Cheers rang out from a group of young women at the sparkling fitness studio in northern Los Gatos, May 25.
One of them, 36-year-old Cibele Menezes, had just received word from the SPENGA head office in Chicago they’d officially certified her to teach at their gyms.
“I just passed an audition, so I’m going to be coaching,” she announced. “This is my passion.”
It was a glorious moment to cap off an exciting evening for Dan Waters and Mike Potenza, as they’d invited wellness brands from around the region to participate in the ribbon-cutting for their new franchise at 15505 Los Gatos Blvd.
The festivities included free B12 shots from one provider, giveaways of water bottles, a yoga mat and other health-related gear, free red and white wine and fresh-cooked tacos.
Melissa Hutchinson, the assistant manager of Urban Remedy, said SPENGA asked them to come in to showcase their organic and vegan nutrition options.
She said attendees seemed eager to make lifestyle improvements.
“Everybody wants to be healthy,” she said. “Vegan is the way to go. It’s the medicine.”
Dr. Renee Young, the founder of the Young Naturopathic Center, who’s lived in town for two decades, said she felt it was important to support the launch of a new fitness business focused on keeping people healthy, given the shortcomings of American health care.
“Health is so important,” she said. “Our current system is more of a ‘sick care’ instead of a ‘health care’ system.”
The cool thing about SPENGA, she said, is they meld cardiovascular workouts with strength training. The brand-new mats and blocks laid out along the floor pointed to the yoga aspect of the company’s approach to working out.
Getting back in shape after the pandemic will come with massive benefits, she continued.
“Exercise will lower your blood sugar,” Young said. “It will even improve your sex life.”
From what she’s seen, Los Gatos is full of people who support active living.
“It’s a very health-minded community,” she said. “People are looking to get back to life and get fit.”
Potenza says his 16 seasons as director of strength and conditioning for the San Jose Sharks have given him a masterclass in fine-tuning movement, muscle-toning and flexibility.
“It’s very rewarding to work with the high-level athlete in the success of winning games in your quest to win a championship,” he said. “They need the strength element, and they most certainly need the mobility and the flexibility element to reduce the risk of injury.”
These principles translate directly for non-athletes, too, according to the 43-year-old.
“We can do those same types of activities, just at a lower level,” he said. “We very much want to see our members reach their goals.”
Because, when you give people something to strive for, they start to take ownership over their own health, he explained.
“You can motivate through education,” Potenza said. “We want to be on that journey with them. We want to give them all the tools.”
Potenza got to know Waters after their wives met at a playground and hit it off.
Waters comes from the technology industry—he was one of the first Siri employees, before it was acquired by Apple. But the 56-year-old swam and played water polo in college.
After attending Iowa State University for electrical engineering, and then the Kellogg School of Business, he got a job at Motorola.
Over the years, fitness remained a big part of his life, including participating in the Wharf to Wharf road race in Santa Cruz.
“I’ve always wanted to own a gym,” he said. “Here we are.”
But he says he understands how hard it is for people who work long hours in competitive tech jobs to take care of their health properly.
“What happens is you don’t have enough time for yourself. You’re focused on your work,” he said, adding he believes SPENGA’s methodology is a good fit for these folks. “The key is the flow to the workout.”
That’s because, unlike CrossFit, which places more emphasis on heavy-lifting, SPENGA starts with stationary bikes, moves onto strength training and then finishes with a yoga session, he said.
One of the younger attendees at the open house was 9-year-old Jaxon Ojeda, whose mother Adrien recently got a job at the SPENGA location as the front desk manager.
The Marshall Lane Elementary student tells of how she once brought him to a soccer game, causing him to fall in love with the game. Now he plays for Los Gatos United as a goalkeeper and a defender.
“I like to jump around,” he said. “I like to save the soccer balls from going in.”
He knows his mom now has the opportunity to help make a difference in the lives of other families, too.
“It’s really cool. It’s helping people get stronger and stuff,” he said. “It could maybe save your life.
“You can get sick and get viruses and stuff if you don’t exercise.”
Tin Tin Wisniewski, 39, is on the same wavelength.
She heard about SPENGA through a raffle at Lexington Elementary School, where she was serving as a parent volunteer. They’d donated a gift basket, which she ended up winning.
It got her thinking that her stationary bike at home wasn’t cutting it anymore.
“The thing is, at home I have so much distraction—even though the Peloton is right there,” she said. “I really want this going-back-to-the-gym component.”
The Lexington Hills resident says she’s already hooked on working out at the new fitness studio.
“The accountability part is really important to me,” she said. “I have a training partner right across from me.”
This helps motivate her to take her health into her own hands.
“She looks at me and says, ‘OK, let’s do this,’” she said. “It anchors me.”
