Fitness Together Introducing Pack Training Program to Medfield Studio

, the studio best known for its individualized workouts and one-on-one training sessions, is adding group training to the mix of programs offered.

"Our new program is going to take a different aspect of group training," said Fitness Together studio manager Mike Goulet. "Group training has been thought of almost as boot camp and we are going to take it to a completely different level. We are taking it to the person’s needs, we’re grouping people into four different levels so they’re not going to be working out with a person that’s doing an 100-pound bench press and the other person can barely lift 15 pounds."

Goulet said the group training will be called "Pack Training," and will be open to the public the second week of October. It will focus on small groups of two to four people that are at similar levels of fitness striving for similar results or goals. 

"You’re grouped into a category where it is for you and specifically, the workouts are geared towards you," Goulet said. "That’s the big difference between us and other group training, which can be just going through the motions and there’s no real set thing to it. We’re going to revolutionize the way it is going."

Incorporating the studio's one-on-one training philosohpy in its group program is the focal point of the studio's revolution. To do this, Goulet said Fitness Together will not be using the circuit training methods of group training found in other fitness studios and gyms. Instead, the studio will focus on categorizing an individual’s level of fitness and monitor the individual’s growth within the group.

“What we are doing is categorizing people rather than taking four people and saying ‘OK, do this workout,’" Goulet said. "It’s taking four people and categorizing them into movement, sport, extreme or another group and they will have to test out of that. So you test every six weeks and once you test out of that group you have to move up to the next one and test out of that. You continually and continually make progress and we monitor that."

The four groups Pack Training consists of are: movement, active, sport and extreme. 

"Each of these groups become harder and harder," Goulet said. "The workouts become harder, we focus on your nutrition and that becomes harder and more strict. The last group is extreme and it is very difficult but we will have you ready for it and it’s not the same workout over and over, it’s not monotonous."

Goulet said the studio is implenting the new program because the industry is changing and focusing more on group sessions.

"The industry has changed more in the past three years than it has in the past 10 and I think this is where it is moving," Goulet said of group training. "We are still going to have the core, one-on-one training. [Clients] want that one-on-one. So, if you don’t like working out in front of people we will still have that [option]."

Fitness Together clients had the opportunity to try out the Pack Training program the last week of September and the general public will have an opportunity to do so, beginning this week.

"You can try it out," Goulet said of the new program. "We will give you two free sessions to see if you like it and throw you into a group. Most of the time we will offer one-on-one training to get an idea of where you are coming from, instead of just throwing you into a group training and I don’t know anything about you."

Goulet manages a staff of two trainers that make-up a "well-rounded" group for the studio's clients.

"My trainers, Christine [Cushman-Farricy] has her degree from UNH and Ulises [Mondragon] is finishing up his degree from Framingham with nutrition," Goulet said. "It’s a well-rounded group and we do nutrition counseling as well. ... When you come in, you write down all your foods and we have a food journal for you and we make sure you stay in check with that and we have an assessment for two weeks to make sure you are staying on track with your goals."

Fitness Together been in Medfield for four years. Mondragon, the studio's head trainer, has been at the studio for three years and Cushman-Farricy has been there since it opened in Medfield. Goulet has been the studio manager in Medfield for a year and a half. 

Goulet, who lives in Boston, said the best part about working at Fitness Together in Medfield is the small town dynamic.

"Medfield is a very small, tight-knit town where everyone knows everybody," Goulet said. "That’s why I love working here because when you come in here, everybody knows everybody. People are like ‘Oh, how did your kids do in this?’ and that’s the best part about it. When you have a Fitness Together in Boston or Brookline, Cambridge, no one knows anybody, they’re all there by themselves. In Medfield, everyone knows everybody so it makes for such a good feeling to be in here."

Goulet has been physically active his whole life in sports and has been involved in personal training since he was 18 years old. The most rewarding part of this line of work, according to Goulet, is the positive influence you can have on an individual's life and well-being. 

"I think the best part is we do a lot of work with people with diabetes and I’ve seen numbers go down to the point where it’s huge and it changes their lives," Goulet said. "It’s gotten them off medications and things like that so it’s probably the most rewarding part about my job is to see those changes."

For more information on Fitness Together or its new Pack Training program, call (508) 242-9900 or e-mail ftmedfield@fitnesstogether.com.