Fitness Together Launches New Space in Ellicott City

Not everyone goes to the gym to see and be seen. In fact, often a gym experience can come with expensive and long-term monetary commitments, waits for equipment and little motivation, resulting in results that are less-than-satisfactory.

Fitness Together takes a different approach, one that they say will get you the results you want, without the hassle that keeps people from the gym. Newly opened in the Frederick Crossing shopping center at the corner of Frederick Road and St. John’s Lane, Fitness Together offers only one-on-one personal training sessions.

This concept is reflected in the fact that they do not charge membership fees or monthly fees.  The client purchases a package of training one hour sessions (the smallest being 24), and the goal is to come in two to three times a week for an hour.

“It’s all about the client,” explains owner Joan Schnorf.  “It’s about pulling together the aerobic, anaerobic and nutrition – the whole package – and focusing on the individual.”

Fitness Together was previously under the ownership of Rob Coombs, and located on Chevrolet Drive.  The first thing Schnorf wanted to do was find a location with better visibility, but stay close to the old location in order to maintain existing clients.  Since the Grand Opening on April 29 she reports that they have been getting a lot of traffic and inquiries.

Before she purchased this franchise, Schnorf was a client herself.  She still is.  “I started working out in 2008…and last year found myself with the time to look forward into the next third of my life.  What was that going to be?  What would it look like?  Purchasing Fitness Together felt like a fit.”

Fitness Together markets that it provides the “right strength, cardio and nutrition approaches all working together. Our proprietary systems work in harmony, utilizing the most current science for a complete fitness solution” according to its literature. 

What this means is that as a client, you visit the new studio for an hour at a time.  For the first 15 minutes you warm up on one of the treadmills or similar in the exercise room.  For the next 45 minutes you work in one of the three private studios with your exclusive one-on-one trainer, with the program that you have designed together.

The trainers are called “fitness coaches” and all are certified by one or more nationally recognized institutions that focus on atheletic trainers.  They all also have their undergraduate degrees in a related field.  Currently there are five trainers on site.  Their expertise runs from weights loss, strength training, body building, power lifting, and Crossfit to nutrition and importance of health and fitness from a holistic point. 

Manager and fitness coach Felicia Farace sums it up, saying that “helping people achieve their fitness goals is my passion and …I believe that I can and will make a positive difference in my client's lives. Fitness must be incorporated into one's daily life. As a personal trainer and fitness coach, I am committed to ensuring that my clients not only meet, but exceed their goals."