Features

Local gym hosts first fitness expo

After coming under new management in February, AJ Canonico and Michael Genadri, co-owners of Harrison Strength & Fitness, held their first expo to show fitness enthusiasts what businesses in and around Harrison have to offer.

AJ Canonico, co-owner of Harrison Strength & Fitness.

On Aug. 26, more than 50 interested locals came to Harrison Strength & Fitness, HSF, located at 75 Calvert St., to experience cooking presentations, learn about nutritional supplements and observe fitness demonstrations.

“I was just surprised at how many businesses and people were providing these types of [health] services right in downtown Harrison,” Canonico told the Review.

One of the vendors included Susan Saccardo, a representative for Juice Plus+, a chewable supplement that provides the consumer with nutrition from fruits and vegetables.

“[Juice Plus+ is] designed to bridge the gap in our nutrition from what we do eat every day to what we should eat every day,” she said.

Saccardo, who has been a personal trainer for 15 years, said she began working for Juice Plus+ after feeling like nutrition was lacking from her business.

“I felt it was important for me to be part of [the expo] because we’re geared towards helping educate the community about the benefits of whole food nutrition,” she said. “The more people we talk to, the more of an impact we can make.”

Along with nutritional supplements, AJ Fusco, a local chef and firefighter who runs a healthy eating blog at ForkandHoseCo.com, put on a cooking demonstration in collaboration with Down to Earth Farmers Markets, a company that brings local vendors together for weekly farmers markets during the spring and summer.

The first Harrison Strength & Fitness expo brought in more than 50 people.

Kate Cascone, Down to Earth Market’s territory manager for Westchester County, said its mission was to emphasize the importance of buying local produce and supporting local farmers markets.

The audience learned how to make Fusco’s Romesco sauce and received recipe cards detailing how to recreate the sauce.

“Shopping farmers markets is a different experience, we found it was helpful to people to have recipes and cooking demos to highlight that,” said Dacotah Rousseau, marketing and communications manager for Down to Earth Markets.

Derrick De La Cruz, an independent personal trainer, joined the mix of health enthusiasts to talk about the Hybrid Strength Club, a class that incorporates high intensity movements and strength training for people ages 18 and up.

“I want everyone to realize that everyone is strong in their own unique way,” De La Cruz said. “I want people to realize they’re capable of doing more than they think they can do, as long as they put their mind to it.”

De La Cruz’s classes will take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays at HSF.

Visitors of the expo learn about FOCUSAID, a beverage intended to help create mental clarity and aid in focus. Photos courtesy AJ Canonico

Meanwhile, the facility also offers fitness programs including CrossFit, a workout with varied, high-intensity movements, training for Strongman competitions, a contest where contestants lift heavy, everyday objects over long distances to determine the World’s Strongest Man, and a Run Club led by Canonico, which helps improve members’ running.

Although first established back in 2012, Canonico referred to the HSF event as a “grand opening” for him and Genadri, and believed it was a success overall.

He said that after speaking with the businesses involved, they plan to host the expo next year.

“I hope that people were equally as surprised as we were to find how much there is available in terms of the variety of health and wellness providers [in Harrison],” Canonico said. “[There is] truly something for everyone.”