Displaying items by tag: Tom Fueston

SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Saratoga Regional YMCA (SRY) has a goal: to make sure that everyone who wants to go to the Y is able to. Through their Annual Scholarship Campaign program, SRY has provided countless memberships over the years to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. This year, the Scholarship Campaign is called Mission 443, and represents the goal of the 443 memberships SRYMCA hopes to provide in 2016.

Mark Ventra has been going to the YMCA Saratoga Springs Branch for over five years, sometimes going five days a week. As a traveling salesman, the Y staff was sometimes the only people he would see on a regular basis besides his family, and he loved how welcoming and caring they all were. However, if it wasn’t for the Y’s Scholarship Campaign last year, Ventra would have had to stop going.

“A year ago, I was diagnosed with a form of leukemia. At the same time, my job was going through financial difficulties and couldn’t afford to pay me any longer, so I was let go,” explained Ventra.

When Ventra approached John Higgins, Director of the Saratoga Springs Branch, and explained to him how he wasn’t going to be able to afford to renew his membership, Higgins simply told him, “We’ll take care of it.”

“I never thought I’d need a scholarship,” said Ventra. “I always thought the scholarships were for people that weren’t as well off as I had been. I used to never give it a second thought about volunteering or giving $100 to the scholarship fund, and now, I couldn’t even pay for my own membership. I wasn’t looking for a handout, but they helped me anyway, no questions asked.”

Saratoga Cycling Studio Has Many Options For A Healthier You

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Jerry and Angela Amedio have a brand-new 1-month-old they are dying to show off to you! 

Yes, behold their new, cheerful (complete with a festive purple color scheme and an in-studio mirrored disco ball), expanded location at 422 Broadway. The Saratoga Cycling Studio (SCS) is Saratoga Springs only official Spinning® facility – originally established at 24 Hamilton Street in 2012. 

In addition to extra cycles, the new studio has, or is moving in equipment to deliver a variety of workout options, including:

- One hour spinning: Where an instructor guides you, but where you go at your own pace and resistance

-  TRX suspension trainer: A workout system that leverages gravity and your bodyweight to perform hundreds of exercises

- Yoga

- Powerhouse spin: 45 minutes on a bike combined with floor exercises 

- Spin fit total body: 30 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes off the bike with exercises that incorporate weights, bands and balls

And there are other combinations and class offerings as well. See saratogacyclingstudio.com/class-descriptions for all the options. 

In just their first month since opening the new facility and due to increased demand, Angela reports that she has hired four new instructors since we sat down for this interview just three days earlier! So the instructors page on the website will have to be updated, but the current roster as is includes some highly credentialed local fitness professionals including: Brie Cramer, Diane Ryan, Gail Picillo, Jennifer Giuttari, Laura Newell, Lyndsay Meilleur and MacKenzie Liptak – in addition to Jerry and Angela themselves. 

Angela is about to enter some rarified company. She recently returned from Miami where she took classes and is now classified as a Spinning® Master Instructor Candidate. “I still have one more thing to complete, but I’m almost there!” She said. “Hopefully, I’ll be training the trainers by this fall.”

To give you an idea what this means, when certified, Angela will be just one of only 150 Master Instructors in the world! Not bad for someone who says on her bio that “ten years ago I found myself signed up for my first cycling class. I snuck into the back corner and was scared to death!”

By comparison, Angela estimated that there were perhaps 200,000 certified instructors worldwide – one of who is her husband (of six years) Jerry, who is also a local attorney. Interestingly, Angela is a paralegal who helps in the office, making this a family affair times two.

The modern equipment of the Saratoga Cycling Studio is complimented by their website’s online reservation and payment system. “While walk-ins are available when there is space, the best way to assure your spot in one of the more popular classes is to reserve it,” Angela advises. 

The studio is running some special programs in concert with their new location. For individuals, if you buy a summer unlimited monthly program (at $69.99/month) you will get an extra week free. For businesses, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce has named SCS a “Healthy Saratoga Initiative Ambassador,” and there are sliding scale discounts for chamber members depending on the number of employees in a given firm. Discounts are also available for sports teams and other groups.

Also, the low-impact aspects of much of SCS’s workouts make it ideal for physical therapy and rehabilitation applications. “We are also able to verify for insurance purposes,” Angela said, so this may be covered depending on your policy. 

On the horizon for SCS is the official grand opening, which we’ll be happy to announce, as well as a schedule of – wait for it – rooftop workouts on top of the beautiful Washington building!

Can you say photo op?

Saratoga Cycling Studio

422 Broadway, Suite 3

Saratoga Springs

Priority Reservations: SaratogaCyclingStudio.com