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Wednesday

The City Vista Vida will host a free Shred class this morning at 7 AM. The circuit workout will focus on building strength via resistance bands and weights.445 K St. NW

Northern Virginia folks can get in a double workout tonight: Show up for a 30-minute Pure Barre class, after which youll run down to Shred415 for a half-hour cardio workout. After youre done, head to Burtons Grill for happy hour deals.21435 Epicerie Plaza, Sterling

Join the Outdoor Voices team for a bootcamp-meets-circuit workout this morning at Chaia. Hang around post-sweat for brunch from the taco crew. Class starts at 9 AM.615 I St. NW

Swing by the Bethesda Lululemon for an in-store yoga class that focuses on your core. The hour-long workout begins at 9:45 AM.7101 Democracy Blvd. #1268, Bethesda

Join the conversation!

Associate Editor

Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She previously was the editorial assistant at Walter Magazine in Raleigh, North Carolina, and her work has appeared in Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Adams Morgan.

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Here Are Some of the Best Free Fitness Classes Around DC This Week: February 18-23 - Washingtonian

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The Wodapalooza CrossFit Fitness Festival is a big highlight in the CrossFit competitive calendar. Offering one of the biggest prize purses outside the CrossFit Games, Wodapalooza is also open to Teens, Masters, Adaptive, scaled and beginner athletes.

The CrossFit Sanctional runs from February 20 to 23 in Miami and brings together thousands of athletes, spectators and fitness fans. With a ticket to the2020 CrossFit Gamesup for grabs for the top placed male, female and team on the Elite categories, the competition is bound to be exciting.

Both the female and male fields are stacked with experienced CrossFit Games and Reginals athletes, as well as previous Sanctional winners. We expect the competition to be fierce and we wouldnt want to bet on the top five spots, as they could belong to any of the outstanding athletes competing.

Have a look at the full leaderboard here.

As part of Loud and Live, Wodapalooza will exclusively be livestreamed on FloElite.

All the action will be broadcast live or on-demand here. A monthly subscription costs $12,50.

Wodapalooza is the first of five Sanctionals managed by Loud and Live. The West Coast CrossFit Classic, the Madrid CrossFit Championship, the Granite Games and the Mayan Classic will also be exclusively broadcast though FloElites channels.

You can find the latest schedule, with all workout details, here.

The competition kicks off Thursday February 20 and runs through Sunday February 23.

Continued here:
How to Watch the Wodapalooza Fitness Festival and Athletes to Watch - BOXROX

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Today only, as part of its Gold Box Deals of the Day, Amazon is offering up to 25% off Biofreeze and Theraband health and fitness products. You can grab the 3-piece TheraBand Resistance Band Set for $8.38 with free shipping for Prime members or in orders over $25. Regularly between $11 and $15, todays offer is a new Amazon all-time low and the best we can find. Designed for resistance training and rehabilitation, these bands are made of natural rubber latex. Measuring out at 5-feet long by 5-inches wide, this set includes three bands of varying resistance: Yellow 3 to 4.3-pounds, Red 3.7 to 5.5-pounds, and Green 4.6 to 6.7-pounds. Rated 4+ stars from over 1,200 Amazon customers. More details below.

The 3-piece set is about as affordable as it gets when it comes to comparable resistance band options, but you could opt for a smaller set if you dont need three. The 2-piece TheraBand Resistance Band Set is currently on sale for just over $7 and carries similarly solid ratings.

But be sure to browse through the rest of todays Biofreeze and Theraband Gold Box sale for additional deals from just over $8 Prime shipped right here.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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Amazon is offering resistance band sets + more fitness gear from $7 (25% off) - 9to5Toys

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With the sale of the Olympia and Muscle & Fitness to Jake Wood, the bodybuilding and fitness world has been thrown into a state of flux. The two popular brands once owned by American Media Inc. (AMI) have seen their popularity rise over the years, completely overshadowing the competition. Thats why the sale of the company was such a major shock to so many in the industry.

But why now? With the rising popularity of bodybuilding and fitness in the mainstream, it seems to be a very alarming move. But it seems that we may have found the answer.

According to a recent NY Post article, AMI appears to be in need of some cash. With its $100 Million deal to sell the National Inquirer yet to be resolved, it looks like AMI has resorted to selling off their other print magazines. This of course included Muscle & Fitness which has been a long-time staple in the health and wellness publication space. Now, Muscle & Fitness will be a solely digital publication.

As for how much the Olympia and Muscle & Fitness trades were sold for, sources are saying that both brands were handed over with a price tag less than $75 Million. The sale was authorized at the behest of Chatham Asset Management which holds an 80% controlling interest in American Media Inc and all with the intention of paying off debt.

Now that Muscle & Fitness is scaling back all their print media, it seems that the brand will have a refocused agenda dedicated solely to the digital space. Under the ownership well have to see how both Muscle & Fitness and the Olympia brands will perform. It will face stiff competition in the fitness expo trade market for ad dollars against the likes of Athleticon this October, FIBO USA, the Arnold Classic and many other expos across the country.

For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.

Source: NY Post

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Olympia and Muscle & Fitness Sold to Keep Lights On at AMI. Magazine to Cease all Print Publications Going Forward - generationiron.com

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LONDON (Reuters) - Only a fraction of people who run do so because they love it, and most are motivated by boosting their body image and improving their heart and mental health, according to a global survey by the fitness-tracking app Strava.

FILE PHOTO: A woman jogs past the Federal Reserve building in Washington, U.S., July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Strava, which tracks the sports activity trends of some 50 million people in almost 200 countries, surveyed 25,000 runners and found that half of them say they either hate it or barely tolerate it, while only 8% love it.

But running is often connected with a sense of stability at a deeper level, Strava said in a report of the surveys findings. Runners described the need to run to maintain their sense of self and as a way to respond to adversity.

Theres a great realisation that to exercise the body also helps to exercise the mind - which is a muscle that needs just as much looking after as the other muscles, said Simon Klima, Stravas global marketing director.

And love it or hate it, the vast majority of runners cited health as a primary motivator for getting out and clocking up the miles. More than 80% said they started running to get healthier, stronger or have more energy.

In Brazil, 22% of amateur runners said theyd taken up the sport due to a health scare. That compares with just 2% in the United States. There, almost half of respondents said building strength was a core motivator to run - and this was even higher - at 54% - among U.S. women.

German runners were the most likely of the nations surveyed to cite body image as a reason to run - at 47% - and in Japan, 15% say they run to combat feelings of anxiety and depression.

Klima sees this as a sign of the times: With social media networks putting pressure on people for how they look, its driving up the motivating factor of body image, he said.

The Why We Run survey - which included respondents from nine countries in North America, South America, Asia and Europe - showed how runners worldwide share many common traits.

It clustered runners into five key types based on the benefits they value and the extent to which they race or run in social groups.

They ranged from passionate runners, who run in many social settings and reap the psychosocial benefits like accomplishment and happiness, to mindful runners - who tend to run alone - to reluctant runners who rarely compete in races and perceive the fewest social or psychological benefits of all runner types.

Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Mitch Phillips and Hugh Lawson

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Fitness app Strava finds love-hate relationship with running - Reuters

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A fitness app might have been responsible for exposing the identities of numerous British Special Air Service (SAS) operators.

According to Nick Waters, a former British Army officer and open source analyst with Bellingcat, the fitness app Strava can be manipulated into revealing the identities of Special Operations personnel.

Waters identified the security lapse during an experiment. The former infantry officer described how he managed to find out the identities. I made up my own training session, he said. And convinced Strava that I had run a certain distance in a certain time inside the base [he was referring to the Hereford base where the Special Air Service is headquartered]. The app then started giving me the names and Facebook profiles of people who had actually run the same route. I started freaking out a bit because I knew this was the kind of information, I probably shouldnt have access to. So I turned it off. It shows how social media is an incredibly powerful monitoring tool and it can be used by anyone to access personal information.

Although Personal Security (PERSEC) concerns are often exaggerated even in most Special Operations units operators who are serving at the tip of the spear, that is Tier 1 units such as the SAS, Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, are considered a national level asset and thus their identities must remain secret.

Waters, who is the senior investigator at Bellingcat, added three lines of code to the app and was then able to fabricate a run in the SAS compound. The fitness app, then, started sharing the run dates and times of people who had run the same route. Using the same approach, Waters was able to pinpoint Special Operations bases in Syria and Africa.

Strava is an application that allows a person to track his mileage while running, cycling, or rucking to better monitor his workout. To ensure accuracy, Strava utilizes the Global Positioning System (GPS). The app boasts over 50 million users across the world.

Granted, some of the names he uncovered might very well be support personnel attached to the SAS or other SOF units but that would still be a security breach.

Following Waters revelations, Strava released a statement saying that the safety and privacy of our athletes is our highest priority. Weve long had a suite of privacy tools that give members control over what they share. Weve improved these self-service features to make them even simpler and more transparent and encourage members of the Armed Forces using Strava to follow the policies of their military branch.

Whats the moral of the story? Stop using apps to track your workouts. A stopwatch is more than enough for experienced runners or ruckers, who can calculate their pace based on the level of perceived exertion.

See the article here:
Did a fitness app expose the identities of SAS operators? - SOFREP

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SEMMES, Ala. If Lloyd Black can make it to the gym, so can you.

At 91 years old, the Alabama resident has become a beloved member of his local Anytime Fitness gym, visiting three days a week in his characteristic blue overalls.

Black joined the gym in Semmes, outside of Mobile, Alabama, one year ago because "simple tasks were becoming hard if not impossible," according to a profile he completed for the "Member of the Month" award. He is the oldest member of the gym, according to AL.com.

A photo of Black's heartwarming survey was shared by the Anytime Fitness on Facebook, where more than 3,000 people have shared it.

"Seeing him in the gym 3 times a week working out in his overalls brightens our day and we hope to have him many more years to come!" the gym wrote in the post.

RELATED: After injury, former pro ballerina finds purpose teaching seniors 'chair ballet'

Anytime Fitness

Since joining the Anytime Fitness, Black said he can now do some jobs he couldn't do before. He said the biggest challenge in maintaining his routine is "making the decision to go ahead." He cites his "daddy- who never gave up" as his personal inspiration.

RELATED: Watch this athlete in a wheelchair easily scale a climbing wall

The former teacher and school principal has been retired for 30 years. He previously served in the Air Force and was stationed in Hawaii, according to AL.com. On the weekends, he spends his time being "busy doing nothing." His favorite "cheat meal" is pecan pie, according to the survey.

General manager Ashley Seaman described Black as "a true southern gentleman with a heart of gold."

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At 91, this fitness enthusiast is inspiring others, overalls and all - WUSA9.com

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Every January brings a new crop of workout enthusiasts to Dallas-area gyms. Fueled by New Year's resolutions and post holiday excess, they storm the treadmills and ellipticals like starstruck fans at an Oprah wellness camp.

In good news for workout veterans, the "get in shape" zeal fades fairly quickly. Resolutions get fuzzy, there are happy hours to attend, and by the end of January, the gym is back to normal.

But the year 2020 has seen the newbies display dedication beyond the norm, sticking it out a month even two.

If you're a regular who knows the beneficial effects of working out, you have no choice but to give them a pumped-up high-5 for initiating their self improvement efforts and sticking to it. You must welcome them to the tribe. You must "woot" their perseverance.

You must even bow to the cardio neophyte who arrives 10 minutes early and commandeers your favorite exercise bike. I mean, you don't own it.

All of this said, there are times when the rookies seem clueless to the accepted decorum at any exercise facility. We're talking about the timeless rules that have been in place since Roman baths were invented in 200 BC.

Rules like, Put your weights back when you're done, wipe your sweat off the Nautilus seat, and the floor mats are for sit-ups and push-ups only. Repeat: The floor mats are for sit-ups and push-ups only.

If you judge by my neighborhood L.A. Fitness, the 2020 newbies seem to be showing deeper signs of oblivion that surpass prior years. Here are some notes on the latest crop of newbies:

Singing on the GauntletThe Gauntlet is the big enchilada of stair devices, not for the meek. You get a great sweat going, and since it's a hulking 8-foot-tall machine, it puts you higher than everyone else at the gym, allowing you to look down upon the rest from your elevated perch.

That should be enough, right? Not for the passive aggressive guy in the tank top. He is not merely rocking to his headphone, he's singing at the top of his lungs. He is really feeling that Anthony Ramos pop tune. Try to shush him and it's: "If you don't like it, get your own headphones."

On the plus side, maybe he'll learn to really sing and become a big star and actually get his own private gym.

Sauna sit-inThe internet tells us that a sauna session can relax the muscles, revitalize the skin, improve blood circulation, and ease mental stress. The internet also says that the proper way to use a sauna is in your "birthday suit." A towel, if you're modest.

So what's the deal with the 15 teenage girls jammed into the sauna, all at once, all fully dressed? Is this a thing? It's definitely a thing at the Garland L.A. Fitness. Any time of the year, open the sauna door and it's a party, everyone is fully dressed, and all are a-chatter. All that's missing is a disco ball.

The locker room selfieYou've been working out for a month. You can already see a difference. You've seen the people on YouTube who track their changes via photos and videos. It has been said that this kind of activity can help stoke your commitment.

Question: Is the locker room mirror really the best place to document your journey?

More specific question: Is the locker room mirror really the place to document your journey in that kind of no-holds-barred no-clothes-on manner? Yes, the lighting is fantastic. Yes there are mirrors for miles. But how many Mr. Atlas bicep flexes ... how many attempts to do a Kim Kardashian ass does a person need?

But this rant is futile. There's even a #lockerroomselfie on Instagram.

The nonfitness buffsWorking out at a gym is intrinsically a social experience. To a certain extent, you're working out so that someone might find you attractive.

But one tiny request: Please do not dawdle with your pal at the shoulder pulley. If you do not intend to do the shoulder pulley within the next 15 minutes, please step away from the shoulder pulley entirely. Look there are tables over by the smoothie counter where you can chat to your heart's content. Except that's not the point, because you want to look like you're working out.

Don't say you're "between reps," because I've been watching for the past 15 minutes and no reps were executed during that time. Yes, I could have gone and done another machine, but that's beside the point. I'm asking again, nicely, step away from the shoulder pulley right now.

Facetiming your belovedYou're going to be home in 15 minutes. You're already dressed. But you gotta check in with your honey. Totally get that. There are decisions to make. Who's gonna pick up dinner and who's gonna walk the dog?

Totally don't get propping your cell on the sink and doing a Facetime. Hello, there are people behind you not dressed. We can see the background of your honey's office, so she can definitely see us behind you in the locker room.

Some situations call for a text. This is one such situation.

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5 tiny requests of the fitness newbies wreaking havoc at my Dallas gym - CultureMap Dallas

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Story by Pamela Durkin and Darcy Nybo Photography by Don Denton

While oftentimes we have the will to stay fit, many of us grow weary of monotonous sessions on the elliptical machine, jogging for miles or getting nowhere on a treadmill. It may be time for a challenge that will engage your body and your mind.

Indoor climbing is gathering quite the following, and not just within the climbing community. For most, it is a sport they know little about. Few have considered it as an option for a real workout. However, once you try it, you may be hooked for life.

Indoor climbing is one of the fastest growing sports in North America and its garnering attention and praise from fitness and medical experts alike, and for good reason. Evidence suggests the sport challenges every muscle group in the body, in addition to being a superb stress-buster and overall brain-booster that can help improve cognitive function and serve as a valuable adjunct in the treatment of conditions like autism and depression.

Peak fitness

Impressed, but not persuaded that indoor climbing can give you the same cardio-oomph your morning jog does? Consider this studies indicate ascending a rock wall can get your heart pumping as effectively as climbing stairs or jogging.

In fact, a one-hour climbing session can burn well over 700 calories much more than the 560 calories youd burn spending the same amount of time running at a six-mile-per-hour pace. Whats more, climbing utilizes almost every muscle group in the body, not just your arms.

Max Considine, program coordinator for Saanichs The Boulders Climbing Gym, explains: Youre like a monkey when youre climbing. You use your whole body, legs and core to propel yourself up the wall. Climbing improves the strength, endurance, speed and flexibility in most major muscle groups and not many sports do that.

That full-body workout translates into a pretty attractive aesthetic. Proponents of the sport claim regular climbing can leave you with strong, toned shoulders, lean thighs, strengthened arms, back and neck and a rock-solid core. In addition, the long reaches and intricate footwork needed to scale a wall can develop flexibility and balance, and leave you as limber as, yes, a monkey.

Mental benefits

In addition to helping you achieve peak fitness, climbing can enhance your mental health. According to research from Indiana University, climbers who totally lose themselves in the flow of the sport, enter a mindset that can create euphoria and even block physical pain.

Theres even more good news for your brain. Some small studies have shown that indoor climbing can have positive effects on anxiety, depression and ADHD.

As more and more people get into the sport, doctors and physiotherapists alike are heralding the positive benefits of rock climbing. It has also been proven as a therapeutic approach to treat depression. In Austria, where the sport is heralded as an activity that promotes mindfulness, self-awareness, self-efficacy and trust, there is even an Institute for Therapeutic Rock Climbing.

Max Considine isnt surprised. Climbing in general requires a high degree of concentration, focus and perseverance. It really builds confidence, puts you in a Zen sort of state and improves overall cognitive function.

He adds, Ive seen painfully shy children lacking in self-esteem blossom into self-confident, outgoing kids within a month of taking up indoor climbing. Its wonderful to see that kind of development.

Getting social

Another salient element in indoor climbings trifecta of health perks is its inherent social aspect.

Climbers are a supportive bunch. Spend time at any climbing facility and youll see people swapping tricks and tips with individuals theyve never met before, or several people climbing on a section of wall working out the route together. Youll also likely see folks whove completed a route gathered on the ground cheering on others, who are still propelling up the wall.

Why is all this important? A plethora of studies confirm that socializing is good for us, and heals us through the same basic physical mechanisms as diet and exercise. People with good social connections have stress hormone blood profiles that are significantly healthier than folks who are isolated. They also have more circulating immune cells and lower cardiac inflammatory protein.

There are two ways to get started in indoor climbing. You can join a Just Hang session under the guidance and supervision of skilled staff members. These sessions include all technical equipment and staff belayers to look after all the rope management aspects. Theres also bouldering, where people climb without ropes over safety mats at heights of up to four or five metres. Its a great way to experience climbing without the need for equipment.

Indoor rock climbing is a great way for friends and corporate groups to partake in something fun. The Boulders Climbing Gym offers both options and also rents, at a nominal fee, any equipment you may require. All you need to do is show up and begin your own ascent towards peak physical and mental health. There are also several classes you can sign up for as a beginner, or to improve your technique. They are open 3 pm to 10 pm Monday to Friday and 10 am to 6 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Boulders also welcomes families with only a few restrictions: children must be at least six years old with a parent/guardian or 14 years old without a guardian.

If garnering some insight into the benefits of indoor climbing has piqued your interest, take some time to explore The Boulders Climbing Gyms website (climbtheboulders.com). Youll find them at 1627 Stellys Cross Road.

FitnessHealthrock climbing

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Ascent to peak fitness - Kimberley Bulletin

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Are we really ? A three-part reality check on whether were living better

The storefronts windows were fogged so thick you couldnt see through them, but a group of people were mingling outside, chatting away on the sidewalk, flush in the face, gym bags slung over their shoulders.

Inside, a countdown clock showed it was six minutes until the next workout class. The studio floor was a mess of medicine balls, sandbags and dangling rubber bands as long as two men. In six minutes, two instructors would make sense of it all.

Downstairs in the warm-up room, people were stretching, but really they were reaching for a little dog darting around the room. Everybody seemed to be on the floor chasing it, wrestling it, all acting so familiar that it was tough to tell whose dog it actually was.

This is what a Tuesday night, or, really, any night, looks like at a neighbourhood fitness studio, one of thousands that have popped up in recent years pushing barre, yoga and spin classes and high-intensity interval training.

Taken together, all these studios and gyms are quickly upending the North American fitness industry as the explosion of boutique fitness franchises are luring people away from the traditional big-box chains and forcing a sector-wide shift toward a more hands-on approach, industry insiders say.

Boutiques typically offer just one or two things say, a Pilates class or CrossFit workout in a small space, with one or two employees on hand. Theyre cheaper to open, cheaper to run and more expensive to join, with most classes costing between $20 and $35, or as much as $300, sometimes more, for an all-access monthly pass.

Naturally, such places are sprouting up everywhere: Orangetheory Fitness, F45 Training, Barrys Bootcamp and SoulCycle are just some of the names youll find, sometimes clustered within minutes of each other.

But with so many boutiques, all charging much more than an average gym membership, it would seem impossible that all them are going to survive, let alone thrive. Are people really exercising that much more these days than they were 20 years ago when big-box gyms dominated the market?

For instance, F45, the Australia-headquartered chain of workout studios, had three franchises in Canada in 2017. Now it has roughly 90, with another 80 franchises sold. F45 runs 45-minute high-intensity interval training or circuit training for three-dozen people per class, led by two instructors.

Like most boutiques, F45 is targeting what it sees as a gap in the market between the cheaper, do-it-yourself workouts at big-box gyms and the pricey sessions with a personal trainer.

F45 franchises are usually about 2,500 square feet and cost between $300,000 and $400,000 to set up. Members typically pay $50 to $75 a week, though it varies depending on how many classes they want to take. The studios need to hit between 100 to 150 members to break even, said Jamie Britt, the F45 executive in charge of selling franchises in Canada.

The first 100 members, at $200 a month, is $20,000 a month, Britt said. The break-even on our studios is typically significantly lower than big box gyms.

One of the advantages boutiques have is that they can be more personable since they have fewer members. Employees at the front desk often greet members by name.

They know your dog's name. The personalization is a big factor of what we're selling

Jamie Britt

They know your dogs name, Britt said. The personalization is a big factor of what were selling.

People in the fitness industry have a term for what these personal connections at the gym create: they call it a tribe. A group of strangers that goes to the same class, at the same time over and over, gets to know each other, thus apparently creating a tribe. The tribe expects you to show up for class. If you dont, they ask where you were.

Boutiques facilitate all this, with little tweaks and touches, using built-in opportunities for social contact. For example, instructors at Orangetheory start their classes by administering a high five to each member.

In the studios, though, the concept doesnt play out as cult-like as it sounds at the corporate level. Before a Tuesday night class at the F-45 studio on Ossington Ave. in Toronto, one of the instructors asked a member if he had a recent haircut.

He had.

Looks good, she said.

That particular class was called Tokyo Disco, a gruelling 12-step weight-training circuit without disco music, from Tokyo or anywhere else. There was a new member that day, taking his first-ever class. The instructors knew his name when he walked in through the fogged glass door.

As the instructors split everyone into pairs, they deliberately put the new guy with Adam, their best pupil. Adam introduced himself with a handshake. He smiled. Itll get easier, he told the new man.

It didnt get easier, not that time. As the newcomer bumbled through an exercise back arched the wrong way, about to pass out one of the instructors gently corrected him.

She asked what he normally did for exercise. Hockey, he gasped. The instructor nodded over at Adam. He plays hockey, too, she said.

At each new station, Adam demonstrated how everything worked. The new member started to think Adam, someday, might be his friend.

At the end, the instructors invited everyone to exchange high fives. Then they all filed down the steps to the cubby room, past the framed before-and-after photos of members, one who had lost 14.1 lbs, another who had lost 21.4 lbs.

One of the instructors smiled as the newcomer left, flush in the face, and asked when he was coming back. She followed up two days later with a text: Would love to have you back in the studio for a cardio class soon.

This tribal experience is a key feature of the boutique phenomenon, according to a 2019 report by the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). In another report, the association found that boutique memberships grew by 121 per cent between 2013 and 2017, compared to 15 per cent across the broader industry.

And, according to IHRSAs latest report on fitness consumers, boutique studios now account for 42 per cent of all gym memberships in an industry that, in 2018, had revenues of roughly US$2.9 billion in Canada, and US$94 billion globally.

Thats the fastest-growing segment in the fitness industry right now, said Scott Wildeman, president of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada. Its convenient, right? Theyre on the local street corner. You can see a lot of people just walk there and get their workout in and walk home.

Wildeman is also a partner at the Calgary-based big-box gym chain GYMVMT. He said the boutiques success has pushed companies such as his to introduce studio-style experiences.

Traditional health clubs and municipal gyms have historically offered spin classes and yoga, but the new studios have enhanced them. For example, the spin class at a big-box gym didnt used to have immersive lights, the sound, Wildeman said. Now, it has to.

People are willing to pay for that enhanced experience, he said.

But the Fitness Industry Council has also raised concerns about boutiques particularly the independently run ones after finding that some trainers didnt have proper certification. The council also disagrees with the concept of having karma staff, a practice common among independent boutiques, where people work the front desk in exchange for a free membership.

Blake MacDonald, president of Orangetheory Fitness Canada, started in big-box gyms and once owned five Club Fit locations in Edmonton, starting in the late 1990s. That model needed square footage in the tens of thousands and relied on the sleeping giant of members who paid but never showed up. Those inactive members could range from 30 to 50 per cent of the total membership, he said.

Its not sustainable. It really isnt, he said. A lot of the low-cost players still operate on that basis. You know, guys that are charging $9.99 a month only make money when they have 8,000 members. If 8,000 members showed up on one day, youd never have enough room for everyone.

In the past nine years, MacDonald has expanded Orangetheory, a Florida-based chain of boutiques, to 100 locations across Canada. Orangetheory studios are lit with orange light and members are given digital heart rate monitors that feed into a screen displayed at the front of the room.

The difference with the boutique model, he said, is that the business depends on members coming all the time. Instead of annual members, most boutiques sell a package of classes. You can buy an unlimited monthly pass, but the underlying economics are that youre paying for a certain amount of classes, whether you go or not.

Theres more accountability to the business itself to ensure people are getting results, that theyre showing up every day, MacDonald said. If theyre not, theyre going to leave that very next month.

An executive at Planet Fitness Inc., one of the biggest budget chains, doesnt agree. He said the sleeping giant criticism is based on an assumption that you have to work out five times a week to reap the benefits of your membership.

I really think that that is incorrect, said Ray Miolla, Planet Fitnesss chief development officer. If you get off the couch and you come in and you work out a couple of times a week or even a couple of times a month, then youre healthier than you were before.

And at Planet Fitness, youre only paying $15 a month.

Miolla said the main flaw with boutiques is that they assume people will want the same training in the future.

Trends come and go and then youre sitting on a lease and a bunch of equipment, he said. And, potentially, people have gone down the street to the latest fad in the fitness industry.

If the U.S. is anything to go by, overall activity rates have climbed steadily in recent years, according to the Physical Activity Councils report last year. The annual study, which surveyed more than 20,000 Americans in 2018, found that people are doing more and more boutique-style activities. The class-based category everything from barre to yoga increased by 3.5 per cent between 2013 and 2018.

But the boutique boom is not just a simple story about more gyms and more people working out. Its really about a shift in the industry with a new business model that increases the options for the exercising public.

At an Orangetheory franchise near the waterfront in downtown Toronto, the 30-year-old owner, Ian Smith, is standing at the back of the studio in between classes. Across the studio, behind the glass doors, members are milling around in the lobby waiting for a Friday afternoon class.

Theyre going to start chatting, Smith said. Theyre going to build relationships.

The studio is at the base of a condo in a constellation of condos. Most of the members live in these condos. Smith does, too. He moved in after investing roughly $900,000 to start the franchise. Six months after opening, he said hes considering buying another franchise.

Smith said he is meticulous about choreographing the studio experience, to add human connections to the often impersonal cycle of desk work and condo living.

The coach knows your name, the people at the front desk know your name, he said.

Coach Nicole emerges in the doorway of the studio for her 4:30 p.m. class. She starts by introducing Alex, a newcomer, and bringing her to the front of the line.

A woman passes by, followed by a man.

Whats going on, Julie? Nicole said. Paul! Whats up?

She hollers into her microphone headset: Were going to crush this next hour!

Financial Post

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