Rocking Workouts, Steady Community at Table Rock Fitness

By GAYANE TOROSYAN
ONEONTA

At Table Rock Fitness, you can come to work out. Or you can linger with the energizing music and watch bodies in motion, routines unfolding at various levels of complexity.

Someone stretches slowly on a yoga mat in a corner, moving with the bouncy precision of a dancer. Across the room, a petite, curly blonde lifter hoists what looks like twice her weight. Nearby, a tall, neatly groomed regular with a Long Island cadence powers through crunches on a green medicine ball as if there is no tomorrow.

The gym hums at all hours. That is by design.

Owner and manager Sarah Schlafer, who has run Table Rock Fitness since 2018, has built the Oneonta facility into a 24/7 space that sets it apart, allowing routines to happen on anyone’s schedule.

“It was 24/7 when we bought it, so we didn’t want to change that,” Schlafer said. “‘When can I work out?’ That’s a barrier for people. This helps remove it.”

That constant availability also shapes her own life.

“I am always on call,” she said with a laugh. Even on vacation, the work follows. “Are you ever really on vacation? No. I usually end up taking calls.”

Schlafer lives in Oneonta with her husband, Joshua, and their two sons, 10 and 12. Joshua works in technology and supports Sarah in business decisions as needed. The gym itself is the product of a larger life pivot.

Before Table Rock, Schlafer spent 17 years teaching fourth grade in Connecticut, after earning her undergraduate degree in Maine and a master’s in teaching from Eastern Connecticut State University. Her husband, who grew up in Unadilla, once worked at ESPN. But with two young children and a changing educational climate, the couple began rethinking their path.

When the former Train Hard Fitness location came up for sale after operating for about a year and a half, the Schlafers and three partners took the leap. Later, one partner was bought out.

Schlafer brought her educator’s mindset with her. Running the gym, it turns out, has striking parallels to running a classroom.

“When we took on this endeavor, I didn’t know that managing this business would be similar to running a classroom,” she said.

There are checklists for staff, clear expectations and something teachers call “front-loading”—explaining policies right away so there are no surprises later.

“Open communication is so important,” she added.

In the early days, Schlafer worked in nearly every role: cleaning, staffing the desk, troubleshooting equipment and learning the rhythms of the place from the ground up.

“That is how the checklists were made,” she said, to show what needed to be done and how to make things most efficient.

Today, Table Rock Fitness employs some 10 part-time staff members, including cleaners who come in for several hours a day, desk attendants and Robert Wisse, a retired BOCES instructor who handles equipment maintenance with a mechanical eye. Schlafer said her colleagues supported her from the start; Wisse stepped in early on, along with several front desk workers and a cleaner, but she still filled gaps wherever needed, working both the desk and the floor.

“I had to work within the roles to determine what was necessary to run smoothly,” she added. “I still fill in when staff are absent.”

The gym also works with four independent trainers who run their own businesses inside the space. Schlafer is certified in personal training and nutrition coaching, and she maintains close ties with SUNY Oneonta’s exercise science program. Students frequently intern at the gym, sometimes progressing to training clients themselves.

“It is really awesome,” Schlafer said. “They get to work the desk, learn how things operate, and some of them become certified and start training here.”
The result is a space that reflects both structure and flexibility, a place where a wide range of people intersect. Members range in age from 14 to 90, with younger teens required to have an adult present.

“I love our members and our gym community,” Schlafer said. “It’s such a diverse group. People come in, they talk, they’re friendly…it’s a positive environment.”

She added that because members are at various stages of their fitness journeys, she wants everyone to feel welcome and not intimidated: “They don’t have to be an athlete. Everyone is just here trying to be a healthier, stronger version of themselves.”

Eliza Bernardo works at Table Rock’s front desk. She said she recently graduated from SUNY Cortland with a bachelor’s degree in health education and is currently completing her initial teaching certification while applying for other jobs. Bernardo used to work out at the gym in high school, and after graduating in 2022, she noticed the gym was hiring and decided to apply. Born and raised in Oneonta, she said the familiarity of the gym keeps her connected.

“And that’s the great part of this. We’re all locals, so we all create such a great community here at the gym. We all have the same interests of working out, becoming better—physically and mentally—so it means a lot. We all have the same goals and priorities, and I think that’s what definitely helps with the environment,” Bernardo said.

Bella Bartlett, another member of the front desk staff, graduated from SUNY Oneonta in May 2025 and plans to begin a master’s program in special education in fall 2026. In the meantime, she works part-time at Table Rock while serving as a substitute teacher in elementary special education for the Oneonta City School District.

“I really love interacting with all of our members here. I’m definitely a people person, so I love to talk to everybody that comes in, and that we have a really nice community here,” Bartlett said.

In a region with multiple fitness options, Table Rock has carved out its own niche. The YMCA, Schlafer noted, serves families with classes like swimming and gymnastics, which her sons used to take. FoxCare’s Specialty Fitness focuses on cardiac rehabilitation. Table Rock, by contrast, is defined by accessibility and atmosphere: clean, affordable and open whenever members need it.

That accessibility draws a mix of locals and transients: traveling nurses, summer baseball families and college students looking for consistency. It also fosters routine in quieter ways. Weekend nights tend to be still, the gym running on card access alone, a few figures moving steadily under fluorescent lights.

Kelby Hilts is a New York–based powerlifter who holds nine state records in federations that enforce strict drug testing. Competing in regional meets, he earned first place in his division at the Owego Winter Classic in January 2025, recording a raw total of 742.5 kilograms across the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Hilts works at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown as part of the trauma surgery team and has been a member of Table Rock Fitness for the past seven to eight years.

“Very hospitable, everyone’s very nice. It’s one of the cleanest gyms I’ve been to. I’ve been going to gyms all over the country because I did travel nursing—I’ve been to probably 40 or 50 gyms in my lifting career—and it’s one of the cleanest,” Hilts said.

He added that strength training supports his work in the hospital.

“Yeah, it helps to have a strong back to stay safe and make sure I continue doing the work I’m doing,” Hilts added.

For Eric Nordberg, who joined the staff in 2020 after retiring from Amphenol Aerospace, the gym has become part of daily life. Living just a mile away, he now spends five days a week inside the facility he helps maintain.

“I’m in better shape now than I have been in the last 20 to 30 years,” Nordberg said. “When I was working, I didn’t have time. Now I’m here at the gym five days a week.”

What keeps him there goes beyond fitness.

“Definitely seeing old friends, making new friends,” Nordberg said. “I’ve seen people I haven’t seen since high school.” He paused, then added with a laugh, “You’ve got to have a sense of humor. You’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing.”

That sense of community keeps longtime athletes coming back, too. Former Hartwick College men’s soccer coach Jim Lennox is a Hall of Fame inductee and one of the most accomplished figures in the school’s history. He said he found his way to Table Rock after growing frustrated with limited hours elsewhere.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Lennox spent 27 years at Hartwick, becoming the winningest coach in the program’s history. In 1977, he led the team to an undefeated 16-0-2 season and an NCAA Division I national championship, still the college’s only NCAA team title. He also coached U.S. teams at the 1991 and 1993 World University Games.

Now retired from the sidelines but still moving with purpose, Lennox said the difference at Table Rock was immediate.

“You can find all the equipment you want,” Lennox said, “and if you watch, there’s always somebody cleaning. It’s neat. The staff is superb.”

What stood out even more, though, was the atmosphere.

“People are smiling. They talk with you. It’s a friendly place. And it’s affordable—in these crazy times, that matters,” Lennox said.

He added, jokingly, that he plans to keep coming “until the parts fall off.”

For SUNY Oneonta student Spencer O’Neil, who works at the gym while studying computer science, Table Rock has become something else entirely—a kind of anchor.

“I love it here,” he said. “It’s clean, the people are nice, I get to help out, and I meet a lot of people.”

O’Neil, originally from Cobleskill, plans to pursue a career in artificial intelligence or cybersecurity after graduating in 2027. Whether or not he stays in the area, he said, the gym will remain a touchstone.

“I’ll definitely come back and visit as much as possible,” he added.

The fitness center’s website, tablerockfitness.com, outlines membership options and club policies, offering a window into the gym’s 9,000-square-foot facility outfitted with equipment from Life Fitness, Hammer Strength, Rogue, and other leading manufacturers.

For those ready to get started, Schlafer suggested a simpler route: Stop by the front desk and step inside.