During the summer turn a day at the park into a challenging and free workout

Text by Tamara Podry | Photography by Jim Wells

Put your gym membership on hold and get a killer workout while the kids play! Tamara Podry, Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Nutrition Specialist and co-owner of Anchor Fitness has developed a routine that will give you a full body blast. It’s fast, effective and it’ll leave you feeling energized and ready for more. Every parent at the park will be asking you where you learned these moves!

If you’ve ever used a TRX Suspension Trainer before, you know that it’s a great tool that provides an extremely effective and challenging workout. If you’ve never used one before, don’t worry, after trying this workout you’ll understand just how the suspension trainer improves muscle coordination, strength (especially in your core) and cardiorespiratory endurance. Tamara uses the TRX regularly with her clients and in her personal fitness pursuits. But, if you’re not ready to buy your own for $150+, try this playground workout for similar results.

By Hayley Leray

I often forget how relaxing fly fishing can be. Perhaps it’s because I don’t get to do it as often as I would like. I recently spent an early morning fly fishing the Smith River (I call it my “happy place”) …just me, the wind rustling through the trees, and the music of the dancing water. The truth is I find my strength through fly fishing. I’m not being dogmatic by any means but life is so cluttered with one daunting task after another that time for reflection or meditation is often cast to the wayside. Fly fishing offers a challenge of leaving the day-to-day demands behind and allowing nature to set the pace.

Text provided by Edward Jones

In recent months, stocks have fallen sharply from their record highs, with one-day drops that can rightfully be called “dizzying.” As an investor, what are you to make of this volatility?

• For one thing, you’ll find it useful to know the probable causes of the market gyrations. Most experts cite global fears about China’s economic slowdown, falling oil prices and anticipation of a move by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as the key factors behind the stock market’s decline.

• On the other hand, the U.S. economy is still doing fairly well. Employers are adding jobs at a pretty good clip, wages are rising, home prices are up and overall economic growth has been reasonably solid. In other words, we are in a vastly better place than in the period before the Great Recession of 2008 and early 2009, when the financial markets bottomed out.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

By: Dr. Steven Bailey, Benefis Heart & Vascular Institute

When someone hears the term “aneurysm,” they commonly think of the brain, but in reality aneurysms are most common in the aorta—the major blood vessel that supplies blood to the body and runs from your heart through the center of your chest and abdomen. While aneurysms can develop anywhere along the aorta, they most commonly form in the lower part, which is referred to as an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in an artery that can be caused by the strong force of blood pushing against a weakened or injured artery wall. As the aorta enlarges, it may weaken and begin to leak or in the most severe cases, rupture.

Great Falls US Postal Service City Carriers
Ranked No. 1 in Nation

Text by Mary Ellen Hendrickson | Photography by Jim Wells

While “rain, heat, hail, sleet and snow,” can apply to nearly every month in Great Falls, U.S. Postal Service city carriers cannot duck out on the job. Their perseverance, along with that of the assistant carriers and management, has recently earned them a number one spot in the nation.

Peter Nowacki, spokesman for the Postal Service explains that carriers across the nation are ranked, “in Lean Mail Delivery, a process that applies proven management principles to improve service performance and reduce operating costs.”

Photography by Jacqui Smith
Shot on location at Meadowlark Country Club – Great Falls, MT
Hair and Makeup by Studio Montage, Spray Tans by Glow to Go
Set Designer, Kristie Sotelo
Clothes provided by Scheels, Kaufmans, Sora & Co., The Boutique and Moda Amore