LITTLE VALLEY — Just in time for the new year, Bradley Poole is set to open the doors of his second Warrior Fitness & Wellness facility at 214 Main St. in Little Valley.
He invites the public to his grand opening event and ribbon-cutting ceremony that will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday in the former Department of Public Works garage, located adjacent to the village park and the Pat McGee Trail.
Poole said the building, owned by retired Ellicottville contractor Mike Stang, is a 3,000-square-foot space with high ceilings and garage doors that can be opened in the warmer months. He said half the space will serve as a classroom and the other half will have exercise machines and free weights.
“This facility will be fully equipped and have everything the Ellicottville gym has including strength machines, cardio machines, free weights, squat racks, rope slams, 40-foot turf with tire and sled, punching bag, speed bag and many other pieces of equipment,” he said.
Since the building once functioned as a garage, Poole decided to keep the garage-style feel. With the assistance of his friends and Stang, he’s achieving this theme and transforming the space into a gymnasium. Besides new flooring and painted walls, the interior space has a rustic look with rusted, tin roofing reclaimed from a local barn covering the main walls.
Before the remodeling could begin, the items stored in the building had to be removed.
Poole said they knocked down one of the walls to open up the space more. Then they built bathrooms, closet space and office space. He said everything had to be re-insulated because, being a former garage, the building didn’t have much insulation in it.
“I thought it would be cool to have the garage doors open in the summertime for open-air classes,” he explained. “There’s a nice view of the hill, the park and the Pat McGee Trail that runs right through there.”
WITH A mission to help as many people as possible become the healthiest individuals they can be, Poole also owns and operates the Warrior Fitness & Wellness gym in Ellicottville, which opened in January 2021.
Poole said he had the idea that he would eventually open a handful of gyms in the area. He wanted to target the Little Valley and Cattaraugus area because he doesn’t get a lot of people from those communities at his Ellicottville gym.
Before he moved forward with a second location, Poole tested the waters on Facebook a year or so ago, asking the public if they’d be interested in a gym if it was to come to Little Valley.
“I had a big response to it. Over a hundred people commented on it and shared it,” he said. “I also had people reaching out to me privately, non-stop, and it kind of went from there.”
Poole battles cystic fibrosis every day of his life and is determined to make a difference in the lives of others who need inspiration to improve or maintain their health.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare, progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe. In people with CF, a defective gene causes a thick, sticky buildup of mucus in the lungs, pancreas and other organs which, over time, destroys organs and causes organ failure.
Poole’s daily routine that literally keeps him alive includes intense exercise six days a week, 50-plus pills, two hours of breathing treatments and multiple nebulizers throughout the day to keep his lungs functioning. In addition, he wears a high-frequency chest-wall oscillation vest two hours each day that shakes the chest to loosen and thin dangerous mucus buildup.
The new Warrior Fitness facility will be offering memberships, classes, personal training and wellness services. As with the Ellicottville gym, all members will have a key code for 24/7 access.
People signing up for a new membership before the grand opening will receive a special offer but must pay in person. Members can sign up for classes by downloading the StudioBookings app from the App Store. From there, they will have access to the class schedule and be able to register and pay.
For more details about memberships and pricing, send a message via the “Warrior Fitness & Wellness” Facebook page or on Instagram, @warriorfitnessevl.
