When Brian Ripka began formulating a new fitness program, he started with what he knew best: running. “Every morning I would dodge buses in New York City running up and down Madison Avenue. One day, I ran by a cycling studio and wondered why there wasn’t one for runners,” recalls Ripka.
However, the former CEO of a luxury jewelry company knew that running alone would not make for the ideal fitness program. “It’s a fact that running is the most efficient exercise, but I also know it is not just about fat loss. It’s also about incorporating muscle toning for total body fitness,” shares Ripka. “So I created a proprietary, dynamic program that combines alternating high intensity interval training of equal parts treadmill and strength training.”
Ripka’s program, RIPPED Fitness, combines 25 minutes of treadmill running with 25 minutes of a boot camp regimen, incorporating strengthening, weight lifting, stretching, and core work in a high intensity interval training format.
RIPPED is currently running this unique brand of cardio and weight training out of a spacious gym in the Rye Ridge Shopping Center in Rye Brook. Attending a class is a surprisingly sweat-inducing experience, with an attentive staff that provides you with a towel, designated treadmill, and a water bottle if necessary.
The workout itself is trying but enjoyable, as you bounce between boot camp-style floor exercises and relatively speedy treadmill work. One of the best things about the program is that it is very easy to scale, as you are welcome to select any weight for your dumbbells and the treadmill speed can be reduced immediately should you find yourself a bit short of breath.
In fact, RIPPED offers a number of classes that cater to a client’s individual goals and abilities. These include Ripped Walk, a strenuous power-walking session, and Ripped to the Core, a 50-minute total body cardio workout that emphasizes abdominal training.
For Ripka, finding a location for his gym was a no-brainer. “Whether it’s doctors, restaurants, shopping or fitness boutiques, Westchester is a community of highly educated, intelligent people looking for the best of everything,” he says. “When it comes to upscale, luxury fitness boutiques that provide the best results possible, there’s nothing else that compares to RIPPED.”
Ripka apparently knows what he is talking about: RIPPED has proven successful in Westchester so far, and will be opening a second location on the Upper East Side of New York City this coming September.