Jack Hanratty, Mike Hamson and Paul Hamson know all about teamwork. The trio behind downtown Halifax’s newest source for group fitness, Project Fit (1456 Breton Street, just off Spring Garden Road) met on the rugby field—Hanratty had moved to Halifax from Ireland to coach, and the Hamsons (they’re brothers) were two of his players. After bonding via sport, the three decided to work together to give Haligonians another option when it comes to working out.
“We’re three guys doing everything ourselves,” says Hanratty, who’s also currently coaching provincial rugby. “The biggest thing at the start was, we’re not going to do this unless we’re the best.” That’s why it was important for Project Fit to cater to the whole spectrum of athletic abilities, offering bootcamp interval training (where every exercise has options for a lower, middle and high level of difficulty), Gameshape (a more intense interval training aimed at athletes) as well as sport-specific training.
Hanratty says camaraderie and teamwork are some of the things he misses most when he’s not playing sports and hopes Project Fit can offer its clients both. “Bootcamp for me is something for me that’s just a fun environment,” he says. “We want to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in these classes.”
Oh, and hey, for those of you looking for a closer look, your first class is the best kind of class—FREE.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2015.