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"Get in shape for women" offers personalized training

Get In Shape For Women in Eastgate Plaza at 20 Main St., has been open since Feb. 1 and recently celebrated its grand opening. This personalized training facility offers a 12-week transformation program for busy women in a comfortable facility with all the tools they need to succeed.

At Get In Shape For Women, clients can work out in small groups with a personal trainer for as little as $19 a session.

Manager Michael Desnoyers says Get In Shape differs from other facilities, as far as he knows, because it's the only single group training program in the country that offers women personalized training sessions at a fraction of the cost of other competitors, which can range from $50 to $80 per session.

Desnoyers said Get In Shape specializes in "transitioning" - taking clients from a deconditioned and unhealthy state to conditioned and healthy by monitoring four variables:

• Weight training to increase muscle tone and metabolism.
• Cardiovascular training to burn fat and calories faster.
• Nutrition to learn the proper way to eat and control weight.
• Accountability; they check weight and measure body fat every two weeks to establish a baseline and ensure results.

"When you reach your goal, maintenance is easier if you continue the behavior that got you there," said Desnoyers. "therwise, it's natural for the body to return to its previous state, fall away from the goals you've set.

"The equation doesn't change anywhere you go, it's just a matter of staying on top of it and staying accountable."
"Once our clients achieve their goal, our goal is to migrate them into a gym setting where they can maintain their gains and hold themselves accountable."

Desnoyers has a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science and health fitness from Bridgewater State College, where he was in the honors program for three years. He works with the clients together with Mark Ferrara, a personal trainer/nutrition consultant.

Clients schedule their 60 minute appointments. The typical client makes three to five visits a week, said Desnoyers.

"The greatest thing about this model is that we're able to offer personal training at a fraction of a cost of others. The ladies seem to have fun out there. It's as fun an atmosphere as possible.

"A lot of people go to the gym for a long time without being monitored and don't achieve the results they desire. People are always going to fall off a little but monitoring them helps pull them back in," says Desnoyers.

Clients go through their workouts to a cue CD that keeps everyone on track. Ferrara supervises their breathing, form and technique to progress people and help them push their bodies. The usual session is an hour.

Desnoyers says business and the response has been good. The facility has a variety of different machines that allow clients to perform different functions such as free weights, functional training stations and a polymetric box that really develops the lower half of the body and of course, treadmills.

Desnoyers enjoys his work because it's what he always wanted to do and he enjoys interacting with the clients. "I knew what I wanted to do five years ago. Sports, health and fitness have been my whole life. That's why I went to school, so I could help people achieve these goals for themselves."

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Get In Shape For Women has hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
Call: 781-205-4723 for a free consultation.

July 13. 2008

New fitness biz is a sister act.
Westboro studio focuses on women.

By Stephanie McPherson
SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Sisters Toni Parr and Jody Chaffee
have just opened a personal training
studio in Westboro, Get in Shape
for Women, focusing on a balance
of cardio workouts, strength training,
nutrition and accountability.
(MICHELLE SHEPPARD)

WESTBORO— Ever since her days growing up on a dairy farm in North Brookfield, Jody A. Chaffee has been interested in physical fitness.

Now, Ms. Chaffee and her sister, Toni M. Parr, are passing their healthy lifestyles on to other women at Get in Shape for Women, a personal training studio franchise they have opened at 45 East Main St.

The training studio gives the two women “the ability to help people physically, mentally and spiritually,” Ms. Chaffee said. “We’re helping people live longer.”

It wasn’t just for the benefit of others that the sisters opened their own business.

Ms. Chaffee, 32, of Shrewsbury received two degrees in science: an associate’s, with a concentration in physical educat ion, from Becker College and a bachelor’s with a concentration in health education, from Worcester State College. While in school she was a triple threat in sports, playing field hockey, basketball and softball. After graduation, she said, she tried teaching — everything from kindergarten to sixth grade — coaching and being a personal trainer.

It was while working as a personal trainer that she decided to open her own business.

While working at Evolve Fitness in Framingham, Ms. Chaffee said, she was in such high demand that she began to work with her clients in small groups rather than one-on-one. The women loved it, and their enthusiasm influenced her to look for a business model that would support this type of workout plan, she said.

“I was making a lot of money for that company and not for Jody,” she said. “When you work for someone else, you don’t control your own destiny.”

Mrs. Parr 37, of Oxford had her own reasons for getting into the personal training business. After having two children, she had difficulty losing the weight she had gained during her pregnancies. She said she tried all the commercial diets and exercise programs, from Weight Watchers to Curves, but none gave her the results she desired.

Before Get in Shape, she worked nine years at Allmerica Financial Corp.

“I fell in love with the place,” Mrs. Parr said, referring to Get in Shape. After just three months of training thro ugh Get in Shape, she lost 32 pounds. “I want to help people lose weight. It’s a lot of hard work.”

The sisters said losing weight and getting in shape takes commitment and time.

“There’s no quick fix to losing weight,” Ms. Chaffee said. They suggest eating three small meals a day with small snacks in between, and nothing up to three hours before going to bed.

But diet alone won’t work, they added. Exercise is equally important.

“Sometimes people don’t think they can afford a personal trainer, but you really can’t put a price on your health,” Ms. Chaffee said. By cutting out fast food and eating out, and by getting rid of other unhealthful practices, the money saved could be used for a personal trainer, she said.

Women who don’t want to go to a gym or fitness center should find a way to work out at home, Mrs. Parr said.

“You have to keep active any way you can,” Mrs. Parr said.

“We finally have control over our lives,” Ms. Chaffee said.

“I get to work out three to four times a week, lose weight and help people lose weight,” Mrs. Parr said. “I never thought I’d own my own business. … Women need to know that anything is possible.”

"Get In Shape For Women is the World's Largest "Small Group Training" franchise model for women, where one personal trainer works with a maximum of 2-4 women at a time, 30 minutes of weight training, 30 minutes of cardio, and supportive nutrition all for as little as $19 per session. There are 27 franchises located in the Northeast"