From the Editor’s Desk
We’re into fitness at Johnstown Magazine
Fitness stuff into one big issue!
The dictionary defines “an embarrassment of riches” as an overabundance of something or “too much of a good thing” – having so much material it is difficult to know where to place it. Apparently, it traces back to a play written in France in 1726 called L’Embarras des richesses.
I don’t know about the French in the 17th Century but I do know about the Johnstown area circa late 2022 and early 2023 and what we have in this edition certainly fits that description.
Back in December and then into early January, we asked our readers to send us some photos and some material that defined (see what I did there with the double reference?) what “health and fitness” look like. With two social media posts, we put the word out that we were looking for images that depicted being fit, being well, and being healthy. And we were simply inundated. I personally had some time off to cash in at the end of last year and when I came back, my email inbox was full of entries. I am sure this much attention had not been paid to emails since Hillary in 2016. It was a daunting task, sifting through each one and trying to find the ones that best represented health, fitness and wellness in this region of Pennsylvania.
It’s safe to say you take your health seriously and you’re proud of your accomplishments. Maybe it was because we asked when everyone was hitting the gym and keeping resolutions, but we literally had – by the literal definition – an embarrassment of riches.
We ended up having to edit the submissions down to what we started calling the “Fit 50” and then the moniker stuck so well we decided to run with it as the headline for the story. We tried as best as we could to make sure that each person, each gym, each trainer, each amateur and professional photographer who sent us something was represented at least once. And so we have photos that feature bodybuilding, weight lifting, running, biking, swimming, boxing, skydiving, hiking, and even yoga. All submitted by you!
I joked with our publisher, Chip and designer, Caroline, that Sports Illustrated has its Swimsuit Edition and ESPN Magazine has its Body Issue and now Johnstown Magazine has its own Health and Wellness Edition. You’ll see when you look at the photo gallery contained inside. The photos are a great representation of every age, race, and sex. And to be honest, some of them are just downright intimidating. We hope they can serve as inspiration but we also hope they represent a nice cross section of the community that puts staying fit at the top of their lists.
This being a health and wellness edition, we also have features on what healthier foods you could be introducing into your nutrition plan and how laughter really is good for you – physically and mentally. Our local health care professionals have been put through the ringer these last few years and so we are also offering a story on “Medical Burnout” – what it is and how to spot it and more importantly how to treat it. We have a great story on one of the longest locally owned pharmacies and we are taking a closer look at the history of our area health care facilities. You might be surprised to learn how they all rank on the national level.
If for anything else, if all this edition does is raise your heartbeat a little and gets you off the sofa to eat better, exercise more, and be more aware of your health, we’ve done our job.
My thanks to all of the individuals and photographers who submitted material for this issue. You made my job très facile et pourtant très difficile this month.
Going into the rest of 2023, why not recalculate your GPS for the road to recovery ahead? Consider this edition of Johnstown Magazine your suggested traveling companion.
Here’s to our health!
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