Couple ‘Sparkks’ Inspiration To Get In Shape
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Sparkk Fitness offers one-hour fitness classes, capped at 14 students each.
When she worked for an outsource management company, Kristina Andersen’s job “was essentially to open businesses for other people.” As of Nov. 1, 2014 Andersen runs her own business with her body-building fiancé Frank Fontana.
The couple opened Huntington Station boutique fitness studio Sparkk Fitness in an effort to build a business that would fill a gap in the group fitness market.
“We really wanted to do something in the health and fitness field because it’s a passion of both of ours, and we really sat down and thought about what we felt was missing from group fitness,” Andersen said.
In order to see results, she said, the combination of weights and cardio is important; but so is a program with planned workouts and goals.
Classes at Sparkk Fitness are 60 minutes long. Some feature 30 minutes of indoor cycling and 30 minutes of strength training. “The Classic” is designed to be “your traditional spin and muscle-building toning class,” Andersen explained. The “Conditioning Treatment” class is a high-intensity interval training class designed to boost metabolism and allow for post-workout calorie burn. “Spark Strength,” a muscle-building class, is 15 minutes of cycling and 45 minutes of heavy lifting.
“The only way to really transform your body, and to see the results and the changes you want, is to do cardio and weights, not just one or the other,” Andersen said.
Classes are capped at 14 students – an effort, she said, to give participants the results that they would get with a personal trainer. Instructors will modify workouts for individual participants based on level of experience. For first-timers, instructors will make the necessary modifications. For those at the “elite athlete level,” instructors will enhance the workout.
“We wanted to keep the classes very small so that we don’t lose that personal connection,” Andersen said.
Kristina Andersen and fiancé Frank Fontana officially opened Sparkk Fitness on Nov. 1.
Like a gym, the facility has a full locker room and showers. The gym is lit by colored LED lights – a decision that Andersen said allows people to focus on their own individual workouts.
“[It] lets you kind of lose yourself in the workout and the music… plus, everybody looks really good in those colored lights, too,” she said. “We’ve really tried to create an environment where you’re able to obtain great results and in an environment that’s safe and makes you feel good about the process.”
In a general sense, the process often intimidates beginners, Andersen said – those who are not experienced weight lifters are often self-conscious when working out in a gym with longtime lifters.
“They think everyone is looking at them,” she said. “The reality is, unless you’re doing something dangerous, no one is looking at you. But most people think they are, especially in the beginning.”
Under the colored LED lights, Andersen said, that concern more easily dissipates.
Pricing at Sparkk Fitness is not a concern for first-time visitors. The first class is free. After the first class, single sessions cost $20 and packages for classes in quantities like four and eight are available for $59 and $99, respectively. Unlimited classes cost $129 a month, and the arrangement allows people to attend class every day or even twice a day.
So far, Andersen has seen her clients realizing results, she said. One member, who had prior workout experience, lost 10 pounds in her first month. Others have noticed that they have visibly lost inches, she said.
Sparkk Fitness
631-683-4946
135 West Jericho Turnpike, Huntington Station
sparkkfitness.com
