Austin grew up in West Chester and went to high school at Lakota. The Austins are a blended family of five.
“My son, Logan, was born with Spina Bifida. He’s in a wheelchair and he’s had 43 surgeries. I’ve always encouraged him that he could do anything he wanted to. It may not look like the next person, but if you want to do it, you can do it, and you’ll do it your way. The fact that I instilled that in him, he thrived, went off to college, and he’s working for Disney now,” said Austin.
She said, “At 48 years old, for me to quit my job, and say, I want to become a personal trainer, because I love SPENGA, that much was scary. I had this dream, and I had the full support of my husband and my family…This truly was a God thing. It was presented to us, and to make it happen in three weeks, and to see the love and support the community has given us has been amazing.”
At SPENGA, patrons begin with a 20-minute, high-intensity cycle workout, move on to 20 minutes of strength and finish with 20 minutes of yoga. Throughout the one-hour training session, a personal trainer is available to guide trainees through every part of the workout.
“I love the format. Where else can you go to get your cardio, strength and flexibility,” said Austin. “I have always trained, and I fell in love with it. We incorporate everything.”
SPENGA first opened under a previous owner in February 2020. Christine was a founding member and she served as a personal trainer and instructor there. The business closed Oct. 14, 2022, with only three-days-notice to its members. The Austins reopened the business three weeks later.
“All of the sudden, we found out it was just closing. People in the community were devastated. It’s not just about working out, we really are a community,” Austin said.
MORE INFO
SPENGA West Chester has more than 315 active trainees who call its workout studio home. There are 39 instructor-led, one-hour sessions per week. The studio is open seven days a week.
The studio is located at 7996 Princeton Glendale Road, suite 101, in West Chester. For more information, or to claim a free session, go to spengawestchester.com.
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