Wounded Warrior Project Empowers Veterans to Reach Fitness Goals
Physical Health and Wellness Expo Connects Warriors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 18, 2017) – With the onset of a new year comes a renewed desire to get healthy and stay active. To help injured veterans in the Jacksonville area with their resolutions, Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) recently hosted a physical health and wellness expo focusing on nutrition and physical fitness training.
Participants at the event enjoyed yoga, weight training, seminars on healthy eating, and TRX (Total Body Resistance Exercise) training. The resistance training was a highlight for Navy veteran Geraldine Manalo Forbis.
“TRX was far and away my favorite workout,” she said. “Coming into this event, I was nervous about being in good enough shape because I haven’t had a hard workout in years. But I walked away feeling accomplished and ready to do more in the future.”
To emphasize the importance of overall lifestyle changes to improve health, participants also learned about the basics of proper nutrition and maintaining healthy habits. The seminars were hosted in a casual setting, offering warriors a chance to ask questions and chat with staff about their health concerns.
“I was really impressed with the communication from Wounded Warrior Project staff members,” Geraldine said. “They were very knowledgeable about health, fitness, and nutrition, and I'm grateful they took the time to make sure we understood what we were doing and what we learned.”
The fitness programs for veterans were available to all fitness levels, and coaches offered technique modifications to make sure warriors’ needs were met – no matter where they were in their recoveries. Geraldine felt encouraged as she saw warriors helping one another stay motivated.
“Gathering with warriors – especially from different services – who struggle with some of the same difficulties allowed me to feel like I was on a team again and that I could lean on others to raise me up when I'm down,” Geraldine said.
WWP veteran support program events support the long-term recovery needs of warriors by reintroducing them and their families to the unique bonds experienced during military service. In a WWP survey of the injured warriors it serves, more than half of survey respondents (51.7 percent) talked with fellow Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Operation New Dawn veterans to address their mental health issues, and 29.6 percent expressed physical activity helps.
After the training, there was one more surprise for Geraldine and the other warriors to help them maintain their physical fitness goals.
“They gave us a mini TRX gym to take home, so I can conveniently work out at home or even if I travel,” she explained. “Because I have kids, it's hard for me to go to a gym, so this little piece of equipment allows me to stay active. Wounded Warrior Project showed me I can take the lead in reaching my fitness goals and introduced me to others in my area who I can work with to stay accountable and motivated.”
WWP offers a variety of programs and services that assist injured veterans with mental health, physical health and wellness, career and benefits counseling, and connecting with other warriors and their communities. Generous donors make it possible for wounded warriors to take part in outreach activities and benefit from program resources at no cost to them.
To find photos from this event, click on multimedia, then images.
Contact: Mattison Brooks – Public Relations Specialist
Email: MBrooks@woundedwarriorproject.org
Phone: 904.646.6897
About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at https://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org.