community needs more healthy
things ... besides a pizza shop
or bar. I’m here to make a
positive change,” says Watts.
Watts transformed a parking
garage on North Fifth Street at
Lehigh Avenue into a gathering
place for local Latinos, with a
welcoming tropical décor that
feels more like a salsa club
than a place to pump iron. It is
considered many things—a haven
and a place for emotional
healing. Just don’t call it a
gym. Watts prefers to call it a
fitness studio; a gym, he says,
is a place where puffed-up
bodies and egos might intimidate
people from joining. And, he
says, unlike what one might
experience at a gym, his focus
is on giving a lot of individual
attention. |
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PHOTO: Photo by © 2005
JupiterImages Corporation |
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Watts Fitness is affordable and
no contracts are required, which
enhances its appeal to low- and
moderate-income Latinos in the
area. It also boasts a
Spanish-speaking staff, a family
environment (children are
allowed to join in the fun), and
heart-pumping aerobic classes to
the beats of salsa, merengue,
and bachata. “I wanted to do
something different,” Watts
says. “I made the class[es]
fun.”
“A lot of Hispanic women come
here. ... They like the music,
and it gets them going,” says
Nataly Espada, 18, who had a
baby last November and is trying
to get in shape. She was about
to join another gym but was
leery of having to sign a
contract, especially since she
has plans to start school soon.
Then she heard about Watts
Fitness from her boyfriend’s
mother. In her first month and a
half of using the studio, she
lost three to four pounds.
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Regular exercise also has given
Espada much-needed energy to
care for her child. “I’m not
lazy anymore,” she says. “Now I
feel like I want to get up and
do something. ... If I wasn’t
here, I’d be in bed all day with
my baby.” |
Working out at the fitness
studio “gets me motivated,” says
Espada, who has also been
inspired by the stories of women
she’s met at the studio,
including one who told Espada
that her workout regimen had
helped her to lose 45 pounds.
Another Watts Fitness member,
Alma Rios, first learned about
the studio from Al Día, one of
Philadelphia’s Spanish-language
newspapers. She appreciates the
accepting environment at the
studio. “There’s no competition.
There [are] no Barbies here,”
she says. “[Peter] treats
everybody the same.” Rios says
her experience at Watts Fitness
is in sharp contrast to her
previous experience at a chain
gym. Before coming to Watts
Fitness, she’d almost lost hope.
“I tried everything. Nothing
worked,” Rios says.
She especially appreciates the
support she receives from the
studio’s staff—in particular,
that of Peter Watts. During her
second week at the studio, Rios
says, she slipped from her new
healthy lifestyle and had dinner
at McDonald’s. “[I] went home
and threw up,” Rios says. “I was
so ashamed.” She confided in
Watts after the incident, and he
helped change her perspective by
telling her she shouldn’t dwell
on failing her goals. “It’s
about making small changes, and
then you can make the bigger
changes,” Rios says now. “Peter
said, ‘When you fall, you get
back up.’ I’ve been here ever
since.”
“A lot of Latinos don’t grow up
with [the concept of] fitness,”
says Watts. “Many have problems
with high blood pressure and
diabetes.” Coming to his studio,
Watts says, can be the first
step in changing one’s
outlook—and one’s life. “Now,
they take care of their diet and
their health is better. They
want to dress better, put makeup
on, go back to school,” he says.
“It’s like therapy for them.”
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With the health of the Latino
community in mind, Watts has
also teamed up with Congreso de
Latinos Unidos Women’s Center
and Albert Einstein Healthcare
Network to form the Un Corazón
Saludable program that educates
Latinas on cardiovascular
disease and on maintaining
overall good health.
With his sights set on the
future, Watts also travels to
elementary schools to teach
children about fitness and
taking care of their bodies to
instill
self-confidence—“especially
females so that they stay in
school and don’t get pregnant
[too young],” says Watts. He
encourages kids to check out the
studio by giving them free
passes. A few come in regularly,
including 11-year-old Karolyn
Mercado, who likes the
elliptical machine and doing
aerobics to reggae music.
Small but positive changes like
these, Watts says, are a crucial
step to the Latino community’s
taking control of its health.
It’s especially fitting that
Watts’ fitness dream has its
roots in the heart of the Latino
community in Philadelphia, the
city of brotherly love—in a
neighborhood that is gradually
building its own
self-confidence.
“I feel sexy even though ... my
clothes size isn’t small. I’m
just really happy,” says Rios.
“People think you live around
here and you’re deprived. It’s
not true. You just make the most
of it.” |
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