Skinny Buddha Offers Personal Touch for Workouts

Go to Skinny Buddha and you will have many choices for weight loss and excerises.

These programs range from short to long in both visits and duration, but they all include intense exercises, individualized support from a trainer and home-cooked meals, providing a modified diet regimen.

At Skinny Buddha, which opened in July, the offerings are described with quirky, thematic names. The Beer Belly Buddha package, for example, is a small program geared towards men who visit twice a week for five weeks. The Martini Tiny Buddha program is the women’s version, while teens can take advantage of the Baby Buddha routine, which runs for five weeks and involve visiting once a week.

Of course, there’s a big six-week program, which is simply called Buddha Belly Fat-Loss, which co-owner Shaka Davidson says is “just for someone who wants to go all in.”

This routine is “really intense,” according to Davidson, and includes training five days a week, daily meals and a message every day.

That program is the culmination of a workout that led to the gym’s formation.

Davidson, a personal trainer, boxer and message therapist, first met co-owner Elyce Jacobson while he was her trainer at Lexington Avenue Gym. At one point, they started coming up with a plan for Jacobson, an Armonk resident who runs an organic catering company called In Good Taste.

Davidson started by giving her nutritional breakdowns and workouts, while Jacobson said she kept a journal of foods she was putting together, turning them into menus to use. The result was a 12-week program, which helped Davidson lose weight and gave results she described as “mind-boggling.”

Interested in sharing their experiment, Jacboson and Davidson ultimately decided to test it out in its current six-week form last fall, subleasing space elsewhere in Mount Kisco to do a test run for the gym. With success, the two decided to make a go at it.

The new fitness center’s offerings reflect the backgrounds of their cofounders. Davidson is the primary trainer and does message – two trainers and now employed – while Jacobson makes the food that they use in their programs. Her meals range from gluten-free pancakes for breakfast to whole-wheat wraps for lunch. People are encouraged to grab the meals out of a refrigerator on their way out.

In offering a personalized approach, Davidson explained that they start off with meeting clients to what they want to do, and a program is picked based on what they’re looking for. The program is tailored, explained Davidson, and they figure out what the clients like nutritionally.

Personal attention to clients is one aspect that makes Skinny Buddha unique, explained Jacobson.

“We’re in contact with our clients almost on a daily basis,’ she said.

How and the pair live also shapes how the gym works.

“We are the owners and we live the lifestyle,” said Davidson. He also noted that they are “motivated by changing people’s lives.”

Since opening, Skinny Buddha has been getting good business.

“The first month way exceeded our expectations,” said Jacobson. Originally, it was anticipated that business wouldn’t get going until the fall, according to Davidson.

Going forward, several new amenities will be added in the fall, including yoga classes, Buddha’s Butt Camp – the workout targets the lower body – and Bike with Buddha, which will be held in a new spin room. A grand opening event will be held Oct. 15, with live music and a bar that will serve non-alcoholic cocktail juices.

Skinny Buddha is located at 128 Radio Circle. For more information, go to myskinnybuddha.com.