Here’s how the team at MaxStrength can help you improve strength and balance and avoid a fall

By Patricia Nugent

For the roughly one in four seniors who experience a fall each year, the statistics are certainly cause for alarm. Falling once doubles your chance of falling again, and falls are the leading cause of injury and injury-related death in adults over 65.

But there is a ray of sunshine peering through the doom and gloom. Two of the most common reasons that precipitate a fall—lower body weakness and difficulty with balance—are 100 percent addressable and preventable.

Founded by Jeff Tomaszewski, locally owned MaxStrength Fitness studios are designed to build strength, increase and preserve muscle mass, as well as build bone density, flexibility and balance.

The concept is centered on two weekly, trainer-led, 20-minute sessions on specialized resistance equipment to fatigue muscles so they can rebuild between sessions.

Meet Jeffrey Lietch
At age 70, Jeff Lietch is a testimony to overcoming obstacles.

Diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 19, while a freshman at the University of Virginia, he had to move home and undergo treatment and surgery that left him with a fused right leg, unbendable at the knee.

After reading a story about MaxStrength in Mimi magazine, in March of 2022, he decided to take a visit to the studio and see if it “lived up to the hype.” Turns out, it did.

“The trainers are great listeners. Everything is adapted to my challenges,” he says. “I feel healthier physically and emotionally. Everyone has foibles and limitations to face in life. The key is to find a way to get past them.”

In January of this year, he suffered a nasty fall and tore his quad tendon.

“At this point in the story, I have not one, but two legs that cannot bend. I am basically the Tin Man,” he says, laughing. “I think when the trainers saw me come back after the fall, they wanted to walk the other way. I’m kidding. These guys are true professionals and not afraid to tweak any workout to help me get stronger. They are creative and totally committed. I feel like we are in this together.”

He says the slow, isometric movements have helped strengthen his upper body and core, while keeping his lower body from losing muscle while he goes through physical therapy to address the newly injured leg.

“My flexibility and balance are improved, too, which is important,” says Jeff, who is an avid golfer, and as president of his family’s company, Cook-Leitch Inc., shows no signs of slowing down.

MaxStrength Fitness is located at 4212 State Route 306 in Willoughby. Call 440-226-8080 and at 2211 Crocker Road in Westlake, 440-835-9090 or for more information or to view more testimonials, visit MaxStrengthFitness.com.