This past Saturday and Sunday there was a spin-a-thon at the Rye YMCA and the Altheus Endurance Center to raise money for the Blazeman Foundation and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Organized by Ray Kelly, Phil Gormley, Jim Carlson and Anna Mackay with the help of Diana Vita at the Rye YMCA and Rocco at Altheus Endurance Center, the event raised $27,650 for the two organizations.

Saturday was National Blazeman Day named after Jon Blaise, a triathlete who was diagnosed with ALS. The aim of the Blazeman Foundation (Jon died in June 2007) is to raise awareness of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and try to encourage research to find a cure for this incurable killer disease.

The spin-a-thon was first held in 2007 and raised $10,000 for the Blazeman Foundation. This year the event was held at both the Rye YMCA and the Altheus Endurance Center. In addition to Saturday's event for the Blazeman Foundation the organizers added a Sunday effort to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation which provides grants for equipment and coaching for disabled athletes.

Some participants rode for three hours. The biggest individual fund raiser raised $2,600. A total of 70 people took part Saturday and 50 on Sunday. $18,200 was raised Saturday for the The Blazeman Foundation and Friend's of Claire (for ALS) and on Sunday $9,450 was raised for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Altheus exports its philosophy

It’s heartening to walk into Altheus Health and Sport in Rye to find three principals who aren’t just talking the talk of fitness.

CEO Marc Tascher is a runner.

Rocco Greco, vice president of operations, is a former Marine and current power lifter.

Kyle Tucker, who runs sales and marketing, plays hockey.

Tucker came on board five and a half years ago, or as he put it, “About two months after they built the building.”

Tascher came to Altheus’ 8,200-square-foot facility one year ago with 30 years as a health club executive behind him. He was CEO for 22 years of TSI, the company that owns the New York (and Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston) Sports Club.

Greco is a 17-year veteran of the industry; he has been with Altheus a month and a half.

Greco and Tascher represent Altheus’s step, perhaps leap, to the next level: exporting the Altheus philosophy – complete with home-trained staff – to other facilities.

The first contract – with 18 Healthtrax clubs in eight states – is under way and said Tasher, “There has been a lot of interest. We’re turning clubs away. There’s a demand for high-quality, successfully managed personal training.”

The program is slated to begin in Stamford, Conn., later this year, Tascher said, which affirms his mission: “I came here to take this athletic concept and grow it. We’ll be taking over fitness staffing and personal training with the Altheus system at Healthtrax. Altheus employees will be on-site.”

“A typical health club trainer has taken a course and gotten a certificate after two or three weeks,” Tucker said. “Ours typically has two to three years training.”

The Altheus system also incorporates a bond between client and trainer, designed to counter a health club phenomenon that afflicts many joiners after six months and no Charles Atlas physique and causes them to leave.

At its 2 Clinton Ave. facility, the core clientele involved in one-on-one training is between 100 and 200, according to Tucker. “Double that for all the services, like spinning classes, physical therapy, massage, and the golf and tennis programs.Once our client is here, we do everything we can to make them succeed.”

Tascher called the tennis program, “Without peer.”

The vision boils down to service of the sort familiar to high-end athletes, what Tascher identified as “superior, specialized, fully integrated personal coaching. There’s a lot of communication with clients as far as their goals are concerned.”

Altheus’ staff monitors progress, or, perhaps, lack thereof (the Twinkie not forgotten). “We’re in tune with the clients,” Tucker said. “They have a head coach. We always know their status.”

Said Tascher: “The industry is realizing you have to provide support. It’s about education.”

The Rye High School football team employed Altheus methodology during its 2007 march to the class B state gridiron championship.

A rack of sturdy iron weights complement high-tech machinery; a lounge with television allows for a meeting (or perhaps a solitary moment reading) free of the gym.

Training begins with a cardio-vascular test involving 25 minutes running, walking or biking. “A full health check is first where we’re looking for any red flags,” Tascher said. “It gives us a really good overview on the cardiovascular health of a client.”

Altheus stresses the whole body working as a well-oiled machine, including the need for proper nutrition. The company’s programs, plus personal goals like running a marathon, walking a mile or driving the green, lead to a customized plan for managing the human physical plant. And that, in turn, leads to what Tascher called “a three- to four-month training program designed to really get them rolling.”

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– By Robin Jovanovich –

Since its start in 2002, Altheus, the Advanced Health and Performance Center at 2 Clinton Avenue, has offered an individualized approach to fitness, building its business slowly and solidly. But in recent months, Altheus founders Michael Eck and Tom Crawford have pumped up their initial plan, hiring big name talent and now rolling out their personal training model at other clubs.

Altheus’ CEO and principal Marc Tascher, one of the founders of NY Health Club, was brought in last year. He came with almost 30 years of success in the commercial health club business. Rocco Greco, Vice President of Operations, was running The Gym, the most successful personal training center in New York City, when he was asked to come on board in January.

“Our goal is to expand core programming as we add new approaches, classes and programs,” said Tascher. Altheus has added new equipment, redone its second floor and given its massage therapy area a spa-like feel. Many take advantage of their physical therapy program.

The tennis program is run by former USTA president Rick Ferman. Skip Latella, Director of Golf, has over 25 years of experience working with professional athletes and recently patented a biomechanical approach for the golf swing.

The facility offers a range in classes, from cardio to sculpt to spin to endurance training. New classes in yoga and Pilates have been added by popular demand.

Classes are built around the personalities of the instructors, added Tascher. “We have people coming from 80 miles away.”

LOCAL INNOVATIVE COMPANY ALTHEUS HEALTH AND SPORT ANNOUNCES REGIONAL ROLLOUT

Altheus Health and Sport, founded in 2002, announced a major regional expansion in April, 2008. A distinguished team of fitness industry management professionals led by Marc Tascher will expand the Altheus brand through a strategic partnership with Healthtrax Fitness and Wellness, an upscale chain of full service health and sports clubs with 16 current locations. Altheus is also currently exploring a variety of additional partnerships and locations.

Co-founders Michael Eck and Dr. Tom Crawford created the model of “teaching and coaching the complete human being” as a response to the traditional health club model. Mr. Eck, Chairman, was “we saw an opportunity to take personal coaching to the next level, so we created our own integrated program for individuals. The response was immediate and very positive.”

The Altheus model recognizes that every person is different. Its professional team takes into account the unique physiological, nutritional and  behavioral  needs of each client, works with the client to design the program, and delivers the results that most people want but few achieve. The Altheus market is broad and attracts people of all levels of fitness, from non-exercisers to professional athletes, children through adults. Referrals come mostly from word of mouth and physicians looking for a safe and effective professional program.

Dr. Crawford, the former Director of Coaching for the US Olympics and Senior Director of the National Institute for Fitness and Sport describes the Altheus approach as “giving each of our clients access to a team of professionals with expertise in strength and conditioning, nutrition, exercise, physiology, psychology, massage and physical therapy. This allows our coaching staff the ability to solve virtually any health or sport challenge that a client may have. We also extend the core expertise to the lifelong sports of tennis, golf and endurance sports such as cycling, triathlon and running. We change people’s lives by both educating our clients and helping them reach their goals.”

Both Eck and Crawford feel incredibly fortunate to bring Marc Tascher and his management team on board who understand the direction and growth potential at Altheus. Marc Tascher, a leading entrepreneur and club industry veteran brings over 34 years of experience in the health club industry, having co-founded and then served as Chairman and CEO of Town Sports International, Inc. (“TSI”), the parent company of New York Sports Clubs. During Tascher’s 22 year tenure at TSI, the company grew to become the largest and most profitable regional chain in the Northeast. Tascher is also a principal shareholder and Board member of Crunch Fitness making up a total of over 33 locations in the U.S.

When initially introduced to the Altheus model by Eck and Crawford, Tascher saw an incredible growth opportunity. Tascher says that “Altheus is a successful free standing program catering to the very competitive Westchester, Fairfield and Metro markets.  The Altheus model was client-centered from the outset and the program’s effectiveness and high client retention is the result of several years of painstaking hands-on development by an unmatched professional team. Where else can you find a single site business with nine professionals who are leaders in their fields of expertise? Initially developed as a response to what doesn’t work in most health clubs, our program is now ready for the commercial club market too. By combining what we know about results-oriented programs with our management team’s 75 years of commercial club experience, we have created a product that can work equally well in both a boutique environment and a full service health club. The time is right to introduce our model to the rest of the country. By partnering with Healthtrax, the leaders in the medical fitness arena, Altheus will be providing the same superior fitness staffing, fitness services and personal training to the Healthtrax members. Healthtrax members of all ages, with many varying needs will learn how to combine nutrition, strength and cardio and will have access to our special programs for sports  specific goals and specific medical and health needs, from injury recovery to weight loss.”

Tascher comments “Healthtrax couldn’t be a better partner for us. They attract members that most clubs fail to reach--those seeking a higher level of service and more professionalism. Their clubs are beautifully designed and appointed, and the synergy between our two companies is as good as it gets.” Bob Stauble, co-founder and Chief Development Officer of Healthtrax noted, “This partnership with Altheus allows us to stay focused on our core business strengths and continue to grow regionally and nationally, with full confidence that our members and clients are very well cared for. We believe that the Altheus brand, its programs and its approach to service will set us apart from our competitors.”

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