NEW FAIRFIELD – The New Fairfield branch of EarthFIT, a handful of fitness studios based on a program of the same name, opened its doors to the Girl Scouts last week.
Five members of a local group of Girl Scouts, New Fairfield’s troop 50704, visited EarthFIT on Jan. 29; the Senior scouts, Annie, Elizabeth, Emma, Gillian, and Paige, worked with Seana Hart, personal trainer and owner of the studio, to complete a requirement for obtaining the Cross-Training Badge, awarded to scouts who demonstrate the ability to pursue and maintain a multifaceted athletic and fitness regimen.
By attending the studio for what was described as an “entrepreneurial session,” the girls completed the first of six criteria—setting a cross-training goal—necessary to obtain the badge, one of the patches in the Girl Scouts’ Legacy badge set. Visiting Monday afternoon, the scouts spent about an hour and 15 minutes with Hart, a former teacher and a certified fitness instructor, utilizing the EarthFIT system to develop personal health and fitness goals, both physical and emotional or mental, into tangible life objectives.
“We offer individualized personal training for each person depending on their goals and depending on what they want to achieve long term,” said Hart of the system. “We have a unique system of doing that… It’s very scientific, it’s very efficient, it’s very effective, it’s safe… And, it’s life changing. It’s transformational.”
EarthFIT’s training program is billed as a holistic health system: It’s meant to promote the health and wellbeing of clients on both a physical and psychological level, engendering the confidence necessary to help them achieve their personal goals, the notion of EarthFIT’s instructors being that physical, emotional, and mental health are interdependent. It also benefits trainees with its flexibility: The program is dynamic, as instructors can mould it to meet the unique aspirations and needs of their clients.
“We can’t see physical transformation until we see the mental-emotional component addressed. So, we hit that too,” said Hart. “As a Holistic Coach, I help clients with the mental and emotional aspects of transformation.”
Regardless of what makes the EarthFIT system worthwhile, it appears to have gained traction: Hart states that the number of clients at EarthFIT studios has roughly doubled every year since the system was first established, and that the Fairfield County studio, located off Connecticut Route 39, has witnessed significant growth since it was opened some four years ago.
Its growing popularity certainly attracted the scouts, who spent their time at the studio going through a holistic health assessment, an evaluation given to every EarthFIT client: After a brief introduction to Hart’s business and the essentials of EarthFIT system, she discussed with the girls their personal goals and values, as well as the importance of positive thinking, including self-affirmation, self-confidence, and self-love. Then, Hart moved on to the physical fitness portion of the assessment, going over “three primal pattern functional movements” to help them maintain proper posture and form while engaging in exercise and sports, so as to prevent unnecessary injuries. Lastly, she had the scouts use the studio’s InBody Body Composition Analyzer, a hi-tech machine which measures and displays a variety of data on the user’s physical condition, namely fat content, lean body mass, skeletal muscle mass, water content, resting metabolic rate, and mineral content.
“I learned so much, and had a lot of fun,” said Emma, one of the scouts in attendance.
Hart herself was delighted to oblige: “The girls were very receptive,” she said, “It was a great session!”
Hart, a native of New Fairfield, had been teaching Spanish and French at Broadview Middle School in nearby Danbury for about eight years before she decided to open up the Connecticut branch of the EarthFIT. During that time she had already been working part-time as a personal trainer, and had opened separate a business—Hart Dance and Fitness, which would act as something of a springboard for her transition to owner of New Fairfield’s EarthFIT—along that line. The sister of Ian Hart, also a personal trainer, as well as the founder of the EarthFIT concept, several years ago Seana visited her brother in South Carolina, where for a few months she trained with him and learned the system for herself before returning to Connecticut to open her own EarthFIT studio.
Hart’s brother, whom she describes as “one of the top trainers in the country,” founded EarthFIT 10 years ago, and still maintains its primary location in Beaufort, South Carolina. Hart states that the EarthFIT system has “exploded” since then, and that alongside the possibility of franchising the system, she and her brother are seeking to expand the business to White Plains, NY, and, if possible, beyond.
A third EarthFIT studio is located in Habersham, South Carolina, a small community attached to the aforementioned Beaufort.
While EarthFIT’s clientele is mostly established by referral, Hart welcomes anyone who would like to reach out to the New Fairfield studio: You can learn more about the EarthFIT system and the studio by visiting www.earthfitnf.com.
By Ryan Stewart, College Intern