By Dakota Antelman, Managing Editor
HUDSON – The international chain F45 Fitness is coming to Hudson this year thanks in part to one lifelong health care professional’s want to help people develop healthier lifestyles and reduce the chances of developing chronic medical issues.
Indeed, says Principal and Operator Linda Belsanti, F45 is as much a health and wellness community as it is a fitness studio.
“Our goal is to give a heart pumping workout,” she said in a recent interview. “But we are were so much more than that”
F45 was founded in 2011 in Australia. Since then, its network has grown to include close to 2,000 fitness studios in roughly a dozen countries.
Belsanti’s Hudson location comes as one of two new locations in Massachusetts, joining eight other studios already in operation here.
Likewise, this growing brand arrives in town after getting a recent star power boost from beloved Boston actor Mark Wahlberg, whose investment company bought a stake in F45 back in 2019.
Belsanti believes in the brand she’s now happy to join.
“Classes are geared towards all levels of fitness from the, from the beginner to to the advanced,” she said, touting the presence of nationally certified personal trainers in F45 studios.
“It’s like getting personalized training in a group setting.”
Prior to this new entrepreneurial chapter in her life, Belsanti spent 20 years as a nurse at Mass General Hospital in Boston.
Through that work, she said, she saw room for society at large to improve patterns of preventative care and general best practices for health.
“When I started toying with the idea of opening a fitness studio, it was because I really felt that there needs to be more resources and outlets and support to help people to improve and maintain their health before it results in something else,” she said.
“The doctor will say ‘Go exercise more,’” she added. “Well, that’s not really prescriptive.”
F45 gives customers concrete ways to get that exercise, breaking classes down into a series of accessible but challenging workouts.
“Some people are looking to lose body fat,” Belsanti said. “Some people are looking to gain muscle mass. Really based on what your goal is, we help you along your fitness journey.”
F45 Hudson isn’t open yet. But Belsanti is excited for the day that she gets to fling open the doors of her new studio for customers and her elite team of trainers alike.
A local resident and a longtime nurse, all this is personal.
“I thought that bringing this to the community of Hudson, into my community, would help give people the resources to live a better life and take charge of their health,” she said.
F45 Hudson is located at 2 Highland Commons East in Hudson. Individuals can learn more at F45Training.com/Hudson
