Childhood friends exercise new approach to working out with underused gyms | Local News

Zero Doubt Club, which has a location in Mayfield Heights and now open at The 9 in downtown Cleveland, is looking to break into the health and wellness industry by taking over under-utilized gyms and helping clients stick to their workout routines with an individualized approach.

Eric Golubitsky, who is a serial entrepreneur, ran into his childhood family friend, Jeremy Torchinsky, a certified life coach and personal trainer, during the COVID-19 pandemic when he said he reached his bottom in terms of his career and health. Torchinsky worked with him to get him back on his feet by making a 90-day commitment to work in the gym with him.

During that time, Golubitsky began to share business advice and told Torchinsky he should open small boutique-style gyms that are focused on a 90-to-180 day minimum engagement as opposed to session-based where people often fall short in their commitment.

“Long story short, Jeremy competed in a bodybuilding competition a year ago and won every category,” Golubitsky told the Cleveland Jewish News Oct. 12. “I’ve lost almost 70 pounds and gained 20 pounds of muscle. We decided to go into business a year ago.”

Golubitsky and Torchinsky are both Russian Jewish immigrants whose parents came to the United States in 1980 and 1979, respectively, and became friends. Golubitsky lives in Solon, where he is an active member of Solon Chabad.

The business model focuses on mind, body and soul transformation through personal training, life coaching and goal setting, and healthy meal planning packages, as well as corporate wellness and group programs.

Starting with its first location on Landerbrook Drive in Mayfield Heights in November 2021, the co-founders said they shied away from following other gyms in moving into plazas with a focus on memberships and instead began to look into taking over lightly-used gyms where people live and work to maximize them.

“What if we created a company where we took over those gyms and really enhanced them and brought in new equipment and made them more inspiring places and added to decor and really made it a really cool spot,” Golubitsky said, adding that the building’s tenants would be able to use the gym at no cost while benefiting from having exclusive trainers, and they could bring people in from the area.

He said 80% to 90% of people with a gym memberships do not show up and the No. 1 excuse is time, but being located where people live and work eliminates that excuse and helps people lead healthier lives.

“That’s where our name came from, Zero Doubt,” he said. “People live in a very negative, toxic world of high stress, diseases, medications, etc., and it doesn’t have to be that way at all. … We can help people that are full of doubts and full of negativity” to start living with zero doubts.

Zero Doubt Club held a grand opening of its second location at The 9 on Sept. 15, just in time to get its process down before Jan. 1 when people make their New Year’s resolutions, which Golubitsky hopes to help people stick to.

In addition to the gyms, Zero Doubt Club partnered with Central Kitchen last December to rent the kitchen where his wife, Inga, runs a subscription-based healthy, local meal plan service. The club is building its own kitchen, which will be open in December.

“The eventual goal, too, is to be regionally set across Northeast Ohio for a couple reasons,” Golubitsky said. “No. 1 is to be strategically placed where people live and work” and to create corporate wellness programs with more sustenance.

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