Editors’ Choice
Fuel Training
Newburyport
With outdoor classes and a library of virtual offerings Fuel keeps you in Boot Camp shape—even during a pandemic.
22 Graf Rd., Newburyport, 978-270-0020, fueltrainingstudio.com
Readers’ Choice
Svetraining
Danvers
The impact of COVID-19 on the North Shore has been significant, but the support of the community has helped Svet Wilson and the Svetraining team keep their sunny side up. It will come as no surprise that the staff is excited to be back in the gym after months of virtual workouts. And there’s no doubt that clients agree—with so much variety, you are bound to fall in love with working out at Svetraining.
90 Holten St., Danvers, 978-335-4119, Svetraining.com
+Pandemic Pivot
Fuel Training
The last several months have been quite a challenge, but a challenge is the last thing the staff at Fuel shies away from. Which is why it comes as no surprise that their pivot from in-person studio classes to virtual classes happened overnight at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The day after Fuel closed their studio doors they went live on Zoom. Studio owners Julie Bokat and Jeanne Carter say that their goal during quarantine was to “offer some sense of normalcy and routine when the situation we are all in offers none.”
More recently, Fuel began offering outdoor fitness classes on both the Waterfront Green in downtown Newburyport as well as on their large, outdoor studio patio. All the while, Fuel has also been compiling an online platform to create a library of virtual classes (including their wildly popular cycle and bootcamp classes) as well as barre and core flow, among others.
Of course, many businesses and nonprofits have suffered greatly during this time. To that end, Fuel wanted to do their part to help some local non-profit organizations. They recently partnered with Runway for Recovery, a Newburyport–based organization that offers financial support to families who have lost a caregiver to breast cancer. This fundraiser event was planned pre-Covid as an in-person fitness fundraiser, what was to be the 2nd annual fitness fundraiser for Runway for Recovery at Fuel. However, once the lock down occurred, this event needed to pivot and Fuel helped make it happen. In conjunction with Runway’s executive director Olivia Boger, the event went virtual, with participants working out remotely from all over the country—12 states to be exact! Over $3,500 was raised by participants and donors, which went to Runway for Recovery.
During this time, Fuel has also partnered with America Cores New York, an organization that offers inner city children after-school opportunities. They have also started a fundraising page with Our Neighbors’ Table, a local organization that provides food security to individuals and families living in Amesbury, Boxford, Byfield, Georgetown, Groveland, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury, South Hampton, and West Newbury. Fuel continues to be willing to partner with organizations looking for donation-based fitness opportunities.