The Fitness Resolution
Gone are the days when starting a new workout routine was likely to mean buying a membership at a daunting big-box gym and taking on a sea of crowded treadmills and intimidating racks of bulky free weights. That’s still an option, but boutique fitness studios are continuing a trend of diversity and options. In the last year alone, several new options have arrived in town, each offering expert instruction in exclusive formats. So grab your water bottle and get ready to get fit in ’15, choosing from trampolining and beefed-up ballet to virtual cycling or adult recess. No excuses allowed.
Camp Gladiator
“If you’re not enjoying your workout, you’re not going to come back,” says Kevin Richardson, regional director of Camp Gladiator, an outdoor fitness boot camp that encompasses endurance training, functional training, high intensity interval training and metabolic conditioning.
“Every workout is done at your own pace,” he says. “It’s for all fitness levels. You can always push yourself and get an incredible workout, but we’re going to make sure you have fun. We want you to have your recess hour back.”
Richardson and his team of trainers offer morning and evening classes, rain or shine, all over the Keller area, primarily at Bear Creek Park. Participants, often 20 or 30 at a time, perform sprint and agility drills, body weight strength drills, cardio drills and more for a total body workout. Richardson describes Camp Gladiator as a community, with participants often attending social gatherings together after workouts, or embarking on hiking, biking and even camping trips together.
“It’s a community of people with positive energy,” he says.
Camp Gladiator classes are offered across the country, and packages range from four weeks to 12 months for unlimited classes. Newbies can use coupon code NEWYEARS85 for a four-week package rate of $85. http://campgladiator.com
Altitude Trampoline Park
Folks can jump their way to weight loss at Altitude Trampoline Park, where hour-long, instructor-led fitness classes reportedly burn up to 1,000 calories.
“We have a man who, so far, has lost 86 pounds from doing the class and eating right,” says Altitude general manager Zach Barton. “His wife lost 67 pounds. This is in one year.”
Altitude’s trampolining classes combine floor-based resistance and core training, using various props like weighted jump ropes and medicine balls, with cardio and body-weight exercises on the trampoline.
“The trampoline helps people who have bad knees or achy joints,” says Barton. “They alleviate a lot of that pressure, especially for people who can’t run on a treadmill because it hurts their legs and knees.”
Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 8 a.m. Single classes are $9.95 or $39.95 for a 12-class package that has no expiration.
Barton adds, “Our prices are low because we really try to encourage folks to stick with it.”
Orangetheory Fitness
A stylish new fitness craze has exercise enthusiasts going orange.
Orangetheory Fitness, based out of Fort Lauderdale, offers 60-minute total-body workout classes that incorporate strength and conditioning with heart-rate-based interval training to stimulate metabolism for hours and even days after completion. Tarrant County’s first location opened in Colleyville last spring, and a Keller Town Center location will open by March.
Equipment used includes TRX suspension workout trainers, Bosu balls, free weights, treadmills and rowing machines. But what pushes participants into the “orange zone,” or the specific heart-rate zone where participants can really boost metabolism, are the heart-rate monitors they wear. That’s because large TV screens display each participant’s name and their heart-rate level, serving as the ultimate motivator.
“Your heart rate gives it away,” says Kris Elwood, Colleyville Orangetheory studio manager who will also manage the Keller location. “It’s so much more motivating than doing an individual session with a personal trainer or working out on your own.”
But coaches only want participants to stay in the orange zone for 12 to 20 minutes cumulatively for the entire class. If they do, “they’re going to burn 300-500 calories over the next 24 to 36 hours,” says Elwood. “And that’s on top of how much they already burned in class.”
Orangetheory Fitness classes are offered seven days a week at multiple times throughout the day in Colleyville. Classes range from $7 to $18 depending on the membership option selected.
Pedals Cycling Studio
Even in the dead of winter, cyclists can ride through the picturesque terrain of Colorado, Lake Tahoe and even Ethiopia at Pedals Cycling Studio, new in Keller from owner Marlissa Kraft, who fell in love with indoor cycling while living in frigid Wisconsin. But the studio’s 3-D visual system and spacious, stadium-style layout aren’t the only features that set it apart from other spin venues.
“We have power meters on our bikes that are connected to computers,” says Kraft, who lost 90 pounds by way of indoor cycling. “You can see your progress. Our system allows you to store and track that information. Instead of guessing your progress based on how you feel, you actually see numbers. Maybe you started at 90 watts of power and now you’re at 120 watts.”
Kraft’s SpinPower Bladez ION bikes inspire riders to push a little harder based on wattage required to climb a hill or race to the finish. Speaking of hills, Kraft’s virtual ride program allows her to add those on a whim, if she desires.
“I can manually add a hill and you’ll see the hill coming up,” she says. “Every time you ride, it’s not the same. And if everybody looks like they’re dying, I can exit quickly.”
Class types range from intro sessions for beginners to 90-minute endurance rides and are offered at multiple times a day, seven days a week. Classes start at $17 and there are monthly and yearly packages available, starting at $99. The first ride is free.
CardioBarre
Touted as Hollywood’s premier barre workout, CardioBarre is a California-based concept that combines ballet-inspired barre work with light weights for toning and resistance exercises.
“You get your cardio in as well as your toning,” says Shannon Moore, who in June opened CardioBarre in Southlake, the only location in Texas. “It’s a high-energy, no-impact class. We’re lengthening and strengthening our muscles the entire time.”
With traditional, often slower-paced barre formats, participants might have to look elsewhere for cardio conditioning, Moore says.
“We know how busy women and men are and they don’t have time to go do several different workouts,” she says. “This is a fast-paced class. If you think you can’t do any more of one thing, we’re already moving on to something different.”
Celebs like Ashlee Simpson, Dakota Fanning, Stacy Dash and even Kiss frontman Paul Stanley are among the many fans of the format. Motivation by highly-trained instructors, who must hold at least four years of classical ballet training and undergo three weeks of rigorous tests and teaching in California, contributes to participant praise for the program.
“There are only about 80 trainers in the country,” says Moore. “But you don’t have to have any dance experience to take a class. And the way you feel when you walk out of a class is unexplainable. Our instructors are extremely motivating. Every time I take a class, those are my most productive days.”
Classes are $18 and new client promotions include a 10-class series for $39. The first CardioBarre class is free.
9Round
South Carolina-based 9Round fitness and kickboxing studio opened a location near Texas Christian University last year. A Keller outlet is coming soon, although a specific site is yet to be determined. As the name indicates, participants work through nine three-minute rounds led by a trainer, spending rounds one through three focusing on cardio and strength, rounds four through seven punching and kicking a heavy bag, round eight working on a speed bag and round nine doing abdominal exercises. Trainers provide active recovery exercises likes jumping jacks, sit-ups or push-ups for the last 30 seconds of each round while explaining what’s coming for the next round.
“It’s fast-paced. You’re in and out in 30 minutes,” says Fort Worth 9Round owner David Luffey. “And you can come and go on your schedule because we don’t have any class times.”
That’s one of 9Round’s biggest selling points. Members can come in any time during operating hours and jump right in to begin round one. Thirty minutes later, they’re done.
This story was originally published December 31, 2014 at 6:00 AM with the headline "The Fitness Resolution."