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Forest Hills Boxing Club Aims to Help New Moms Knock Out Baby Weight

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | February 20, 2013 7:15am

QUEENS — A sports club slated to open in March in Forest Hills hopes that new moms will get a kick out of its calorie-burning workouts.

TITLE Boxing Club, which also offers kickboxing workouts, has dozens of clubs around the country, but this will be the first one in New York, said the owner of the Forest Hills location, Danny Azzo.

The club, at 69-32 Austin St., will feature 54 punching bags, a ring and a speed bag. It will also have 10 trainers, including boxers, martial art and kickboxing experts and wrestlers.

“There is nothing like that in Forest Hills,” said Azzo, 37, who moved to the neighborhood five years ago from the United Kingdom and had previously worked in marketing and sales.

The workout is called the Power Hour, “because it’s one hour of your day and you burn up to 1,000 calories,” Azzo said.

It teaches participants how to defend themselves, but it's meant for an average person, “not someone who wants to fight,” Azzo said.

“The ideal person is a mom who just had a baby and wants to lose all the baby weight or a guy who hasn’t trained in years and years,” Azzo said.

“It’s all about energy,” Azzo said. “It’s a high-intensity workout, it’s loud music and a lot of high fives in the air.”

A typical workout starts with a 15-minute warm-up. Then participants put on the gloves for quick rounds of punch and kick-punch combinations. It ends with a core abdominal workout and a cooldown.

“Our trainers will always be there to motivate you,” Azzo said.  “These are people who are just nuts about training.”

Azzo said the workout is for people who are serious about changing their lifestyle. “This isn’t easy,” said Azzo, noting that he is a dedicated soccer fan but it was boxing that got him really fit.

Those who don’t want to take classes can come to the club and exercise on their own, he said.

The club will also feature free weights, running machines, spin bikes and medicine balls.

Azzo hopes it will become a place where people can meet up with friends.

“This is a club, it’s not a gym,” he said. “A lot of friendships are made when people high-five.”