Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.
We are Andrew and Melissa Haberman and we own The Physical Development Center in Warminster. We both grew up in Bucks County. I, Andrew, graduated from Council Rock South and Melissa from Bensalem. I went to Temple for college and studied kinesiology. Melissa went to Lockhaven for exercise science. We met at Chickie’s & Pete’s at Parx Casino for a retro fitness party and have been together for 10 years now. We got married in 2019 right before the pandemic. Now we have 2 kids and a golden doodle. Our son is 2.5 years old and our daughter is 4 months. It has been pretty chaotic raising a toddler and a newborn while opening our new gym. Thankfully we have family close by. We couldn’t do it without them.
Please tell us about your current, past, or future career.
My goal for my career in college was to do physical therapy and work with athletes. I wanted to train injured athletes and help them get back on the field. Right out of college Melissa and I both got jobs at Retro Fitness, but different locations. We didn’t even know each other yet. We both had jobs at different gyms over the years. Eventually we joined forces to open Rock Steady Boxing in Feasterville. Around the time Melissa and I started dating her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I went with him to one of his physical therapy appointments one day and his therapist recommended he try Rock Steady Boxing. Melissa took him to a class in New Hope but that was a big trek for either of us. We came together and decided to start one of the classes ourselves. Together we opened Rock Steady Boxing in Feasterville. We started with 4 classes a week and grew to 10 very quickly. Before the pandemic our Parkinson’s program grew to over 120 people.At that time we were renting space out of a karate studio. We were both working other full time jobs while squeezing in teaching our own classes. Eventually we had built enough of a following that we decided to open our own space right before the pandemic. It was such a hectic time to try to open our own gym. We finally opened in September 2020. The timing actually worked to our advantage. Kids were doing virtual school at the time so they were more available during the day. We were able to keep the garage doors open and just keep our classes slower. We also had Parkinson’s patients who had to keep working out so they were still coming in. While most gyms were closing, we got creative and were able to grow bigger. We hired a few other coaches who brought even more of a following. Eventually the need for a bigger space presented itself. We looked for almost 2+ years before we found our new space. Our space now is .5 miles away from the original space and couldn’t be more perfect.
We do our Parkinson’s program, adult classes, and Kid’s Fun Fitness. The kid’s program is from ages 3-6. It is an introduction to exercise and sports. They do parachute games, relay races, different exercise games and are introduced to a new sport every week. We also have a youth speed training class for kids ages 7-12. Then we have training for our highschool and college athletes. We have a class for every stage of life.
Our biggest communities are the parkinson’s community and our athletes. It is fun training so many different athletes from different schools because they are rivals on the field, but when they come into the gym they can be friends and work together. We have really built our community around going to their games to support the kids and build relationships with the parents.
I really appreciate that the people that are here at the gym want to be here. We are not pushing people to do things, we are giving them the tools they need and helping them keep themselves accountable. We know exercise can be intimidating, but we want you to know our gym is not that at all. We laugh, we joke, we have a good time. If you show up wanting to do the work you are going to get out of it what you put in. We strive to make it enjoyable to be here and create that community environment and make it seem like you are not working out.
What are some of your favorite spots in the community?
We spend a lot of time shuffling our son to his different sports classes. I, Melissa, just started playing pickleball too. We really like Roccos, Vecchia Osteria, and El Barrio. We go to a lot of Phillies games- we are season ticket holders. We love Philadelphia sports.
What is your favorite place you have traveled and where is next on your list?
We would love to go to Greece for our honeymoon that got canceled. Our favorite spots that we have been to would be Jamaica or Israel.
What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
Melissa: The Parent Trap and One Tree Hill.
Andrew: Departed and Entourage
What advice would you give to people?
Melissa: Start slow. Don’t go crazy on day 1. Everyone is on a different journey.
Andrew: Make time for exercise now because if you don’t you’ll be making time for medical visits and bills later.
What is something on your bucket list?
Go to a superbowl that the Eagles are in!
What is your favorite band or music genre?
Melissa: I love Country. Some favorites are Morgan Wallen and Kelsey Ballerini. They are all so good though!
Andrew: I listen to everything. Country, rap, EDM, alternative, everything. If you are in the gym with me, in an hour you will have listened to 6 different genres of music.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Probably still in this building. This building has been our goal for a long time and we plan to be here growing our community.
What is your favorite holiday and why?
Melissa: The 4th of July. We can just relax and enjoy the summertime
Andrew: Superbowl Sunday
What are one or two of your favorite smells?
Andrew: Pizza
Melissa: The ocean
What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Stable, Happy, Chaotic (We have 2 young kids), messy, snacks, Disney.
Where can people find you or your business?
https://www.physicaldevelopmentcenter.com/
215-469-1652
Call us and let’s talk about where your best fit would be. Come try your first class for free.