Hello. I am Dr. Emilio Bisanti, the founder and creator of Ladies First, and I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. Exercise has always been a fundamentally important part of my life. When I was 12 years old, I received my first weight set and was immediately hooked. In my early teens, I became a member of a fitness facility for the first time. I have relocated quite a few times throughout my life and my first priority was always to find a fitness facility nearby. Whenever I travel, I either work out in the hotel gym or find a gym nearby. In other words, I always find time to exercise. I was one of the lucky ones who realized the importance of exercise early on in life. Some people might consider this an obsession. To those people, I say it is not an obsession, it is a necessity. Let me ask you this: Do you consider brushing your teeth a necessity or an obsession? Think about that question. Why do we brush our teeth? Maybe because we want keep them white. Maybe because we want to keep them healthy. Maybe it’s because we just simply want to keep them! In other words, we take care of our teeth to keep them healthy and looking good. Is this an obsession? Of course not. Yet, exercise accomplishes the same thing except on a much larger scale as it encompasses the entire body. It helps you feel and look younger and adds years to your life. If this is an obsession, then we all need to be obsessed. There has been no time in my life since my early teens that I have not worked out and maintained some type of membership at a fitness club. It was this realization that eventually led to my enticement in the health profession. This, in turn, led to my pursuit in obtaining a chiropractic degree.

Prior to creating Ladies First, I founded and operated multiple successful chiropractic offices throughout New England. Upon opening up my first chiropractic office, I made sure to incorporate exercise as part of my treatment. This was performed either in-house through the use of rehab equipment or out of office by prescribing a proper exercise program for the patient to follow at the appropriate time. As a chiropractor, there were three (3) main reasons that I prescribed or recommended exercise. The first reason, obviously, was for the health of the patient provided the patient was capable. I would always recommend to my patients who were not exercising that they start exercising. The second reason I would prescribe exercise would be if the patient was involved in a traumatic type accident and/or received a traumatic type injury. These types of injuries usually result in muscle tissue damage. The type of exercise I would prescribe in these cases would be rehab exercise. If the muscle tissue has been damaged, some exercises need to be done in order to properly repair the damage that was caused as a result of the trauma. This type of exercise was usually performed in-house under supervision. The third reason I would advise patients to exercise was if they were overweight and experiencing low back pain. As a chiropractor, if you came to me under this circumstance, regardless of how your back pain began, I would definitely want you to lose the weight. Even though your back injury may not have occurred as a result of your excess weight, that added constant pressure definitely affects the prognosis. In other words, constantly carrying excess pounds in the front of your body keeps constant pressure on your lower back which prevents the pain from ever going away, thus making it very difficult for this injury to heal. These were the three (3) main reasons that I either recommended or prescribed exercise as a practicing physician.

Throughout my chiropractic career, I always advocated the importance of exercise to all of my patients. My treatment methods, which included exercise as I previously stated, allowed me to become very successful. This success led me to expand throughout New England with four (4) offices. At a certain point in my career, I was seeing over 100 patients per day. After ten (10) years of practice and helping thousands, I felt that I was ready for a new challenge. I wanted to create something on a larger scale. I wanted to reach out and help as many people as possible throughout the country, maybe even throughout the world. My knowledge of exercise as well as my background as a chiropractor propelled me to search for an exercise/health related venture. I started to research the different facilities that were in existence. My goal was to take my research and create the best, most beneficial club. Throughout my research I stumbled across circuit training with hydraulic resistance equipment. Much to my surprise, I instantly became fascinated by this type of program. Keep in mind that I have always exercised with free weights at a traditional gym. After trying the circuit training program, I was sold. The effects and benefits attained by simply doing this 30 minute workout were impressive to say the least. I felt like I did a complete body workout involving the outside of my body (muscles) as well as the inside of my body (cardiovascular). I knew this equipment was the type of equipment I wanted for my future facilities. Although there were other facilities utilizing this type of exercise equipment, I felt I could create something better and more distinctive. I loved the concept of women only. I felt the number of women that needed this type of facility was very high. These women simply did not feel comfortable in a “traditional” gym. One thing I wanted to make sure of was that my gyms included a well-trained staff. Although anyone whom I feel is competent can purchase a franchise, I will always give preference to any person with any kind of health or fitness background. A prospective franchisee has to be capable of educating members. With this premise, I opened my first fitness center in northern Florida; thus, Ladies First was born. Ladies First is based on a simple concept: Give women what they want! We provide a non-intimidating environment in which women can get fit and lose fat. That's right--our focus is fat, not weight. Why? Well, ask yourself this question: If you lose muscle and maintain fat, have you lost weight? The answer is yes. Is that the weight you want to lose? I hope not. Our goal is to take each person and help them transform their bodies from heavy and flabby to light and tight. Educating each member is essential in achieving this goal and will increase their chance of success.

As a chiropractor, my goal was to help thousands. In this business, my goal is to help millions. As a physician, I felt that educating the patient always obtained better results. I bring that same philosophy to this venture.

To all new or prospective new members . . . Congratulations! You have taken the first step in building the new you. It’s not going to be easy. Sometimes you’re going to love it. Sometimes you’re going to hate it. Don’t try to achieve too much too quickly. Take the slow and steady approach. If you are feeling overwhelmed or discouraged, talk to one of our trained staff members. Let them help you through this difficult period. If you stick with this, you will succeed. Watch out for negative people and never let others discourage you from achieving your goals. Remember, regardless of how healthy or physically fit you are now, it is not your body that will ultimately lead you to success, it is your mind. Mind over matter.
Now let’s get started!

Sincerely,

Dr. Emilio Bisanti, CEO