Community Corner

Babylon Resident Wins Fitness Incentive's Fantastic Four Contest

The gym ran a heated competition, with participants attempting to improve their overall fitness during two months of intense workouts and rivalries.

Babylon Village's fitness community got competitive recently, as residents and members of Babylon gym Fitness Incentive participated in a no-holds-barred group contest to see who could most improve their fitness in eight weeks.

Valerie Hildebrant Basile, a Babylon mom of two, was part of the winning team, and took home the grand prize of $5,400, split with teammates Jodi Dee, Annmarie Pollard, and Pam Vlasak.

"We were fired up, " Basile laughs. "Annmarie [Pollard] walked in the first day and said she wanted to win the whole thing."

Her team was coached by trainer Marianela Virella-Mielke who took the group through grueling twice-daily workouts and crafted detailed diet plans for the women.

Basile said her team stuck to the nutrition plan and didn't cheat at all, a feat she said was the hardest part of the contest, and ultimately led to the winning results.

Find out what's happening in Babylon Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I've never been this size in my life," she said.

Basile, 34, joined FI shortly after she moved to Babylon two and a half years ago and decided to enter this year's contest after she did it last year and "didn't get everything I could out of it."

Find out what's happening in Babylon Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The contest, now in its second year, is orchestrated by FI owners Corinne and Ken Brown and is a big event at the gym, drawing 120 participants who vie to win prize money by banking the highest improvement on a battery of assessment tests, including body fat percentages, push-ups, flexibility tests, and fastest heart rate recovery. This year contestants lost a collective 1,600 pounds.

Bob McKeown, who owns a local triathlon training company, won with his team last year.

"It was a great affordable way to increase strength, lose weight, make friends, and compete in a healthy event. [There was] a great atmosphere that encouraged and promoted teamwork," says the West Babylon teacher, who credits the contest with renewing his interest in fitness and training.

Basile said the support from her team was crucial, as well as the skilled coaching from Virella-Mielke, who "knows when and how to push you to get results you never imagined."

Virella-Mielke's team plans to stay together and train as a group, working on personal goals they've set for themselves. Basile remains dedicated to her exercise regimen, even as she struggles to make time for herself with two young children.

"Don't be afraid to drop your kids off crying and don't stress about taking that hour for yourself because the results are so worth it," she advised other busy parents.

Fitness Incentive was founded in 1984, and has transformed from its first incarnation as a small 1980s-style aerobics studio to the current expanded facility on Deer Park Avenue, and remains one of Long Island's most popular independent fitness centers, consistently voted "Best Gym" by voters in Long Island Press's "Best of LI" poll.

"I think the gym's community involvement is great for our town as a whole. It's a small, tight-knit community where people know each other," said Basile, who also noted that Fitness Incentive is part of that community.

"It's a positive, healthy influence."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here