By Anaya Diaz-Salcedo
The start of a new beginning
Getting in a workout seems hard when your doing it by yourself, but at CORE209, you wouldn’t need to worry about that. CORE209 in itself is one community that serves as family and friends.
All of CORE209 join together for a big group picture.
CORE209 is a family-oriented athletic performance facility located at 17960 Ideal Parkway in Manteca, Calif. It was made by one man, Roberto Iniguez.
Iniguez started his pathway to CORE by training athletes with one-on-one personal training. Most of the training began at parks and gyms, which limited the time of activities with weight training.
The gyms Iniguez would train at would also get a piece of his personal training income. He then began to run group boot camps in a parking lot in 2011 before opening CORE209 in 2012.
Getting to know CORE
His main focus for the facility was to encourage the local community to stay active, and to pull in the people of Manteca to work together and become better citizens.
During its first few years, CORE209 only offered two types of classes: athletic performance courses, used for student athletes who want to improve their mobility skills and strength; and agility work, which works with numerous ages of athletes from pee-wees to pros.
There’s also Boot Camp training, a 60-minute experience six days a week. The training is family-based and for all ages. Days vary in strength to HIIT (high intensity interval training).
“It seems a little intimidating at first, people think that CORE is a super intense place – it is … but it’s not,” said Iniguez.
Of course, it’s hard work! Even though they offer few classes, every class has a challenge the participants are always up for. Every class is an hour to an hour and a half long, with minimal breaks to keep up heart rates.
A family worth sweating for
Classes thrive with their own regulars who are always passionate and fixated on every trial thrown at their way. Familiar faces increase as the place thrives, growing bigger and bigger every year, with 2019 being a considerable year for classes.
From older men to younger women, they’re attracted to the tight-knit community that is expanding from within CORE209.
“My goal is to really create a space were people come and it’s not necessarily only for athletes or advanced people,” Iniguez said. “It’s for anybody at any fitness level to feel safe and feel welcomed.”
The vulnerability of the establishment is what keeps the place distinctive from corporate gyms.
Everyone participating in these classes are on the same level as everyone else, and people tend to encourage their classmates to keep going, something maybe a beginner would love. Iniguez said that the facility is a family, and something he’s always wanted to accomplish as an owner.
Events for the community
Not only does CORE209 hold classes, it also offers events. The most recent event was the Workout Against Cancer, held at CORE209 on April 27 to raise money for three members in the CORE community.
To show love for their members, 100 percent of the donations go straight to the families who are affected. They also do things for the holidays, such as turkey runs for Thanksgiving, ugly Christmas sweaters for Christmas, and a New Year’s dance.
The active members of CORE always go all-out for events, making the environment more exciting and family-like.
Iniguez explains his work for the Manteca community and how he wishes for inclusivity.
The ideal facility
The facility is covered with inspiring words to pump up the members, keeping motivation high.
It also has two separate rooms for different specialties. The main room, which is the biggest of the two, is the turf training area. It usually holds the cardio and agility training. Sleds and resistance band sprints are a common occurrence on the turf.
The weight room resides on the right side. It contains a various amounts of free weights and cables.
Everyone has a chance to try both, whether they excel in one or the other. Every class session switches their day plans to even out agility and strength training.
CORE209 is a different environment from other gyms: a family-based establishment whose members see each other reach their goals as a unit. Everyone recognizes their friends’ strengths and weaknesses.
Friendly and strong, CORE209 is the embodiment of that.
“I want to inspire people to take their fitness and athletic goals to a level they never thought possible, to be proud of who they were when they started their journey and to realize that there are no limits to their potential,” said Iniguez.
