Worldwide Fitness Program Enters Westborough Business Arena

Some might practice exercises taught at a new Westborough fitness center in public.

Without people noticing.

CrossFit Prototype students will learn to move as they do, routinely, daily, when classes start this Saturday at 50 West Main St., the former Rugged Bear, says Michael Collette, who owns the business, an affiliate of CrossFit: Forging Elite Fitness, with partners Michael Scott and Brian Zancewicz.

"If you saw someone on the street doing a certain movement, you would think nothing of it. 'That's natural.' For example, picking something up off the ground," Collette said during a recent interview at his business.

"This stuff promotes functional fitness across the board. So, you not only get more fit in here, but it's also applicable to outside. It trains you to be a more functional, more fit human being."

CrossFit combines gymnastics, weight lifting and cardio movements, Collette said.

Zancewicz said a friend introduced him to CrossFit about 4.5 years ago while he was doing Mixed Martial Arts.

"Basically, what it comes down to is it makes you better at doing everything. That's what I was looking for," Zancewicz said.

"It was short, sweet and to the point."

Collette said each group-style class is an hour, and focus on "corrective exercise and mobility."

"I'm happier with you squatting less weight and doing it very well than you squatting more weight and doing it poorly," he said.

"The biggest thing is risk of injury. We don't want people getting hurt."

A lot of workouts will be structured, with students asked "do X amount of repetitions for A, B, C and D exercise. And I want you to do those certain amount of repetitions as fast as you can," he said. The class will repeat this workout a few months later.

"We can take the most advanced, fittest human being on earth,bring them into a class of novices, and everyone still be able to get a great workout, because it is relative," Collette said.

CrossFit will track all the workout results, Collette said. And "as we start our classes, we're really going to be advocating people bringing in workout logs, so they can track their own personal progress." Collette said he and his business partners hope to put the results online as they develop their website. Students could then check their progress through a personal login.

CrossFit's appeal is "that it builds community, builds comaraderie within the fitness community," Collette said.

"You come in here, it's all group style training, and you become part of a fitness family," he said.

"People have this bond with each other which is like no other. We build ths family community in here so that people feel super comfortable. Exercising, working out in front of other people, is often intimidating."

CrossFit started number years ago Northern California, and has about 4,400 affiliates worldwide, Collette said. That figure will approach 5,000 by Dec. 31, he said.

The CrossFit Games, held over three days yearly in Carson, Calif., are "like the Olympics for CrossFit," Collette said.

Collette said he first heard about CrossFit from a strength and conditioning teacher in college.

"I kind of didn't think much of it. I was kind of that 'three sets of 10' type of person. As I progressed a little bit in my training philosophy, I kind of understood it a little bit more," said Collette, who graduated from Westfield State University in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in sports medicine.

"It gives you a great feeling. You're super-tired, but you feel super-accomplished at the end."

Collette said he and Zancewicz will initially serve as the Westborough facility's coaches, adding others as the business grows. Scott, meanwhile, hold degrees in black belts in hapkido and taekwondo, Collette said.

Mixed Martial Arts classes will have separate coaches when they begin in late September, or October, Collette said.

The Westborough facility will be "one of the larger CrossFits," he said.

"It's right out in the open. And it's different from most CrossFits because a lot of CrossFit offices are kind of off the beaten path. A lot of people come to it; they don't go to people," Collette said.

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