Community Highlights: Meet Peter Rizzardi of Real Fitness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Rizzardi.

Hi peter, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My business partner, Lucho Franco and I started Real Fitness 12 years ago. We met each other 2 years prior when we get a job running a fitness equipment showroom in Beverly Hills. Lucho had been a personal trainer in LA for over 15 years at that time and I had recently moved to LA. My fitness background was I had been a college track and field athlete and coached high school track plus led athletes in off season strength work. Lucho had been a bodybuilder in the prime era of the Los Angeles bodybuilding scene plus a full time personal trainer. We became good friends working together as we shared a love of fitness and had different backgrounds to learn from. We saw an opportunity to open a small training studio as this was the time when Crossfit, and other group class based facilities were becoming more popular.

Our idea was a studio for personal training and group classes that would provide adults of all fitness levels a place to get stronger, become more athletic and have fun in the process. We opened Real Fitness in Playa del Rey in May of 2013 as two brand new business owners. This was also my first time ever working in an actual gym. Fitness had always been a part time thing for me as I coached high school track after I got off work from my corporate jobs in Seattle.

Over the years Real Fitness has evolved into a strength training based facility that serves all ages, we have a program for 10 years olds and we have members in their 70s with all ages in between. Our two main programs are large group classes that have a maximum of 16 people and small group personal training that has a maximum of 4 people. Our small group personal training has became a very popular program over the last few years as it’s essentially personal training done in a small group. Each member get’s their own individual workout on an app where they can track all their weights and reps. This allows our coaches to work with people who are lifting weights for the first time and have someone who’s been strength training for years in the same session and they both get a personalized session with hands on coaching. All at a much lower cost than traditional personal training but the workout experience is the same.

We pride ourselves on high level coaching and emphasize consistent staff education to keep our coaches top notch. We want everyone who walks in the door to feel confident that they’re in good hands to help them reach their fitness goals, plus look forward to each workout. Fitness in 2025 can be an intimidating landscape to navigate with so many options and opinions on social media. Our goal is to simplify the process, make people feel comfortable in the gym and provide a place where they can forget their busy Los Angeles lives and just let our coaches guide them through a challenging and fun workout that will leave them feeling stronger and fitter.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. As brand new business owners we’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. We had to learn how to hire and train quality trainers. How to run group fitness classes as we had both never led those before. The bigger challenges also came during the covid lockdown as we had to find ways to continue to generate income to pay rent while the gym was ordered to be closed. During that time we did regular online classes on Zoom, held workouts in the park and the beach, plus visited people’s homes to train them in their yards. Our building was also sold during this time and we were without a lease. So add on we were also dealing with other businesses coming in to look at possibly taking over our spot as the new building owners had it open to the highest bidder. We were able to secure a new 10 year lease (our rent did triple) and we’ve been able to build our business back stronger post covid lockdown and found a way to thrive in the new price increases.

I’d also add that all of the mistakes we’ve made along the way have been the best teaching moments. We’ve learned how to hire better trainers after dealing with those who weren’t the best fit. Nothing worse than getting a call at 8:00am on a Sunday morning with members asking why the gym is closed when there’s supposed to be a class (yes that happened). We’ve learned that the feedback that can cut the most (a member walking out of a class our first year and told me to my face “this class sucks”) is indeed a great opportunity to learn why the class sucks haha.

I’ve also dealt with getting a phone call that a truck hit the gym. I’m walking down to the gym thinking I’ll see a truck that had hit the gym trying to park and maybe some slight exterior damage. What I walked up to was a truck sitting inside our gym after it had hit the curb at 50mph and went airborne through our window. Somehow nobody, not even the dirver was hurt.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Real Fitness is a gym that focuses on strength training for adults of all fitness levels. Many of our clients who come in have never lifted a weight before and our goal is to help them become more confident and comfortable in the gym as they work towards getting stronger and fitter. We offer personal training in small groups of 4 which allows people to take part in private training at a lower cost than traditional personal training, while still getting the same quality private training session. We pride ourselves in constantly educating and participating in hands on learning with our staff to make sure we’re always providing top notch training to every member. We also provide a good mix of group classes that are not the standard bootcamp style classes many people are used to. Our strength training group classes are set up to provide an actual training experience where members can consistently work on improving on exercises, rather then doing random workouts every time. We also provide fun cross training classes such as boxing and our Everyday Athlete class which is designed for the adult recreational athlete who wants to continue staying active outside the gym for as long as possible.

What I love about our gym is seeing people who came in feeling intimidated by gyms and strength training to eventually learning to master their workouts and not just setting new PR’s in their workouts, but also enjoying a new level of confidence in life as they’ve made staying strong and fit a regular part of their routine.

We offer an intro trial of two weeks of unlimited small group personal training for all new members for $99. We also offer a free intro workout / consultation to anyone curious about our services. These are both great ways to test the waters and see if our gym will be a good fit for your fitness goals and schedule.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see people valuing in person experiences more and more as technology (especially AI) continues to evolve. The digital world takes up such a big chunk of many of our professional and personal lives, having healthy escapes from it will be more in demand. Having a space where you can interact and workout with your peers face to face will be more in demand as what’s real and what’s not online get’s harder to decipher. Physical spaces will always be real and a breath of fresh air.

Strength training has taken the forefront in fitness as one of the keys to a longer, healthier life. I see this building more and ideally become more accessible to people of a wider range of ages, abilities and incomes. 10 years ago everyone who walked in the gym said they want to lose 10lbs. Now almost everyone comes in saying they want to get stronger. This is awesome and we want to keep helping these people reach their goals.

I also see a rise in recreational activities outside the gym as more people strength train. This newfound strength unlocks the freedom for people to feel youthful again and have the confidence to play more sports or do more activities like hiking and biking in their spare time. The more screen free activities we can add to our routine the better.

Pricing:

• first two weeks on unlimited small group personal training for $99
• first two weeks on unlimited group classes for $49

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rftrain.com
• Instagram: realfitness_playadelrey
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realfitnesspdr/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/real-fitness-playa-del-rey