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Fitness training combines faith, support, nutrition and exercise

Photo Provided A Temple Challenge group at the Wellness Center at Camden Clark Medical Center is put through an exercise routine. The Temple Challenge has grown to eight sites in the area.

PARKERSBURG — An exercise program created by a local fitness expert has grown in the three years since she established it.

Stacy Houser’s Temple Challenge incorporates faith, support and nutrition and exercise.

“Support is one of the main reasons Temple Challenge has been so successful,” Houser said.

Going into its fourth year, the Temple Challenge started at one site in Parkersburg and has expanded to eight locations in the region, she said.

“It’s a franchise now,” Houser said.

Photo Provided Participants in the Temple Challenge are put through a physical fitness regimen.

Programs, led by different fitness trainers, are held at the E.L.I.T.E. Center in Parkersburg, the Victory Baptist Church in Ripley, Doddridge County High School, the Elizabeth Baptist Church in Wirt County, Ritchie County High School, Mountain River Physical Therapy in Vienna, the St. Marys Fitness Center and the Camden Clark Wellness Center.

Hours and schedule vary, but participants can join at any time, she said. The website is thetemplechallenge.com.

Among the trainers are Kim Poling, Chris and Lori Wells, Becky Marshall and Stephanie Bauman. Classes are $5 for a single session; however, multi-week packages are available.

Houser’s undergraduate degree was in kinesiology from the University of Maryland. Her graduate degree was from Ohio University in sports science.

She is the daughter of Mark and Cathy Houser. Mark is the pastor at the Community Baptist Church and her mother works at United Bank.

Photo Provided Stacy Houser

The basis of the Temple Challenge is 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”

The Temple Challenge is a multi-week regimen stressing cardiovascular and strength training, core exercises and flexibility, Houser said.

“Obviously, you’re going to challenge that temple,” she said.

Participants are of all ages, from senior citizens to young children who have different goals, whether it be improved conditioning or losing weight, Houser said.

“You never do the same workout twice,” said Houser.

Photo Provided Two participants in the Temple Challenge program climb a rope.

In the beginning, mostly women were in the Temple Challenge. That has changed, Houser said.

“There’s a lot more men than there used to be,” she said.

About 100 people participated in the first year the Temple Challenge was started, Houser said. Today more than 1,000 people are in the program requiring it to expand to other sites, she said.

“It kept growing, growing and growing,” Houser said.

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