A new fitness studio in the Woodbury Village Shopping Center is raising eyebrows, not because of its appearance on the outside, but what is inside of it.
Club Pilates just opened its doors and it already has more than 200 members signed up for its intense Pilates classes, a way to connect the mind with a person’s body. Pilates is a different type of workout, focusing on the core, while also increasing flexibility.
“Our mechanics are so poor,” David Wolk, studio owner of the Syosset-Woodbury location, said. “Our postures are so bad. Pilates is the type of fitness that brings people back to the way their back and everything should be feeling.
“Our form of fitness, while somewhat popular, is only going to become more popular as people start to talk about how they’re doing Pilates and how they never felt better. We never build the value of what we do in Pilates as to how you’re going to look, but it’s how you’re going to feel. Everyone responds to exercise a little bit differently.”
Wolk, who holds a degree from Penn State in kinesiology exercise sports science, has spent most of his life around fitness. At one point, he was designing rehabilitation programs for athletes, many of whom were coming out of surgery.
He opened the new Pilates studio just 16 months after he opened Club Pilates in Commack. Thus far, not only has the second location been a success, but he believes it will surpass all expectations.
“Out of the gate, slow and steady wins the race is what I say,” Wolk said. “We’re hitting all of the benchmarks to do well. What I anticipate with this location is I only see this continuing to be slow and steady to win the race because there are just so many eyes and feet that come through this center everyday.”
Club Pilates, which is part of a franchise started by Californian Allison Beardsley, offers multiple membership plans. While prices vary, there are many different packages, including one-on-one lessons, group sessions and more.
This fitness studio is separating itself from the rest, though, by offering Pilates certification programs twice a year. The certification, which takes at least 500 hours to complete, is meant to introduce a new career path for those who fall in love with the art of Pilates.
“A lot of Pilates instructors will need to market themselves, find clients, keep track of the schedule or schlep around equipment,” Wolk said, adding that they also stay in touch with people who complete the program. “With Club Pilates, since we run such a large number of classes in a given day, month and year, it allows them to come to one place to teach without having to do all the hoops they have to jump through as a private Pilates instructor. It benefits the studio, clients and the instructor.”
Currently, there are about 40 to 45 classes per week at Club Pilates in Syosset-Woodbury. The goal is to be parallel with the Commack location, which has 70 classes per week with 400 members.
But Wolk’s work isn’t done. He wants to open a third studio in late 2019 to early 2020, likely in Melville. The experience is one he wouldn’t trade for the world.
“I don’t anticipate stopping at three once they’re open because I’m enjoying it,” he said. “I like the feeling people have when they come into the studio and say how they’re starting to feel. That’s the gratification of doing what I do.”
Club Pilates will hold its official grand opening on March 23 and 24 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, head to the studio’s website, www.clubpilates.com/syosset-
woodbury or call 646-907-9626.
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