By ChiChi Ubina
When I first visited The Practice, one of the most-read wellness stories we’ve published grew out of a simple realization: I thought I was fit, but I wasn’t measuring the things that matter most for long-term health. The assessment challenged assumptions I didn’t even know I was making about fitness, strength, and aging. Months later, I found myself thinking less about the numbers I received and more about the larger philosophy behind them.
Across Fairfield County, conversations about wellness are changing. More people are tracking sleep, monitoring metabolic health, and paying attention to longevity science than ever before. Yet fitness often remains rooted in an older model—focused on calories burned, pounds lost, or preparing for a specific event.
That shift in thinking is what led me back to The Practice in Greenwich. When I first visited the studio, I was surprised by how much traditional fitness had failed to measure. Months later, what interests me even more is the larger idea behind it: a model of training designed not for next summer, but for the next several decades.
A Studio Built Around a Different Question
The Practice opened in November 2025 at The Mill in Glenville—an emerging local wellness hub—and it is unlike any training facility in Greenwich. Founded by Alexia Brue, who co-founded the wellness media company Well+Good before turning her focus to longevity science, the studio is organized around a single animating idea: healthspan oriented fitness. The distinction matters more than it sounds. Fitness asks how hard you can push today. Healthspan asks how capable you will be at 70, 80, and beyond.
Brue’s thinking was shaped by the emerging field of longevity medicine, including Dr. Gabrielle Lyon’s book Forever Strong: A New, Science-based Strategy for Aging Well and her take on muscle-centric medicine. “Exercise is the most potent longevity intervention we have,” she explains. “But only if we train purposefully.” The Practice was built to make that intention concrete.
At the core of the studio is a proprietary framework called the Practice 5 – five domains assessed and trained together: Composition, Control, Cognition, Capability, and Cardio. No single strength is allowed to compensate for a weakness elsewhere. Endurance doesn’t excuse poor balance. Strength doesn’t override lost mobility. Physical capacity is treated as a system, because that’s how bodies actually age.
The Assessment
New clients begin with the Healthspan Discovery Package—a structured, data-driven assessment delivered in two focused 1-hour sessions. Measurements include grip strength, body composition, movement control, cognitive agility, and cardiovascular capacity, including VO₂ max. Each metric is treated not as a judgment but as a signpost—one piece of a larger picture.
My sessions were led by Nick Causa, Director of Healthspan Training. He asked about my sport, my movement history, my habits—then observed how those choices had shaped my body over time. Some results confirmed what I expected: years of squash had built strong aerobic capacity, and my VO₂ max was well above average for my age. But alongside that were gaps I hadn’t noticed—limitations in shoulder mobility, imbalances in strength, areas of control that had quietly diminished.
What surprised me most wasn’t the presence of weaknesses. It was how clearly they pointed toward a path forward. Once the data was visible, the priorities were obvious. And crucially, The Practice builds reassessment into the process—so that path forward is tracked, adjusted, and held accountable over time. This isn’t a one-time snapshot. It’s training with a plan.
The Team
What sets The Practice apart as much as its methodology is the depth of its coaching staff—specialists who bring decades of experience and the kind of range that matters when clients arrive with real injuries, sport-specific goals, or simply the desire to age well.
Nick Causa brings 18 years of fitness industry experience, including leadership roles at Equinox where he was named Personal Training Manager of the Year. At The Practice, he combines coaching, education, and strategic thinking to help clients build for the decades ahead.
Rob Pizzolla is rooted in biomechanics and human movement science. He takes a precision-based approach to strength training and functional movement, with a coaching philosophy built as much around sustainability as performance—building resilient bodies that hold up across decades.
Gabriel Hidalgo brings nearly three decades of experience, with specialized training in brain health, fascia-based performance, and movement education. His coaching is practical and grounded—built for real life, not just the gym.
Jess Loizzo came up through CrossFit and strength and conditioning, with more than 15 years of coaching experience. She works with clients of all levels, prioritizing proper movement, core stability, and progressive strength—and creates an environment that is equally supportive and demanding.
No time like the present
There’s something about the turn toward summer that makes this conversation feel urgent. The impulse is usually to get ready for something—a beach trip, a season of activity, a photograph. The Practice isn’t interested in that version of the story. What they’re building toward is a decade from now, and the one after that.
I left thinking the same thing I thought after my first visit: I hadn’t been training my whole body. I’d been training the parts that showed up in my sport. The assessment tells you where the gaps are and this team knows how to close them.
In a town full of people who value longevity—in their work, their families, their lives—it feels fitting that fitness here is evolving too. Healthspan Discovery at The Practice offers a way to step back, see where you actually are, and train with the long view in mind. Not a reset. Just a smarter place to begin.