Health & Fitness

PROFILE

At A
Steady
Clip

Investment adviser
helps others spin
to stay in shape.

Jon Citrin teaches spinning at

the Beverly Hills Club.

Robin Schwartz
.
Special to the Jewish News

L

ife spins at a pretty fast
pace for Jonathan Citrin,
30, of Birmingham, and
the young business owner seems
to like it that way.
When he's not running his
small investment-advising firm,
the Citrin Group in Southfield,
or training to run marathons,
Citrin is teaching a popular spin-
ning class at the Beverly Hills
Club. He's been teaching spin-
ning at the club on
Southfield Road in
Beverly Hills since
2001 and his hour-
long classes are guar-
anteed to get your
heart pumping.
"Usually, the first
10 minutes is a
warm-up and the
last five minutes is
a cool-down," Citrin
said. "So you really
have 45 minutes of
intense work:'
Spinning is done
on a stationary
bicycle. The resis- -
tance on the bike can
be adjusted to make
the workout more
or less challenging.
Throughout the class,
Citrin instructs rid-

ers to increase or decrease the
resistance to simulate activities
like climbing hills, sprinting,
or riding at a steady pace. The
whole routine is set to upbeat
music, which Citrin records on
CDs at home — a process that
often takes him several hours.
"It's a mood thing," he said.
"Sometimes on a Saturday
evening, I'm in a rock-and-roll
mood; sometimes, I'm in a hip-
hop mood. I draw from my ath-
letic background and things that
have motivated me."

Citrin never uses the same CD
twice. He constantly changes the
music and mixes things up, so
the workouts stay fresh. In a way,
that's how he found spinning
in the first place. A former col-
lege basketball player at Tulane
University in New Orleans, Citrin
was trying to keep his own work-
outs fresh.
After graduation in 1998, he
was looking for anew sport to
help him remain active when he
homed in on triathlons (races
that include running, cycling and
swimming). Citrin took up
spinning to train for the bik-
ing portion of the events and
quickly decided he'd rather
teach the classes.
"It's an outlet — exercise
for me is a stress reliever:'
Citrin said. "For me, it's more
than just spinning, it's part of
my life.".
Exercising in general is a
big part of Citrin's life. He
runs an average of 10 miles
a day and is training for the
New York City marathon Nov.
5. His routine involves map-
ping out his running route
the night before and hiding
water bottles in the bushes
along the way. Then, when
he runs, he's able to stay

Jon Citrin: "It's an out-

let — exercise for me is a

stress reliever."

hydrated without stopping. Citrin
also has a charitable spin to his
personality. When he runs in the
marathon, he'll be raising money
for the New York Road Runners
Foundation Team for Kids. The
foundation provides fitness pro-
grams for thousands of children
in low-income communities to
promote good nutrition and help
fight childhood obesity
"It's his passion; he's obvi-
ously in great shape said one
of his students, Matt Shane of
Birmingham.
"You need to take a class from
someone with that type of pas-
sion. He motivates people to
work a little bit harder."
Shane said on Sunday morn-
ings, people arrive at the club as
early as half an hour before the
7:45 a.m. start time for Citrin's
spinning class — just to get a
bike. He said the same thing hap-
pens on Thursday nights.
Up to 40 students can fit in the
club's spinning room overlook-
ing the gym. For those who don't
have his athletic background,
Citrin insists you can go at your
own pace. He says his main
goal is for people to have fun so
they don't even realize how hard
they're exercising.
"If the time goes by fast and
people look up and they can't
believe the hour went by so
quickly, then I know I've done my

job:' Citrin said. "It's absolutely go
at your own pace he added. "You
don't have to stay for the whole
hour — I always encourage
people to just give it a try."

❑

Classes: At 7:45 a.m.
Sundays and 6 p.m.
Thursdays
Age range of clients:
18-60
Workout Fees: Citrin's
spinning classes are free
for members of the Beverly
Hills Club. If you're not a
member but are interested
in trying a class, call the
club, (248) 642-8500, and
ask for Diane Peurach at
extension 223.
Jewish communal
involvement: Citrin serves
on the executive committee
of the Young Adult Division
of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit. He
also chairs YAD's Above
and Beyond program, which
allows the young adult
community to decide where
certain funds are allocated.
Contact information:
E-mail Jon at
jcitrin@citringroup.com.

August 31. 2006

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