Walking by the Leaning Tower in Pisa, Italy
In mid-February 2015, my travels took me on a speaking tour through Italy. I was there with my good friend Mike Alpert, who is President and CEO of the Claremont Club. The Claremont Club is a beautiful Fitness Club in Claremont, California. Mike has had a vision to transform the club into a place that promotes health and wellness. To achieve that, he has developed amazing programs to help patients suffering with chronic illness and injury, such as those with Parkinson’s disease, cancer and spinal cord injury. Mike and I were invited to Italy to give a series of lectures to various groups of owners and operators of health clubs throughout the country on the health benefits of exercise and how it is prescribed at the Claremont Club.
We flew into Rome from Los Angeles and then drove to the coastal city of Tortoreto, where we spoke with various club owners. From there we went back to Rome for more lectures and sight-seeing. Rome is one of my favorite cities in the world because it is so much fun to walk there. From Rome, we traveled north to the beautiful city of Lucca for more lectures. Lucca is a wonderful city that is surrounded by a 30 foot wall and is only about 20 miles from Pisa, which we also visited to see the Leaning Tower. From there we drove to Bologna to give the keynote address at the Forum Congress, which is the biggest meeting for the Health Club industry in Italy. It was fun to meet new friends and see many of the wonderful sights that Italy has to offer.
It was also fun to speak to groups of people from the fitness industry. And like always, we all agreed on the importance of exercise to health and the desire to help people get moving. Whether you like to walk on a treadmill at the gym or around your neighborhood or city, you can be assured that daily walking is the single best thing you can do to improve and maintain your health. All you need are some comfortable clothes and a good pair of shoes to enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures – a good walk.
Walking with Mike Alpert at the Spanish Steps in Rome
So I thank you for reading this blog and I hope you are getting the walking you need to stay healthy and happy.
Keep on Walking!
Bob
