'An Efficient Workout' at Koko FitClub

A visitor to Koko FitClub at 447 Monroe Turnpike stepped onto one of the treadmills and put on a pair of headphones. The voice of fitness expert, Michael Wood, led him through a workout simulating one of 15 hikes. Wood gave the speed and incline settings on the trail, with heart rate readings along the way.

Wood, a nationally recognized fitness expert who has trained celebrities and Division One athletes, programmed workout routines for Koko FitClub's treadmills, elliptical machines and Smartrainer total gyms.

The strength training is determined by a person's weight, age and goals and a video screen on an adjustable boom arm leads you through the set up, weight and number of reps with a pace bar to keep you on track.

"We consider it a digital gym," said Jeff Pressman, who runs the Monroe gym with his wife, Amy. "Smart training is the theme of the program."

Koko means one-by-one is Japanese, Pressman said, adding Koko FitClub gives its members the benefits of a personal trainer without having to pay for one.

The Pressmans live in Fairfield and have two children, Hannah, 7, and Jacob, 4. Jeff recently decided to buy a territory for the Koko FitClub franchise. Monroe is his first location.

"I definitely wanted Monroe because I felt this was a nice niche for this community," he said Friday. "We're catering to a different type of customer ... someone who doesn't like traditional gyms."

There is a free 15 day trial period to allow people to see if Koko FitClub is right for them before committing to it.

Choosing a Plan

Pressman said the first step for a new member is picking a plan to focus on: Burn (to lose weight), Build (to build muscle and tone up), Protect (to maintain what you have) or Restore (for recovering from a health issue).

There are also intensities of workouts, moderate, intermediate and advanced.

A 56-week plan is drafted and stored on a Koko Key, a USB drive. It starts with your baseline, gender, age, weight etc. The key is plugged into a Fit Check machine with a digital scale that calculates lean muscle balance.

Building Muscle

"Strength training is really important," Pressman said, adding that just doing cardio could actually burn muscle.

The Smartrainer gives you a strength test and calculates the weight you should be lifting.

Amy Pressman said the blue pace bar "gets you on a pace so you work your muscles the way they should be worked."

When you stay within the pace bar for an entire exercise, you earn a score of 100. A perfect workout is a total of 1,000 points.

As a fun incentive, Amy said your name is displayed on a leader board in the club, celebrating your achievement.

The necklace patrons use to hold the Koko Key around their necks starts out white, then is color coded: 50,000 points is orange, 100,000 points is black, 250,000 is yellow, 500,000 is blue and 1 million is gold.

'No Waste of Time'

The cardio workout is 15 minutes and the strength training is a half hour each session.

"There's no waste of time," Jeff Pressman said. "It's an efficient workout."

Koko FitClub members back up their information and can see their page at home by visiting the club's website. It shows metrics such as strength gain, body mass, lean muscle level, total pounds lifted, sessions, time spent on each machine and calories burned.

Jeff called up FitCoach Stefanie Dennis' page to demonstrate. "She can track her progress," he said.

The last part of the program is known as Koko Fuel, which creates a custom nutrition plan that includes all meals and snacks with recipes.

"It's not a diet," Jeff said. "It's a nutrition plan for life."

Amy added, "We're not a fad."