Dickie Ecklund To Teach Boxing Class At Gold's Gym Winter Fest 2011

Break out the sweatbands, boxing gloves, and ski boots -- is hosting its second-annual Winter Fest.

The fitness club will open its doors to members and non-members alike during the three-day event, held January 22-24, which will include full fitness programs such as kettlebell, spin, hip-hop and zumba classes. The gym will also offer raffles, give-aways, and on-site vendors to support the occasion.

Kerry Riedy, the general manager of the gym, said that event was initially organized not only to promote fitness, but also community awareness and involvement.

“We started doing it … to incentivize people to come in and also to best open up to the community,” she said. “When we work with local people…then it helps them promote their business.”

The owner of Donna’s Donuts will be one such local vendor at the event. Riedy promises that Donna’s Donuts’ goods and presence will be neither ironic, nor a temptation to the guests.

“He’s going to bring in bagels, so it’s more on the healthy end,” she said of the vendor.

Another of Riedy’s goals with Winter Fest was to showcase fitness options that are available during the cold winter months.

“A lot of our personal trainers are giving…sessions and classes that are geared toward the winter sports,” she said.

To further this, the gym is raffling ski passes courtesy of Wachusett Mountain. Riedy believes this is just one way to marry winter sports with physical fitness and health.

“Most people don’t realize that skiing and snowboarding is seriously very fitness-based,” she said. “You have to be in good shape to ski.”

Another big draw to Winter Fest is a boxing boot camp that will be held with former professional boxer Dickie Eklund. Eklund, the half-brother and trainer of former WBU light welterweight champion Mickey Ward, was recently featured in the Lowell-based movie “The Fighter."

On Sunday, actor Christian Bale won a Golden Globe award for his portayal of Ecklund in the movie.

The 90-minute class, held Saturday Jan. 22 at 10 a.m., will feature a half-hour of boxing basics and another hour of intense boxing training. The boot camp is $75 for members and $90 for non-members. Other perks of the experience include an 8x10 photo autographed by Eklund, as well as an "I trained with Dickie" certificate.

“We thought it would be pretty cool because obviously boxing is a really good…workout in terms of fitness base, so we figured we’d bring him in. With him coming in he’d help the community base,” she said.

Riedy thinks that the option to learn boxing with a coach of Eklund’s status will be a great attraction.

“He’s kind of a local legend, in a way,” she said.

Eklund’s participation in the event is one way that Gold’s Gym is keeping its appeal and offering something unique -- something that Riedy believes is the facility’s strongest trait.

“I think what makes us different is that we have always tried to bring in something new. We’re not just a gym -- we are -- but we offer so much for people,” she said. “So it pretty much gives anybody the opportunity (who’s) never been here to try everything that we offer as a club, and it’ll be free, so that’s pretty cool.”

Whether the participants try the group session, boxing with Eklund, or any of the other activities offered by the gym, there will be one common denominator linking all of them--sweat.