New Jersey’s Ronald and Anna Lubischer are tied in fitness. A former athlete and lifelong fitness enthusiast, the two were introduced by a mutual friend in 2010, and married four years later. Then, after owning his first gym, Ronnie would take his partnership with Anna to the next level when they decided to work together professionally and get serious about launching multiple locations. Now, with a busy family life, and a passion for creating the perfect place to pump iron, the duo is disrupting the sterile franchise gym model.
As aficionados of old-school dungeon style gyms, Ronnie and Anna are innovating with their facility, while staying true to the idea of training hard. M&F sat down with the couple, who operate multiple locations from their Burn-N-Blast gym concept, to find out more.
“We encourage rigorous training but demand an ‘unreasonable’ amount of respect for our gym and our members,” says Ronnie. “If you bend a bar from pressing a heavy weight, we take the bar and transfer it to a special rack that has all the bent bars our members have acquired over the years via impressive lifts!”
There is no doubt that Ronnie understood the all-in-one training mindset from the time he played semi-professional football before competing as an NPC bodybuilder, in the heavyweight division. “However, “If you drop your load and scream and shout for no good reason, we will politely tell you that this is not how we do it here,” he added. “You can bring your own chalk and use it anytime as long as you clean it up yourself. You can load leg presses with twenty-four and 45 seconds, but your reps should be neat… and understandably you’re always rearranging your weights.
He added: “Our motto is ‘Where old school principles meet new school technology,’ and we maintain that to this day. Our gym is a throwback to the old hardcore dungeon style gyms of the past where everyone was welcome, as long as they respected the iron ways of their fellow gym members.
Burn-N-Blast: Old School and New Technology Combo
There’s no doubt that there are plenty of clients looking for an alternative to some of the more anonymous-looking modern gyms, which often offer style but little substance. Ronnie and Anna enjoy a huge number of memberships of all experience levels—from beginners to weight lifters to pro athletes. Luckily, they are more than qualified to carry each individual through their journey to greatness. Anna is a nationally ranked figure skater and coached ice skating for over 15 years. She is also a successful bodybuilder, earning second place at the New Jersey State Championships just six months after a C-Section following the birth of their first child.
By design, each Burn-N-Blast location is unique, with its own individual equipment list, but one thing they have in common is that they are very independent.
“We are completely independent, family owned and operated, with no outside investors,” said Ronnie. Many gymgoers may not realize that franchised gyms are often controlled by large conglomerates who don’t always choose their equipment based on their love of exercise. Too often, agreements are made to ensure that all gym locations feature the same equipment thanks to lucrative distribution agreements and an emphasis on maximizing profits over maximizing muscle mass.
“Literally, Anna and I own everything down to our location’s drywall, and this gives us the freedom to run our gym exactly how we want it,” adds Ronnie. “And it provides our members with a direct link to ownership, to expedite any and all questions, suggestions, concerns, etc. It also allows us to furnish our gym in any way possible without the handcuffs of corporate floor plans, or ‘buy list’ sets.”
Ronnie and Anna Lubischer Planned Their Gym Back to Ages
“There are certain gym chains that are required to carry a predetermined inventory of equipment,” says Ronnie. “In our case, we were able to mix and match not only brands but eras of equipment. Each of our locations is a unique blend of the best from new and cutting-edge brands like Prime, Watson, Arsenal and Atlantis mixed with up-and-coming mom-and-pop designers like Raw Motive Works, Cross Axes Tech and GymBros. Then, there are the old school pieces that are out of production, like the original Nautilus, BodyMasters, Flex, and Paramount just to name a few. Our goal is to build bigger and badder ‘garage style’ gyms.”
For a Burn-N-Blast gym, it all stems from a love of bodybuilding. “Selfishly, for me and Anna, we planned with the exact specifications of what we wanted for a workout that we did ourselves perfectly, but then we invited all our friends to come and train with us too,” explained Ronnie of the development process. . “As a collector and equipment lover, I love letting other people enjoy tools they don’t have access to, or have never even known about. We offer an environment that doesn’t really exist in today’s gym landscape anymore and our membership pays tribute to that.”
The point, as Ronnie explains, is that everyone of every skill level is welcome to Burn-N-Blast, as the glimpses of his daily presence prove. “For example, recently at our Long Branch location, I was coaching an up-and-coming sophomore ice hockey player from the Citadel while a newly minted IFBB pro was crushing legs, along with two NFL offensive linemen starting pre-beach practice, as we are in a beachfront location. Then, one of my older ‘gym rat’ type members came up to me and thanked me for the two new curated pieces I’ve added — the rare and very working Cybex Eagle Kneeling Lateral Raise and the Life Fitness Signature Series Seated Uni-Bicep. Lateral Curl.
The Hardcore Gym Empire Strikes Back
“Everyone who comes to [Burn-N-Blast] love to train but we have more clients that you will experience in a ‘harder-core’ gym,” explains Ronnie. “That’s why you will see families training together at our location. We have one family that comes together most days. We also see three brothers who are all local police or firefighters, their son who is a college athlete, their daughter who is a local high school athlete, and their wife who is on a cardio machine. They all come and train as a unit most days even with different fitness levels and goals. It’s really cool, it’s really something that we’re proud of, and that’s what made it [Burn-N-Blast] unique.”
The Lubischers has two 24-hour gyms (in Long Branch and West Long Branch, New Jersey) and a high-end private training studio in the West Long Branch. Currently, they are actively looking for a third location, 24 hours a day. So, as an advocate and innovator of the hardcore gym empire, which part of Ronnie’s collection is he most proud of? “Wow, that’s a tough question,” he said. “Nearly every piece of equipment in every location is special to me for many reasons. For example, in our private studio, we have three original works PowerTecnic piece. We have the original Super High Stepper, SuperCAT Squat and Power Runner. To this day, for athletes, you can’t get any better.
“All my Randy Coyle originals are also near and dear to me, because we are proud of SwingSquat. We’re also one of less than 50 gyms in the country with a plate-loaded front squat machine called the Saxon Squat, as well as specially loaded multi-grip plates bent over rows of levers that are shipped directly to us. We also have a prototype provided to us called GlutePress. And then there Flex Hamtractor, or high-framed Pit Shark. I could go on, but that’s why I’d really say we don’t buy equipment like most other gym owners do. We tune our Burn-N-Blast gym floors for maximum results.”
With half of all gym members expected to leave within their first six months of membership, finding the right environment is essential to staying motivated and sticking with a sustainable exercise regime. Thankfully, with their Burn-N-Blast location, the Lubischers are taking the time to share their lifelong passion with those who want to be the best versions of themselves. “Our members know we are here to help, and I am more than happy to let people make their own mistakes,” explained Ronnie, who, along with Anna, created their own barcode-enabling instructional videos for each Burn-N-Blast machine. “But, if they do something that could put themselves or another member at risk, it’s my job to step in and stop it, but these are teachable moments where hopefully they will take our advice and grow mentally and physically over the years. next year.”
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