HOW IT ALL STARTED
It all started in 2011 when a young immigrant bartender (Alex Ceban) quit his job and decided that he wanted to do something more than getting people drunk for living. He went full 180 by deciding to become a personal trainer at the age of 22 and instead of pouring alcohol to his patrons, he will now help clients get stronger and healthier.
In 2011 Alex got hired at a big corporate gym as a trainer and later as a personal training manager. Eventually he quit his promising corporate job and moved out of NYC in 2016, but before that something very special happened. One day Alex attended a calisthenics workshop lead by two calisthenics gurus Al and Danny Kavadlo and that forever changed the way he trained. Alex was completely blown away by the knowledge Al and Danny shared on how to do a human flag, one arm pull up, handstand push up, one arm push up, pistol squat and more. All of it was so impressive, exciting and totally new. It felt like a breath of fresh air as at that time, Alex felt burned out from using weights and machines. So he completely changed the way he trained focusing exclusively on bodyweight training for the next few years. During that time, Alex was so inspired by his own results and fascinated by the new exercises he was able to do which where so much more fun to him than just lifting weights that he decided to start training his clients the same way. Progressive calisthenics changed Alex’s life in a major way and he was eager to share the knowledge with as many people as possible!
In the following years he would go from training his clients out of his apartment gym in Denver to opening his first fitness studio in Cap Hill in 2019 and the second one in Lincoln Park in 2021. All of this would have been impossible without the help of amazing people (Arash, Matt and Thomas) who have been helping him spread the awareness of progressive calisthenics in Denver.
CAPRA EXPANDS TO NEW YORK CITY
In 2023 we decided to start offering our service in New York City. Being eager to get as many New Yorkers as possible to give calisthenics a try and see for themselves how fun and rewarding this type of training is.
We are conveniently located on 37th st & 8th ave in Midtown Manhattan with many almost every subway line just a few blocks away. Our New York studio is private and well equipped for proper calisthenics training.
Come learn progressive bodyweight training right in the heart of NYC with the founder and owner of Caprǎ!
OUR VISION
Progressive calisthenics has been an absolute hit for our clients who get to enjoy the benefits of getting stronger, faster and more flexible. And so far thanks to our amazing trainers, we’ve introduced hundreds of our clients to the wonders of bodyweight training. These clients train with us in Denver and New York, and while it’s great that the residents of these two cities have an opportunity to work with us, our long term goal is to spread the knowledge of progressive calisthenics to many more cities!
While we don’t know where are we going to open our next location, we are making an effort to be available for training remotely by offering an online training option, thus enabling our long distance clients to do progressive calisthenics virtually.
CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS, CLEAN ENERGY AND MORE
Running an environmentally friendly business has always been important to us and we are proud to say that Capră has been taking eco-friendly steps since 2016. We strive to pollute less and recycle more! While our impact may seem small comparing to other much larger companies or corporations, we hope to set an example for other small businesses like ours and inspire them to be more environmentally conscious.
Charitable Contributions. We’ve donated over $30,000 to various non-profit organizations. We’ve been diligent about supporting local environmental groups like Conservation Colorado and Environmental Advocates NY; animal sanctuaries like The Odd Man Inn and Luvin Arms; organizations dedicated to fighting racism like Black Lives Matter; and many other non-profits with causes that are dear to our hearts like Illuminate Colorado, The Humane League, Central Park Conservancy and many many more.
Wind Energy. Since opening our doors in 2019, our Uptown studio in Denver has been dedicated to keeping its carbon footprint to the minimum. One of the steps we took, was switching to 100% wind energy in 2020 thanks to Xcel Energy ‘s program called Windsource.
Eco-Friendly Supplies. Small and ordinary things like soap, laundry detergent and toilet paper can all make a big impact on the environment. Which is why we use Seventh Generation products to help us keep our studios clean while also minimizing pollution by using bio-based products that are good not only for our trainers and clients, but also for our planet.
Training Equipment. Probably the most overlooked part of our sustainability efforts is our equipment. Manufacturing of large strength training machines that you see in most gyms require large quantities of various metals like iron and aluminum. Operations and waste products associated with metal extraction and processing are the principal causes of environmental concerns about metal mining. Concerns include physical disturbances to the landscape, as well as soil and water contamination. Our studios have relatively small pieces of equipment such as pull up and dip bars, wooden stall bars, plyo boxes and other much smaller items like wooden parallettes, yoga blocks made of cork, etc.
Flooring. We chose to install rubber floor mats for our studios made from repurposed rubber. With each mat weighting close to 100lb, we helped save close to 7,000lb of rubber from going to waste and instead being recycled.
Digital vs Paper. In an effort to use less paper, we switched to digital sign-in sheets and waivers. With our growing client base, that means saving hundreds of paper sheets every year.