By DAVID CRUZ

Assaf Gal stood on a sidewalk on 205th Street near Webster Avenue one afternoon in January, promoting his newest venture—a Crunch Fitness gym in the Bronx. He spotted a mailwoman, handing her a Crunch ad that caused her to jolt.

“She just takes it and looks at it and goes, ‘a Crunch? Here in the Bronx?’” recalled Gal, mimicking the lady’s squeaky intonation. “That’s right, ma’am,” he responded with a grin. “First one!”

By first he means the first Crunch Fitness franchise ever to open its doors in the Bronx, a borough where exercise is often an afterthought. It’s also Gal’s first-time venture in gym ownership, though he’s certainly familiar with the importance of exercise. After all, Gal, a strong-jawed 29-year-old with a compartmentalized hulky frame and easygoing demeanor, has incorporated exercise into his life for the past 15 years.

He competed in high school wrestling before building a lifestyle around daily exercise. Understanding the importance of staying fit, Gal is often known to catch a few seconds of exercise by performing a set of pull-ups as he’s re-racking weights or picking up a hand wipe.

Nurturing “His Baby”
The owner of the gym, Gal, has since treated his fitness venue like it’s “his baby,” nurturing it the way any health conscience dieter would to their body. It’s a phrase that’s been heard around the gym ever since Gal opened Crunch Fitness on March 17. The business can be found on the second floor of 3170 Webster Ave., a prominent three-story building that occupies a charter school.

The Norwood gym, a 15,000-square-foot facility on the second floor cast in metallic blue, orange and purple colors, boasts 20 treadmills, six stair masters, eight bikes, and weight machine circuits, according to Gal. Men and women locker rooms are available with five showers each. While members work on their routine they can take advantage of the high definition TVs, hear club music play in the background, or stare at some catchy phrases such as “Perspire to Greatness” or “It’s not how much you lift, it’s the grunt that gets you there” emblazoned on the walls.

Perks
The gym has been in a frenzy of sorts, signing up neighbors with rapid pace. Monthly prices run either at $9.95 or $19.95 a month with zero contracts, though a $39 yearly fee applies. While the former offers locals access to the gym along with an online nutrition program, the latter features plenty of more amenities that include personal trainers, group fitness classes and specialized machines such as a hydro massager. Premium members can also bring a friend and visit other Crunch Fitness facilities within the tri-state except Manhattan.

“We set ourselves apart by having personal trainers that are certified with experience. We still have the personal fitness classes which are real live classes with awesome instructors and the Crunch-branded classes,” said Gal. “So I think we really set ourselves apart.”

Choosing the Bronx
For Gal, the experience of owning a gym feels right at home to him, unlike his early years in the corporate world that offered little satisfaction, he noted. He vetted several other gym companies before investing in Crunch Fitness, which has enjoyed success in Manhattan. But after vetting Crunch Fitness, the next step was to determine whether the Bronx was the right fit. It was.

“I love the neighborhood,” said Gal. “When I first got here I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but every time I come here I like it more and more. I go to a different restaurant.”

And part of Gal’s strategy in retaining customers goes beyond the number of high-tech machines, veering instead towards customer service.

“I tell my staff everything that you’re doing, whether you’re cleaning the toilet, checking someone or selling a bottle of water, do it in a way where someone would say thank you,” said Gal. “Because if we start off on this foot and keep going, then we’ll be okay.”

Settling In
The business of physical fitness in the Bronx has somewhat been lacking when compared to the other boroughs. The Bronx, remaining largely unhealthy, has seen a surge of gyms in the area, serving as vehicles to combat health disparities such as obesity and heart disease, common ailments in the borough. Recent statistics by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked the Bronx dead last when it came to healthier lifestyles, a trend Gal hopes to reverse by promoting healthy lifestyles and exercise events for the community.

And he also wants to be a friendly competitor to already established big chain establishments in the Bronx. Indeed, the Bronx is home to eight Planet Fitness franchises, three Bally’s Total Fitness gyms, and one New York Sports Club.

Gal wished “them all the best,” adding that “hopefully we can be friendly competitors.”

Community members have since been awaiting Crunch Fitness’ opening, pegging the establishment as an example of what the neighborhood would like to see along rezoned Webster Avenue.