- April 19, 2024
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It’s all business inside the confines of Elite Strength and Performance.
BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR
Old school rock-and-roll blasted through the speakers, but the music was mostly drowned out by the grunts of the lifters and the clanking of the weights as they were slammed back into the racks or onto the ground.
It was a blistering Saturday morning, but several athletes and weightlifters were hard at work at Elite Strength and Performance, a strength and conditioning facility located off U.S. 1.
And for owner Richard Pinelli, a hectic day in his hangar-style facility is a good day at the office.
Pinelli opened Elite Strength Performance in November 2012, and over the last seven months, he has seen his facility grow exponentially.
“It’s mostly been by word of mouth,” Pinelli said Saturday, as his two clients finished their sessions.
Even though anyone willing to pay for private or group sessions is welcome, Pinelli said his workouts aren’t for the faint of heart. His clients run the gamut: professional athletes like Flagler Palm Coast’s Mardy Gilyard, to mixed-martial arts fighters, to ordinary people who are challenging their bodies in extraordinary ways.
He also does team training for local youth and high school teams.
Most of the training takes place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He has some individual clients on the weekends, but he also rents out his space to CrossFit classes, too. CrossFit is a fitness company and exercise program practiced at affiliated gyms throughout the United States.
Glynne Pascal and Corrine Butcher finished their workout around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The duo has been training with Pinelli on Saturdays for about three months. Both participate in other workout regimens, too, but they said they have seen the best results working with Pinelli.
“He’s very good at figuring out your fitness level and then pushing you a little bit further,” Butcher said of Pinelli. “You feel really empowered, and he really pushes you to do things that you never thought were possible.”
As part of tradition, Pascal ended her session on the heavy punching bag. Typically, sessions last about an hour, but Saturday’s went a little longer.
Pascal and Butcher were OK with that.
Pascal said closing out with the heavy bag helps her work out frustration and personal issues.
“My mom was sick for a while, and the heavy bag helped me exorcise the demons,” she said.
Pinelli, who graduated with degree in exercise physiology from West Virginia University, said he has about 30 routine clients now. He expects that to continue to grow over time as people get more familiar with what he offers.
But make no mistake: If you’re not willing to put in the work, then Pinelli probably isn’t willing to put in the work, either.
“If you don’t want to work out hard, then there’s no reason to be here,” he said.
The best part of his facility compared to a gym, Pinelli said, is you don’t have to worry about rules. Lifters can be as loud or as quiet as they want.
“It’s an open environment,” he said.
And it’s an environment that slings around weight to the tunes of Aerosmith and AC/DC.
Search “Elite Strength and Performance” on Facebook.
For more information or to make an appointment, contact Pinelli at 405-8410 or email [email protected].
