Image: Stephanie Jamet Photography
Andrea Fornarola Hunsberger personally responds to every phone call and e-mail that comes into Elements Fitness.
When the inqurier becomes a client, Fornarola Hunsberger, who serves as the founder, director and master trainer of Elements Fitness in East Hampton, continues to take a personal approach.
“When you teach group fitness, you’re a coach, you’re a psychologist,” she said. “You’re not really there to be someone’s friend, but you end up building a strong connection.”
Fornarola Hunsberger has fostered a community-like atmosphere in her studio. Though she now has a team of instructors that help carry some of the workload, she keeps classes small and makes an effort to connect with everyone who walks through the door.
Image: Stephanie Jamet Photography
“Our intent is to create an individual experience in a classroom setting so that you’re getting the benefit of a personal trainer but you don’t have the stress of that,” she said. “It’s hard to have someone watching just you when you work out, analyzing your push-up. It’s difficult, but we’re here to coach you and get you to your goals.”
And because she runs a smaller operation and builds bonds with her clients, Fornarola Hunsberger gets to watch their bodies transform. She recalls one client didn’t even want to purchase barre socks because she didn’t know how long she would do it. Now, she’s on a membership and comes in multiple times a week.
“This is her thing and her body looks different. For me, that’s cool,” Fornarola Hunsberger said.
The genuine, friendly vibe Fornarola Hunsberger exudes is the foundation of her success in East Hampton. She began instructing barre New York City, so she needed to get acclimated to the East End when she opened her studio in May 2014. The first month was slow, but Fornarola Hunsberger didn’t get discouraged— she simply turned up the heat. Elements Fitness shares a parking lot with Soul Cycle, and Fornarola Hunsberger opened the windows and turned up the music.
People couldn’t help but come upstairs and grab schedule cards. The classes were full from Fourth of July weekend to Labor Day.
“[Our clients] rooted for us,” Fornarola Hunsberger said. “Throughout the year, everyone’s been asking me, ‘What’s next? When are you going to be in the city?’ We became part of their daily lives, which is what you want to accomplish when you’re working in fitness.”
What’s next is a second summer for Elements Fitness. The studio will kick off the season Memorial Day weekend with classes, yin yoga, trunk shows, a tea tasting with Big T NYC and Blowouts from Blow Dry Bar.
Fornarola Hunsberger can’t wait to get the gang back together.
“We’re excited to see everybody, so it’s kind of like a big reunion,” she said. “For Memorial Day, we’re treating it as a welcome back. I’ll be teaching as well as the city instructors. Our clients have built good relationships with everybody. They really like us and I worked really hard to build that.”
Elements Fitness Welcome Back Weekend
66 Newtown Lane
East Hampton
Thursday
Blow Dry Bar blowouts start at 3pm
Friday
Maria Malanga, Andrea Fornarola Hunsberger and Magen Banwart teach elements signature classes and yin yoga
Saturday
Maria Malanga, Andrea Fornarola Hunsberger and Magen Banwart teach elements signature classes and yin yoga
Big T NYC tea tasting
Fragrance trunk show with Nomaterra
Sunday
Maria Malanga teaches Elements’s signature barre and dance cardio classes
Juice tasting
Monday
Maria Malanga teaches Elements’s signature barre and dance cardio classes and special restorative yin yoga