In a grand opening and ribbon cutting on Friday evening, there were many smiles and rows of fitness equipment where a vacant building used to be. Fitness Factory Training Sytems is officially open for business. A pair of husband and wife teams, Allen and Lisa Antonelli joined by JP and Brittany Pocock are personal trainers and instructors who are looking to bring a new brand of fitness options to the downtown area.
Lisa Antonelli notes that not only is the facility new, but the company has rebranded as well from Antonelli’s Fitness Systems to Fitness Factory Training Facility. The new brand holds four businesses within it: Fight Farm, CrossFit Katana, Outlaw Barbell, Antonelli’s Training. The four businesses specialize in mixed martial arts, cross-fit training, strength and conditioning, and weight loss and menu planning respectively.
The new space’s exposed brick walls, large glass windows, and neat rows of generously spaced equipment make for an atmosphere designed around the individual. That’s exactly what happens when prospective customers come along.
“First, we sit down with them and ask them where their goals are. Because we have four different businesses working here, I don’t know where they are going to fit at first,” she continued, saying the goal is to get to know the client, “Usually that’s an hour conversation: finding out what their goals are, we ask them how hard they want work, if they’ve had injuries.” She went on to say how the Fitness Factory works to tailor specific plans and transitions to personal abilities and goals.
Pricing plans are also individualized, Lisa Antonelli described the pricing as al la carte, with varying time periods and selections. Plans can range from a standard gym membership to classes to an individualized training program.
Allen Antonelli emphasized the importance of finding an individual emphasis, “Somebody can come here, find their niche and have fun with it. That’s really the next part of fitness. Most of the time, honestly, fitness sucks. So if you can’t have fun with it, you can’t succeed,” the trainer noted
Even the classes have an individual focus, JP Pocock, a competitor and coach in martial arts for 18 years, teaches martial arts and cross-fit training.
He also noted that at the facility noted that the classes are designed to go beyond a difficult workout and that those classes can be scaled based on individual skill levels.
“I think with CrossFit, the vibe I get from everybody is that they’re really excited about getting instruction and technique,” he said, “I get people telling me ‘Oh, wow! I learned so much!’ or ‘I never knew all that.'”
The new facility is just a few hundred feet from 14 West Fourth to 67 N. Main Street where the Antonelli’s operated as Antonelli’s Personal Training Systems.
Allen Antonelli noted the business moved due to a need for more space. That, says Mayor Tim Theaker, is what makes Antonelli’s a good business story.
“It’s great for business to come downtown, but it even shows more for Antonelli’s is that they moved from one building that was a nice size for them and they grew. And when they outgrew their other building, they moved into a larger building,” said the mayor, shortly after cutting the ribbon for the new facility, “That shows even more that downtown is ready for more businesses to come and to grow.
And the story is not over just yet, Allen Antonelli noted that they still have the facility over on West Fourth Street and have plans to repurpose the space in the future as a children’s fitness center as early as 2014.
