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Alpine man doesn’t take excuses when it comes to fitness

NXPT (No Excuses Physi­cal Training) Fitness is more like a lifestyle and its motto is “Excuses are weak.” The “X” sign is used by trainers and cli­ents throughout classes which means no excuses for every­thing fitness and is applicable for everything in life, said Dan Hark, NXPT owner and Alpine resident.

NXPT was founded 10 years ago by Hark at his first San Di­ego location. He developed the concept coming out of fitness jobs in the corporate world as general manager of Fitness Together and master trainer at 24-LA Fitness but felt it was too restraining.

“I wasn’t able to be creative in my location and it placed too many handcuffs on you as a trainer is concerned,” he said.

So Hark went independent, starting with outdoor classes. As the demand and the size of the classes grew, he rented spac­es until he was able to open his own place.

About three years ago, while hiring trainers, he met Hanni­bal Smith, both master trainers, winning competitors in Spartan races, crossfit events and just about everything in between.

“I was hiring trainers and ran into Hannibal through a friend of a friend,” Hark said. “At first we hit it off as he was a great trainer. Little by little we became best friends and now more so brothers. His vision was always to expand so this year we were able to open up the La Mesa location and really branch out to the East County community where we actually both grew up.”

Hark said La Mesa is a hap­py medium being East County enough, it is centralized, and it is up and coming. They wanted to be close to The Village, but off that main artery as possible and La Mesa is continually ex­panding outward, so Hark said it was a perfect fit.

“The main thing that sets us apart is the community,” Hark said. “We have over 20 trainers, but it really does feel more like a family. You get to know your trainers so you get that perfect combination of programs, dy­namic workouts with the mom and pop feel as you see the same trainers consistently over time. They get to know you over time and see what motivates you and it becomes more of an account­ability relationship where you want to show up rather than dreading the gym.”

The base of NXPT Fitness’s services is group exercise and its everything-in-time format so it can accommodate all fit­ness levels; that is its founda­tion. From that it branches out to the outliers from those who are absolute beginners and have never stepped foot in a gym to the opposite end of the spec­trum — elite-level athletes who are training for a competition and trying to improve their game, whether it is on a college level, the professional spectrum of sports and everybody in the middle.

“It has really created this tem­plate for us to run daily classes, run the business and the ability to reach the outliers in the fit­ness realm,” Hark said.

NXPT Fitness offers yoga, spin classes, lifting and different supplemental classes to fill the needs of people who want to get to the level of fitness that they are looking for in a particular area, whether it is gaining more flexibility, gaining strength, or functionality. Its Boot Camp class is a mashup of everything that is seen in the fitness world. Strength training with barbells, kettlebells, balance and stabil­ity on a bosu ball, and TRX sus­pension training.

“We take all the concepts and mash it into one giant functional type of class,” Hark said. “Spin training provides low impact cardiovascular, with still high intensity without the abuse on the body. Spinning is a niche in San Diego. People want the club party atmosphere while they are also getting healthy and burning calories. The group exercise is definitely one of the up and coming demographics where people want a packaged workout where they don’t have to think, they can just show up. And it feels like you’re going to a party, hanging out with your friends, working out, side by side and 45 minutes just flies by and you are one step closer to your goals.”

NXPT focuses on the begin­ners to the professional, but also works with post-operative clients, people with special needs and injury rehabilitation.

NXPT Fitness has been voted San Diego’s top gym for the past six years. Its owners Hark and Smith, are the lifeblood for this community of fitness lovers that come in looking for a life­style change and a support sys­tem to help them in their jour­ney. Both can be found working out alongside their members on any given day, giving a true tes­tament to the effectiveness of the workouts and programming found at NXPT.

NXPT Fitness La Mesa is lo­cated at 6450 University Ave., La Mesa.


Source: East County Californian

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