It’s the last day of spring – literally – as I write this. Summer is thankfully upon us. For many, myself included, it’s the pinnacle of the year, the ruler we use to measure our time on this planet, and our time left on it. It’s also, typically, a time for vacations, but not so much for us here at FI. We have a busy season scheduled, rolling out new programs, new apps, and overall more options for you to take advantage of.  But first things first: The Contest!

A Rite of Spring

The annual Spring Fitness Challenge  – once the Fantastic Four, now morphed into the Dynamic Duo – is the high-point of the spring calendar, We’ve been running this thing since 2009 – yep, 14 years – missing out only in 2020 for reasons that are painful to discuss. For many of those years, we ‘trial and errored’ many different formats and measuring methods to determine which team had reigned supreme. None were entirely satisfactory until we acquired the InBody Body Composition analyzer a few years back. It revolutionized our approach, letting us finally measure, with good accuracy, what we had been trying to encourage, with mixed success, all along: lose fat, and build lean muscle mass. It was never meant to be a “weight loss” contest, and now, thanks to the InBody, it’s not.

The results from the most recent event were outstanding. The group of participants and their trainers approached the challenge the right way, and nearly everyone that took part saw their body composition improve, in some cases dramatically. They dropped fat and maintained or added muscle – and that’s what it’s all about! Congratulations to all that took the plunge, and in particular, to this year’s victors, Christine Thayer and Kelly Rapoport, who are featured on the cover of this issue of Fit to Print.

Introducing FI Coach

There’s an entire article on this exciting, new program in this issue, so I won’t spend too much ink on it here other than to say it’s one of the most interesting things we’ve rolled out in a few years. We’re in the process of migrating to a new mobile app (more about that below), and one of the reasons we’re making that move is to gain access to the programming this new app allows. In a nutshell, it provides us with the capability to build custom workouts for you right on the app, including demo videos of the specific exercises, tracking of the workout, and two-way communication through the app with your trainer or, in this case, coach. I say coach because that’s the name we’ve bestowed upon a new program we’re rolling out this month called FI Coach. Personal Trainer and Strength Coach Sean Horan has been hard at work the past few weeks developing the first of what we hope will be several FI Coach offerings. Sean designed his program, which focuses on strength training, as a hybrid that combines the best of personal, in-person guidance and design with virtual, on-your-own training. It’s ideal for people who like to work out on their own, but would greatly appreciate and benefit from a well-designed, evolving program designed by a professional trainer.  We’re really excited about it, and we hope you will be too. You can read more about it right here.  And stay tuned for more, as we roll out additional FI Coach options in the coming months.

Speaking of the New App

I mentioned above that we’re in the process of migrating to a new mobile app. This is not a minor upgrade; this is an entirely new and massively more functional app. We brainstormed hard on what to call it and came up with the very original “FI+.”  I know – genius.

In addition to providing us with the platform on which to build things like FI Coach, it will also support better member communication, access to workouts, meal tracking, and diet plans while enhancing the check-in process. In fact, it’ll be a hands-free event, as the app will recognize when you’re at FI and just automatically check you in. Pretty cool. Booking classes is also a breeze, and it will automatically check you in for those, too. The app also fully integrates with a bunch of the most popular fitness wearables, like the Apple Watch, enabling it to automatically capture and record your activity level. Most impressive of all is the ability for enhanced communication with you, particularly if you enroll in a program like FI Coach, or work with a trainer using the app. (Some of you have already gotten a taste of this with our pilot “Trainerize” app program)

Our plan is to roll it out in early July, and completely phase out the old app by the end of the summer. You’ll be seeing a lot more about FI+ in the next few weeks, including instructions on when to download it from the app store. We hope you’re as excited about it as we are.

Don’t Forget…

The Summer Class Schedule goes into effect Monday, June 27^th.  It’s been updated on our app and website, so be sure to check it out before you depart to take your fav class.

New Face

We’re very happy to welcome Toni Tesoriere to Incentives Organic Spa & Salon. Toni is a familiar face to many in the gym, as she’s been an active member for many years. She joined the Spa and Salon on June 20^th. There are a couple of articles in here about and by Toni, but I’d still like to emphasize here the unique set of skills and new services that she’ll be bringing to the Spa and Salon. For one thing, she’s a Master Barber and short-hair specialist for both men and women. If you’ve been thinking about going short, Toni is your girl. Her work is just amazing. On top of that, she’s a licensed esthetician, who possesses exceptional skills and tech, including a brand new facial system, Geneo, the self-described “facial of the future.”(Which it just might be!)  Stop in and say hello if you get a chance.

Best of 120

I’ve been editing and publishing Fit to Print since the early 90s, and I think this may just be the greatest edition of them all. I know – that’s a bold statement, picking just one out of what, 120 issues? But many great, informative and inspirational articles follow. Then again, what do I know? Take a deep dive in and let me know what you think. Also, feel free to reach out to us with ideas for content that you’d be interested in seeing in future issues.

Enjoy it, and enjoy summer on Long Island. (Yes, that’s why we live here!)

Sponsored Links

Next Article

More From Fit to Print Summer 2022