SARATOGA SPRINGS — TBT87, “the new virtual fitness studio that ALWAYS feels like home” launches on Monday, May 18. It is the collaboration between area fitness leader Mary Anne Fantauzzi and two of her longtime instructors Renee Hostetler and Sharyn Kalinkewicz.
Fantauzzi’s Total Body Trifecta, Inc. studio taught its last live class in mid-March at its Ballston Spa satellite within My Gym Fitness Center. When the pandemic closed all gyms on Monday, March 16, she and the gym’s group fitness participants faced the uncertainty of when they’d be able to resume classes.
Hostetler, also known as Kindermusik’s Miss Renee, suggested Zoom fitness classes as a possible interim solution. One week later, the trio started teaching free classes via Zoom without pay. Their original free class end date was April 15, then April 30 and finally May 15 as the number of participants grew from 8 to over 100. Former members from as far away as Virginia and Florida returned as regulars.
The virtual class vibe when Gallery View appeared was both joyful and grateful as loyal fitness friends were reunited on screen. “The beginning of each class feels like Norm entering Cheers and the end of class like ‘Goodnight, Jonboy” of the Waltons. It felt like home in more ways than one”, Fantauzzi commented.
And so, TBT87 was created, its name honoring the “fitness family feeling” of Total Body Trifecta’s location at 87 Church Street in Saratoga Springs. Because of the burden of tough economic times, Fantauzzi brought back the original class card price of ten classes for $40 with no expiration date.
Although virtual classes are no substitution for the feeling of live workouts inside the expansive My Gym studio, Fantauzzi and her collaborators believe TBT87’s virtual class schedule can co-exist once they return to the gym setting by offering options to those who prefer to workout at home, at the gym or a combination of both.
For more information about TBT87 and other Total Body Trifecta, Inc. offerings, visit totalbodytrifecta.com or the Mare at Trifecta Facebook page.
