Business of the Week: Sweat
A new kind of fitness center in Shrub Oak brings back the old-school methods. Ray Carile has opened Sweat, which leaves behind the fad diets and trendy workouts and has clients go back to basic by following the CrossFit program.
CrossFit, which was developed by Greg Glassman in 1995, is the principal strength and conditioning program that is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. The tactics work for any group and is used by many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.
“I really look for stuff that works,” said Carile who has been regularly into fitness for about 15 years. “So much of the hyped exercises out there don’t work. It is just people selling you stuff just for the sake of selling you stuff.”
Carile came across the CrossFit program and found something different; something that worked.
“What attracted me to CrossFit is that it is old-school, it is basic stuff and it is tried and true and actually delivers results,” Carile said. “It is better to use a 5lb weight properly than lifting a 50lb weight poorly.”
The CrossFit method teaches people to be healthy and fit in ten general physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy.
Then about two years ago Carile was diagnosed with cancer. He credits being in good physical shape with assisting in his recovery.
“I really appreciated what being in shape did for me,” Carile said. “It helped me recover better and at that point I decided I wanted to do something different with my life.”
Carile, who owned a successful real estate construction business, decided that he wanted to change his focus from his company to his passion. He wanted to help other feel as good as he does.
“What we do at Sweat is we take the time to teach you the proper form and the proper mechanics so you do the exercises effectively,” Carile said. “There is no magic here. It is hard basic work.”
At Sweat, which is located at 1404 East Main Street in Shrub Oak, Carile offers both one-on-one sessions and group classes.
“The one-on-one sessions are helpful if you are starting out, just to get focused on your specific needs,” Carile said. “But I try to guide people into the classes, because I think it is better. When you are in a class it becomes like a club and people cheer each other on, they push one another, they compete, they become friends. The people in the classes are not judgmental.”
Classes run from the early morning until nighttime and are filled with about 16 people per class. Carile, who is a Level 1 CrossFit certified trainer and an ISSA certified personal trainer, also has classes for every age group- down to toddlers.
Carile loves having the opportunity with the toddlers to instill the importance of being active and physically fit. With the children and teens he sees how participating in the program is not only good for them physically, but also for their self-confidence and goal setting skills.
“We have some kids who are shy and have self-esteem issues and this really helps their confidence,” Carile said. “They are coming in and accomplishing things. They get acknowledged for their accomplishments and they can see the changes and they start to see the progression. They realize they can set goals and achieve them. They can be healthy and feel good about themselves.”
Having people feel well is what it is all about for Carile.
“When I put this together I really wanted a class environment to help bring people together,” Carile said. “I think helping people, giving them the tools for a better lifestyle is really rewarding and I see it in the people I train.”
“Getting over that initial hump of getting into the routine and finding time to do it is the hardest thing for people,” Carile added. “Once they get into it and see the rewards and the benefits. They see that progress and how it affects their life it is just phenomenal.”
For more information about Sweat call 914-358-5003 or visit gosweatnow.com.
