Fresh fitness concepts are popping up all over the Denver metro area. Here are a few to add to your routine.
By Meredith Sell |
Big box gyms, studios, garages fully equipped with squat racks and rowers—Denver has no shortage of places to challenge your fitness indoors. Over the next few months, that will only become more true. We looked into recent and upcoming openings (or re-openings) of Denver-area gyms and fitness studios to find out what’s new, what’s fresh, and what’s worth going out of your way to check out.
Shred415
Prepare to sweat it out—and possibly shed some weight—at this Chicago-based interval training studio. The trainer, who walks around a lightly-dimmed room with the music blaring, dictates four sets of 15-minute sessions while demonstrating different floor exercises. Participants spend roughly half the time on the treadmill (walking, running, or jogging) and half the time on the floor doing a variety of bodyweight or weighted movements. Classes are capped at 31 participants. Everyone works on their own, adjusting treadmill speeds and weights to their individual ability and fitness level, while the trainer calls out directions. Each trainer programs their own classes, but every day of the week is predetermined to focus on either the upper body, lower body, or full body. Classes are often broken up into four 15-minute blocks (hence, the name), but may vary depending on how the trainer designed the workout. In an effort to be family-friendly, the studio offers childcare during most classes for a slight additional fee. On-site showers, complete with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and a free towel service, allow you to freshen up before heading to your next engagement.
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Locations: The University Park location on 6305 E. Hampden opened last November. Three other locations in Boulder, Highlands Ranch, and Castle Rock are slated to open this fall.
Membership: $135 for unlimited classes the first month, then $169/month. Special deals are running right now for future locations in Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock. Your first class is always free. $28 drop-in.
Rowhouse
Swap out the treadmill for a rowing machine, and you have the basic idea of what a 45-minute Rowhouse workout is. Part of the Xponential Fitness family, Rowhouse welcomes exercisers into a dimmed room full of rowers. A coach, equipped with a microphone, leads each class by setting the rowing cadence and hopping off the rower to wander the room and check form. Each rowing session is broken up with intermittent floor work with bodyweight and weighted exercises. Rowhouse offers six different class styles offer with varying levels of intensity. “Rowing in your basement or rowing in the gym by yourself is a completely different animal,” says Brandon Gill, co-owner of a new location in Greenwood Village slated to open this August. “When you are rowing with a coach in this environment … it creates a different energy.”
Locations: Rowhouse currently has two locations open in Highlands Ranch and Littleton, with three more slated to open in Greenwood Village (August), Edgewater (October), and Centennial (August).
Membership: Drop-ins are $29 a class; four visits per month is $89/month; eight visits are $149/month; unlimited is $179/month. Discounted founder memberships are currently available to the first 100 members to join Rowhouse Greenwood Village.
V23 Athletics
“Anybody can drive sweat, but not everybody wants to teach,” says Beau Dorning, founder and head coach of V23 Athletics, which has been open since January 2018 and moved to a new, larger location this past May. The CrossFit affiliate in Englewood is named for vanadium, the twenty-third element on the periodic table, which Dorning says is added to steel to “make it stronger, lighter, more resistant to corrosion and wear.” That’s what the training and coaching at V23 is designed to do for everyone who steps through the door. V23 athletes range from national Strongman competitors to individuals rehabbing injuries or aiming to lose weight. Workouts include a mix of classic bodyweight and barbell movements, as well as sled pulls and pushes, sandbag carries, and a whole variety of other exercises. The common thread is functional movements, i.e., movements that translate to everyday life, with a particular focus on bracing the core and maintaining proper form throughout each movement. A partnership with Kinetic Sports Medicine & Rehab, which shares the space and offers massages, chiropractic treatments, and dry needling—among a variety of other interventions—gets V23 members prime access to recovery help (appointments and separate payment required).
Location: 80 Inverness Dr. E Unit B, Englewood
Membership: $179/month for unlimited classes; $25 drop-in
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Whole Body Studios
At age 19, Dana Dreifus was hit by a drunk driver, leaving her with back problems that her doctor said she could have treated either surgically or by trying conservative therapies like pilates. Dreifus decided to do pilates, and almost 20 years later, she’s opening her second Denver studio on South University in Wash Park. Next door to Hydrate IV Bar, Whole Body Studios offers a variety of pilates, barre, yoga, and circuit-training classes, all led by certified instructors. Yoga and barre classes offer muscle building and cardiovascular fitness while pilates classes offer a more minimalist option.
Locations: 1207 E. 9th Ave (Cheesman Park), 747 S. University (this location opened July 17)
Membership: Whole Body Studios has a variety of membership options. The All Studio Deluxe package ($150/month) includes unlimited barre, yoga, and Pilates mat classes, and six Pilates mat classes per month. Individual classes cost $20-25.
Core Progression
From one-on-one training to exercise programs specifically designed to help you achieve your goals, this Denver-based personal training studio wants to change the way you stay healthy. With four new Colorado locations slated to open this fall, the franchise is expanding across the country. The Lakewood location opening in August will have a physical therapist on-site and a lounge area where kids can play while their parents train (no formal childcare is available). Clients are encouraged to come into the studio to train two to three times a week, and can access workouts to do at home or another facility through Core Progression’s app. A partnership with FitFoods allows clients to purchase pre-made meals and improve their diet, along with the rest of their health.
Locations: Corporate-owned locations are open in Arvada (two locations) and Northglenn. The Lakewood location will open in August, with other franchises following in Boulder, downtown Denver, and Longmont later this fall.
Membership: Pricing varies by location; by appointment only
