New Hot Pilates Studio Brings ‘Pilates Girlie Nation’ To Massapequa Park

MASSAPEQUA, NY — Depending on what part of Massapequa you're in, you might technically be in a hamlet or a village. If you're in Massapequa Park's new That's Hot pilates studio, however, you'll be in a different nation altogether.

"Pilates Girlie Nation," That's Hot co-owner Karen Riccio called it.

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The new That's Hot location opened this month at 1019 Park Blvd in Massapequa Park, expanding on a footprint that already included two studios in Rockville Centre and 19 years of classes. This location will feature fitness mat-based workouts, bodyweight training and small props for strength, including hand and ankle weights, balls and rings.

And, of course, there is the temperature. At the Rockville Centre location, hot pilates classes can be held in rooms as hot as 100 degrees, a practice Riccio and Martino said would continue at the Massapequa location.

As they embarked on their third joint studio together, the entrepreneurial duo said their pilates practice had become something more than a business as the years and the classes sped by.

"I think that the best part is the client's health, honestly, because you do know that you're helping people, and it's either you're helping athletes or you're helping somebody who's terrified of going anywhere to work out," Riccio said. "We pretty much run the gamut of every type of client that you've ever had."

"The reason why I love what I do is because I know that everybody, they may come in, and they may be in some kind of a mood or feeling something, just like everybody is. We all have something heavy that we carry with us. And when they walk out, they walk out with smiles on their faces, and their bodies feel great and they're ready to tackle the day," Martino added. "For a long time, we did this for the love of Pilates. We were making enough money to live and survive on our business, but it definitely wasn't about the money. It was about what we did for people."

A fourth studio, they said, is in the works in New Hyde Park. That studio, they said, will be guided by the same principle that has guided the first three: Community.

"We like to keep it like a community where the owners are there, everybody knows who we are," Martino said. "That's, for me and Karen, the best part of going to work."

"It really is community-based," Riccio added.

Despite efforts to keep chatter during class to a minimum, Riccio and Martino said the lobby at That's Hot studios — or their first studio, Pilates Absession — usually has some chit chat after classes, with attendees staying as long as a half hour after their session has ended to catch up with classmates and coaches.

As for why Massapequa Park was the place to open this new studio, Martino and Riccio joked that it was the result of "a realtor whose wife wanted pilates in town."

Jokes aside, the duo said it was about that familiar value that guided their first two studios.

"We knew this was the community for us," Riccio said. "It's a very small, tight-knit community, and it's, so far, working out very well. A few of our constructors are from there, so that's working out really well."

As for the "Pilates girlie" moniker, Riccio said it's a result of Pilates' growth on social media, where women are more often the ones posting about their classes than men. That said, everyone is welcome in the studio.

"In the reformer studio, you're really getting a very small group experience there. Your instructor is going to be going around giving your tactile cues, as well as verbal cues. So women feel much more comfortable that way," Riccio said. "Sometimes there's a surprise when a man walks in, but then when [people in class] see that a man is really there for exactly what they're there for, the room loosens up a little bit."

Regardless of who you are when you step into the studio, Martino said there's a shared feeling when you walk out.

"When you leave that hot studio, you 100 percent feel like you just achieved something fantastic," Martino said.

The new That's Hot studio is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends. Information about classes can be found here.