The Fitness Center: 30 years of wellness

In 1993, former New Yorker Vic Nigri opened a small gym at the edge of Mountain Brook, on Montclair Road. Located on the second floor of an office building housing a post office and a smattering of other small businesses, The Fitness Center has been a mainstay in the community for 30 years. 

The business began as one-to-one personal fitness, part of a chain of personal training centers with locations throughout the Southeast. Nigri was working in management with the company, overseeing franchises in other cities, when he decided to launch his own franchise in the Birmingham market. 

Over the years, The Fitness Center has carved a niche for itself within Birmingham’s competitive fitness community. 

“We’re identified with this place,” Nigri said of their spot on Montclair Road. “We had outfitted it from the beginning and we did these renovations, so it just became our place. It was just a good place to be.”

Eventually, Nigri bought the franchise out and rechristened the business The Fitness Center, and before long his wife Beth joined him. A former special education teacher for Birmingham City Schools, Beth came on board practically the moment she walked out of her classroom for the last time in 2004. 

“The funny thing is I told him, ‘Now, when I retire, I want two weeks where I can do what I want before I come work at The Fitness Center.' The day I retired, that afternoon I was answering the phones,” Beth said with a laugh. “I’m still waiting for my two weeks off!”

While gyms have come and gone over the last three decades, The Fitness Center has continued providing cutting-edge fitness programs for people who need accountability and one-on-one instruction. Vic Nigri said he continues to maintain the viewpoint that most people who want to get healthy need someone knowledgeable and compassionate to help them achieve their goals. 

“You still have human nature and you have people that need help,” he said. “They need somebody to show them what to do and how to do it right so they don’t get hurt, so the accountability factor is an important part of what we do.”

The Fitness Center was launched at an interesting point in time for the fitness business in Birmingham. At that time, the city was dominated by large health and racquet clubs, places that were as much social clubs as they were gyms.

Gym culture in the 1980s and early 1990s was primarily focused on the outward appearance. The Fitness Center, on the other hand, was one of the first in the area that emphasized a holistic approach to fitness in a smaller space, a good 15 years before the micro-gym boom, Vic said. 

Their personal touch has been the hallmark of The Fitness Center and the key to its success for three decades. The Nigris are proud of the fact that many of their clients have been with The Fitness Center for decades and many of their trainers have worked at the gym for more than 20 years. 

“You don’t go into this business unless you care about people,” Vic said. “They don’t care about what you know until they know you care about them and that it comes from the heart.”

The Fitness Center is located at 3900 Montclair Road, Suite 210. For more information, visit

thefitnesscenter.org.