CrossFit Fitness Club opening in Sparta

SPARTA — Intrepid Strength and Conditioning of Warwick, NY, will open a second fitness club in Sparta on Saturday, Nov. 17, at noon.

Intrepid, which is affiliated with the CrossFit gyms, will be located in a 1,900-square-foot space in the Police Athletic League building at 38 Station Road. CrossFit began in California and has grown to a network of over 5,000 facilities worldwide.

CrossFit defines itself as “constantly varied functional movement performed at high intensity.” It is a different kind of exercise program than that offered by most fitness clubs: it is a community- and class-based program, in which participants work out and progress with other people, under the supervision of CrossFit-trained certified coaches.

It does not use machines; each day’s training routine is different, known in the CrossFit program as the “W.O.D.” or “workout of the day.”

Free weights and overhead bars are used along with floor exercises.

CrossFit’s promotional literature says, “We believe in a holistic approach to training. In addition to working hard while at the gym, we will teach nutrition, optimal recovery methods, and other best practices to improve performance and get results.”

CrossFit members also involve themselves in civic-minded activities, including environmental clean-up work and raising money for medical research.

The owners of Intrepid Strength and Conditioning are Ryan and Kathryn Hansen of Warwick, NY. Ryan Hansen became interested in CrossFit shortly after his discharge from the Marine Corps in 2007. They joined the CrossFit gym in Montclair, and then in 2008, the Hansens were certified as CrossFit instructors. They opened their Warwick gymshortly thereafter.

Kathryn Hansen stresses that participants will find CrossFit experience very different than their experience at other fitness centers. Workouts are scaled or modified to individual ability.

Members are not left to their own devices, but rather receive individual coaching and group motivation in peer-driven classes.

The CrossFit program addresses the member’s whole life, including nutrition and health, not just the exercise workout.

Everyone in the Sparta area is invited to attend the Grand Opening of Intrepid Strength and Conditioning’s new fitness center on Nov. 17, at noon, at 38 Station Road.

The day will feature an open house and demonstrations of CrossFit’s fitness training program.

For further information, call 845-986-7800, visit www.intrepidsc.com.