By Elizabeth Cloutman

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

Rancho F.I.T. center scheduled for May opening

Business Profile

F.I.T., a new Los Altos fitness center scheduled to open May 1 in the Rancho Shopping Center, will offer a program specifically designed for each client’s lifestyle and scheduled by individual appointment.

The staff, knowledgeable in the latest training techniques, high-quality equipment and therapeutic massages, provides the training in a quiet, intimate setting, said co-owners Thom Downing, Jason Fass and Tracey Gropper.

F.I.T. stands for focused individual training. “Whatever you do in your life, we try to train you for your life,” Fass said. “Our goal is to be able to work with people, ages 16 to 65 plus. We want (clients) to come in the door, knowing everything’s been done for them. Their workout program will always be changing and always be fun.”

Downing, Fass and Gropper have college-level education and career experience in sports science, sports medicine and rehabilitation.

Downing earned a master’s degree in sports medicine from San Jose State University, is certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association and has worked with professional, college and recreational athletes at all levels.

Fass holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports sciences from the University of Florida, has worked with professional and college athletes and at a sports medicine/physical therapy clinic in the areas of orthopedic rehabilitation and functional assessment.

Gropper graduated from the kinesiology program at the University of Michigan and has worked as a rehabilitation specialist and functional trainer for the past seven years, both for physical therapy clinics and for professional rugby teams in the United States and abroad.

The three trainers attend continuing education professional seminars to keep up-to-date on training techniques.

Sports equipment at the F.I.T. facility will include Cybex functional trainers, Reebok Strength cycles and a Treadwall, a rotating climbing wall that moves by body weight alone, Fass said. The facility will also feature a Plyometric floor, a shock-absorbing floor to reduce stress and compression on body joints.

F.I.T. will offer sports and therapeutic massage by Jill Hampton, who earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology from California State University at Chico and has done deep tissue massage and sports rehabilitation at the Stanford Myofascial Institute in Palo Alto.

Fass said F.I.T. also plans to organize community events such as bike rides and organized runs.

Although its facility is still under construction, F.I.T. is already accepting applications for membership, which is limited, Fass said.

For information or registration, call 868-6887.