Getting pumped at Glen Cove's new Max Challenge

For many people seeking to improve their fitness, the biggest obstacle isn’t physical; it’s mental. At most of the gyms that she had tried, Kim Cowan, 43, said, “You were just kind of there in a class on your own.” Glen Cove’s newest gym, the Max Challenge, at 87 Forest Ave, across from the Regency, which celebrated its ribbon cutting on Sept. 13, tackles that challenge head on.

Matilde Tyzs, 51, who co-owns The Max Challenge of Glen Cove with her cousin, said that the fitness center’s philosophy is holistic. “It’s about our members transforming not just physically” Tyzs said, “but emotionally as well.”

That transformation begins the minute a client walks in the door, according to Cowan, with the friendly atmosphere. “They make you feel proud that you even got out of bed and made it there,” she said.

Then, before the exercise starts, the trainer shares a story about their own “fitness journey,” which is intended to inspire clients, Tyzs said. “It’s empowering,” she added, to know that a trainer didn’t start out in shape, but they had to work for it.

Before the exercise begins — it consists of planks, jumping jacks, jogging in place, and other aerobic and muscle building routines — participants are partnered up. Cowan, who lives in Oceanside, said that working with another partner helped keep her going. “It’s very encouraging. It makes you feel like you’re not alone and you have people that can support you through this.”

Partners change from session to session, she added, “so you get to know everybody in the class. It’s a team-building thing.”

Tyzs recalled her first time experiencing the Max Challenge approach in 2016. She said that one thing her trainer said in her first session had stuck with her — “Nothing changes if nothing changes.”

“On a corporate level,” Tyzs said, “the Max Challenge is community based. We feel that we need to support the community, so that the community will support us.”

To that end, she has taken the past six months, really entrenching herself and the gym’s brand into the fabric of the Glen Cove community. The gym was one of the vendor-sponsors of the city’s 350 Anniversary Celebration in May and the Downtown Sounds summer concert series. Tyzs has donated several 10-week passes to organizations like the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce to help with their fundraising efforts. And she is working with the school district’s Parent Teacher Association to hammer out the details of a deal in which the gym would donate $100 for each PTA member who joins.

On the client side of things, Cowan said that while she’s only been to a few sessions so far — the gym has only been offering classes for a few weeks — “I’ve never been to a gym that’s as motivating as this one.” She added, “You get very pumped when you’re in there, I don’t know how else to explain it.”