MERIAM
MATTHEWS BIOGRAPHYMeriam Matthews in workout gear, age 53Meriam Matthews was 53 when this photograph was taken. She is now, as of the Summer of 1998, almost 57 years old and in better shape than ever. She is the owner of Island Fitness Studio outside Charleston, South Carolina. Her lovely upscale Studio has been successfully operating since 1990 and has a broad range of classes spanning the spectrum from Yoga and Barefoot Workouts to the more strenuous AST (Aerobic Strength-Training) workouts, which she created. It uses a Step, a BodyBar and small hand weights, although it is adjustable to suit various fitness levels and ages. The main function of AST is to do aerobic exercise CONCURRENT with strength-training; by slowing the pace of the workout, weights + aerobics can be safely combined. In this way, the exerciser doesn't have to first do the aerobic segment, then the strength-training segment - it can be done all at once.
Meriam is an ACE-certifed Group
Fitness Instructor with 20 years of experience in all types of fitness
regimens. Having eschewed all high-impact formats long ago, she, like many
mainstream professionals, believes in the total integration of body fitness
with tranquility of mind and stress reduction. Meriam and her husband of
25 years and a Dachshund, threeBurmese cat littermates and one neurotic
Siamese male, live on a resort island in South Carolina, only a few miles
from her Studio.
Jack Matthews, Meriam's husband, is the local Municipal Judge. He's a retired attorney from Washington, D.C. who has found heaven collecting antique World War II toy soldiers and memorabilia (he wrote "Toys Go To War", available at Amazon Books), writing, reading history of World War II and just about every other subject, and he joins Meriam in her fitness endeavors - he does more than an hour daily of power-walking on our island's lovely beaches while she teaches classes in her Studio.
Fitness and regular exercise has made Meriam's legs shapely. She's proud of them and the work she did to get them to look good. Exercises for the lower body are important for strong, firm, attractive legs and for functional lower body strength as one ages.
Admittedly, Meriam's genes suggest that she leans toward thinner thighs, although if she did not watch her weight, her legs, as well as the rest of her, would blimp up. Like many women and men, her abdominals and weight control are her real problems! That is the reason for this website - to promote a flatter abdomen, narrower waistlines and overall fitness. Please take advantage of the other features of the site in addition to the abdominals exercises.
This photograph, taken impromptu
after teaching one of her classes (note the "attractive" socks), is a good
example of what lower-body work can do for the legs. Aside from the background,
the photo has not been doctored. It was necessary to doctor the background
in order to remove unwanted spots on the photograph.
As an ex-fat-person, Meriam can easily identify with those who are overfat and who want to lose weight and become fit. She has the "before" and "after" photographs to prove it.
CompuServe's Weight Management Forum, Section 11 ("The Fitness Studio") was created for Meriam so that she could pass on the Good News to everyone that fitness is for everyone regardless of age and fitness level. Although she is on hiatus from the forum for the time being, she does plan to return in the future but in the interim, the section is in good hands.
Meriam Matthews is the author of "Island Fitness", a monthly newspaper column in the "Palmetto Connection", her local newspaper. She is innovative and usually ahead of the curve as it pertains to new exercise methods of keeping fit, having found her own "inventions" subsequently adopted by some well-known professional fitness video presenters. She considers fitness and wellness for everyone to be her Mission before she dies, she states with a laugh.
Meriam Matthews can be reached
via e-mail MERIAM@concentric.net