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Meet Ted Giannakis of Freestyle Fitness in South Pasadena

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ted Giannakis.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Fitness and wellness has always been my passion. For as long as I can remember, I have always been involved in doing different sports, from soccer to triathlons to mountain biking and everything in between. So, going into fitness was my choice to make a living by doing what I love, and I feel very blessed to be able to do exactly that. After receiving my BA in Physical Education, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in personal training because I wanted to help individuals achieve their fitness goals and improve the quality of their lives while doing so. My experience as a personal trainer started in Chicago over 20 years ago and continued in the Westside of LA where I trained clients of all ages and fitness levels for about 15 years. It has been such a joy to see the positive impact and effect you can have on someone’s life by sharing your passion and ever-growing knowledge with people who need your guidance and support to make the necessary changes in their lives in order to look, feel and live better. For many years, I was fortunate to travel throughout the world with clients who relied on my expertise to help them improve their overall wellness and fitness and break through plateaus while being on the road during demanding, high-stress business conditions.

After becoming a father in 2012, I decided that traveling and being away from my growing family was not something that I wanted, so my wife, Lucy, and I started looking into finding a business in the fitness industry to buy. After we searched for almost a year we found what we thought was a good opportunity and purchased Mission Street Yoga. We fell in love with the beautiful community of South Pasadena and thought it would fit well with our growing family and allow us to set roots. It was serendipitous in the way that we both had just completed our Yoga teacher certifications the previous year and we felt that finding this little gem of a yoga studio, which was in need of much TLC, was exactly what we were looking for.

My passion for all that is fitness and wellness as well as my ambition to create something special to share with this community inspired me to create Freestyle Fitness, which we opened in 2015, 2 years after we bought Mission Street Yoga.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We purchased Mission Street Yoga studio in 2013, exactly half a year after our first son was born, and poured our life savings and heart and sweat into it. In the past four years, we have done everything and worked tirelessly (many times going without a day off for months) to turn the business around from the anemic state it was in when we purchased it into a thriving yoga studio. We opened this second business – Freestyle Fitness – within the Yoga studio premises, in 2015 (at the same time as our second son was born. We like to keep ourselves on our toesJ) to bring in more revenue, to share in the overhead costs, to maximize capacity, and, above all, to bring this transformative, effective and fun fitness program to life. It was the perfect solution for me to continue my lifelong passion and expertise in fitness by bringing it to this wonderful community in South Pasadena. My wife and I have been working so hard on building both businesses and we, finally, see a little momentum. The first couple of years were, definitely, challenging and filled with hurdles that we overcame one by one, with much patience, love and perseverance. There have been countless lessons learned along the way and we feel we have grown to know and understand our customers’ needs really well. We are always eager to listen to customer feedback and truly pride ourselves in our unparalleled customer service. We try our best to be accommodating and understanding and to bring the right offerings to the community in order to help everyone achieve their fitness and wellness goals in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Freestyle Fitness is a premier fitness studio with an emphasis on Heart Rate based group training. We focus on utilizing our trainers’ and coaches’ expertise to enable our clients to reach their goals. Our workouts are based on FMT (Functional Movement Training). We use progression and regression to scale the exercises performed to meet the level of all the students in the class. You can expect to safely be challenged in every workout but always based on your own heart rate and ability.

Science and research has shown us that Interval training is the most effective and efficient way to maximizing results. While utilizing our heart rate monitoring system with each participant, our Signature Freestyle Interval 40-minute small group session consists of a warm-up, High intensity interval training and a much needed cool down. We use rowing machines, trampolines and rotational body weight trainers as well as full-body functional exercises that change from day to day to ensure maximum improvements.

A full body, transformational, FUN, challenging workout, lots of sweat, and lots of smiles when it’s over. Our classes are intense and offer a challenge to any fitness level – whether this is the first time you’ve walked through our studio door or you’re an athlete. Trust us, you will LOVE this workout, how fast the time flies and the sense of community you’ll feel. You’ll walk out with a smile on your face, a sense of empowerment and a body that will keep on burning fat and calories for many hours to come. Look forward to that afterburn! Both your body and mind will thank you!

As a trainer, I am always eager to learn and continue to educate myself on the latest and most effective methods to achieve overall fitness. I am a true fitness and wellness enthusiast and I have put all of this passion and knowledge from over two decades of both personal and professional experience in the field, into this exciting, transformational and fun, heart-rate based, HIIT program at Freestyle Fitness. We optimize our clients’ wellness through a highly effective signature combination of scientific fitness principles that include personalization and functional-movement training. We use systematic training cycles based on each person’s individual needs to ensure safe and effective training for any fitness level. This is what I believe sets us apart, the individualized, specifically tailored to a customer’s fitness level program with their own personal goals in mind. We adapt and apply different methodologies to meet these needs as they vary from person to person. This is what also produces the best and most lasting results. Whether your goal is to be an elite level athlete or just feel better in day-to-day life, we have the tools to get you there.

What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
I think of the future of Freestyle Fitness with great excitement and am looking forward to continue on our already great start and build an even stronger community that will be a place where people feel welcomed and supported to achieve their goals. We also offer personal training with tangible results since we use a 3D scanner to measure success, and we are excited to share this great technology along with our expertise with more and more people. And in the near future we will have a habit-based nutritional program in place to complement our offerings. Freestyle Fitness is and will continue to be about lifetime fitness, building habit and teaching techniques for long-term wellness.

Pricing:

  • NEW STUDENT SPECIAL: First Month Introduction – $79* o One month of classes o One FREE Fit3D Body Scan (taken during first month) o One heart rate monitor rental fee of $3 waived. *1 class per day limit. Reservation required. ANT+ Heart rate monitor required. Rentals available for $3.00 per use.
  • FIRST CLASS FREE
  • MEMBERSHIPS: o With 3 Month contract: Autopay after contract. 30-day cancellation notice required.  GOLD 8X a Month – $155  PLATINUM 1 Month All Access – $225 (1 class/day)  BASIC 4X a Month – $95 o No contract:  PLATINUM 1 Month All Access – $249 (1 class/day) o 1 Class add-on – $18 for Basic, Gold & Platinum Members
  • CLASSES: o 1 Class – $25 (currently on sale) o 10 Pack – $300 (expires 6 months from purchase)
  • PERSONAL TRAINING: o 1 session – $95 o 8 Pack – $720
  • 30-DAY PROGRAM: o Option A $829:  2 Personal Training Sessions/Week -$680  Platinum 1 Month Unlimited – $149 (100 off)  discuss with your trainer and assess your goals  Fit 3D scan at the beginning and end of the month to track progress  expires 30 days from activation
  • Option B $549:  1 Personal Training Session/Week -$340  Platinum 1 Month Unlimited – $209 ($40 off)  discuss with your trainer and assess your goals  Fit 3D scan at the beginning and end of the month to track progress  expires 30 days from activation

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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