Santa Fe Athletic Co. is new to the city’s fitness scene—the self-described functional training center just opened in January. But owner and head trainer David Padilla says the idea was several years in the making. “I’ve always wanted to do my own thing,” says Padilla, who has been an instructor for more than a decade, teaching at Fitness Boot Camp Santa Fe, which was started by his cousins. Santa Fe Athletic Co. began on paper, “narrowing down exactly what we wanted to do,” and then continued to evolve once Padilla found the Warner Street location. “Initially, we weren’t looking at such a big space,” Padilla says of the 4,000-square-foot gym. “But the opportunity was there with the owners of the building, and it was such an ideal space, we changed our business plan and business model.”
SFAC will host our first MIX of 2019: mightyMIX, 6-8 p.m., Thursday, March 21. An orientation for bizMIX 2019 will also be held at the gym from 5 to 6 p.m.
SFAC provides a variety of options for members. Its functional training center—or open gym—includes myriad equipment, including a squat station rig, rubber plates, dumbbells, rings, battle ropes, tires, slides, and aConcept2 rower and skier. This allows members to use the equipment for their own personalized workouts, as well as a place to work with personalized trainers for specific sports training.
“Sports is a big element when it comes to to the gym itself,” says Padilla, a St. Michael’s High School graduate who grew up playing football, basketball, baseball and track. “We wanted to do a bunch of sport specific conditioning.”
Group classes include strength and conditioning; yoga; TRX Core Sculpt, as well as other classes that will continue to be added to the roster. “The dream was to have all the modalities under one roof,” Padilla says. “And we’re technically not there with everything, but it’s getting there.”
Padilla also emphasizes that the gym is open to all, regardless of their fitness goals. “It always depends on the individuals and individual health and fitness goals,” he says. “We offer so may different things when it comes to strength classes, or our yoga classes, so whether it’s a sports-specific type of training, everyone’s goal is kind of different and depending on what it is, our fitness facility will help them meet those goals.”
Padilla says he personally experienced the transformation of working across modalities as a trainer and instructor. “It totally changed me, the way I personally train myself. If you’re ingrained in the fitness community, then you’re changing and growing on a regular basis, learning new modalities, new techniques, and sometimes even getting rid of old techniques that aren’t as efficient.”
Attendees to the March 21 mightyMIX will have the opportunity to see some of SFAC’s trainers in action, with a Steel Maces demo, along with an “Atomic Push Up” challenge. SFAC also is offering a special MIX promotion so attendees can purchase class passes at three for $30, five for $40, or seven for $56.