KHOU anchor feels right at home working out
Mia Gradney blasts DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win” and breaks into a “that’s-my-jam” dance.
She places a weighted bar on her shoulders and bends her knees to lunge forward. Her head bounces to the beat.
In a world filled with man caves and she sheds, Gradney and her husband, Troy, have found refuge in their Fort Bend County home in a multicar garage that’s been transformed into a gym and fitness studio.
It was a do-it-yourself project, started in 2015, from the painted concrete floor to the metal plate installed on the wall for Gradney’s headstands. The floor-to-ceiling mirrors are the only feature professionally installed.
Here, Gradney, an evening anchor for KHOU (Channel 11), jams her favorite playlist as loud as she wants. Her exercise routine
moves and flows with the music, rotating from jumping rope to boxing to even yoga, depending on her mood.
That convenience, she says, is the main reason they created the space.
The garage gym is loaded with a Peloton exercise bike, free weights, a weight bench, yoga mats, boxing bags, exercise DVDs, a flat screen TV and a black chalk wall to scribble inspiring words. Along the back walls are road bikes, inline skates and tennis racquets. Gradney’s husband also is an avid cyclist, and his jerseys from past MS 150 rides decorate the wall. She’s done the charity ride three times.
“I’ve been working out since college and always did something at home, but it got to the point where I just couldn’t get to gym consistently,” says Gradney, who has an 11-year-old daughter, Avery, with Troy, her college sweetheart. “When I was pregnant with my daughter, I worked out four days a week at 24 Hour Fitness, but now we have so many demands of our time. This makes it easy.”
The number of people with memberships at fitness centers and health clubs in the U.S. continues to grow since 2000, when the figure stood at 33 million. Last year it jumped to 57 million, according to Statista.com. But home gyms can serve as an attractive alternative to exercise facilities for people wanting a more flexible and stress-free workout experience.
Gradney says home gyms can be a simple as a yoga mat and handheld weights to more complex with exercise machines and other fitness equipment. Mirrors not only provide feedback on form, but also can make a small space feel larger.
But just like any traditional gym, Gradney says it does no good if you don’t use it.
“Consistency is part of the discipline of working out. You have to commit to it, and do it. Even if you don’t have the finances to pay for a gym membership or the money to retrofit your garage into a gym, you can do something on a smaller scale.”
Gradney works out about 30 minutes a day three to four times a week. She usually runs one or two miles around the neighborhood or hops on the Peloton bike for a quick ride, then she might jump rope or sprint through an exercise ladder on the floor. She caps off her workouts with what she calls the “Mia 100,” which includes 20 squats, 20 lunges (forward or back), 20 bicep curls, 20 tricep extensions on a bench and 20 calf raises. Abs are extra, especially if it’s swimsuit season.
“I do believe something is better than nothing, so I try to do something,” Gradney says. “I’m 41, and I know God has blessed me with good genes, but I’m not perfect. I don’t get enough sleep at all, but I try to take care of myself, and exercise is part of that.”
Another benefit to a home gym is there’s no judgement, she says. No one shaming you for the extra Thanksgiving pounds you put on or the fact you work out sans makeup. “You don’t have to worry about anyone critiquing you or judging you like in a traditional gym setting, but you have to be disciplined.”
For Gradney, that means she powers through workouts even during a natural disaster.
During Hurricane Harvey when the television station was forced to evacuate because of flooding waters, Gradney and her colleagues spent days and nights at the station. So when she finally made it home, all she wanted to do was work out.
“We had family staying with us at the time, but I needed to clear my head and running and exercise put me in a good mood. Yes, I do it to stay in shape, but I also like the way it makes me feel.”
A native of Houston, Gradney grew up in Spring and danced her way through childhood, studying ballet, jazz and tap. She graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, where she met her husband. They used to work out and run together on campus.
After several stints at stations in smaller markets, Gradney was hired as an anchor at CW 39 in 2000. In 2012, she joined the KHOU news team.
Gradney says busy work days in a newsroom make healthy eating choices difficult, but she tries to eat a salad with “everything from kitchen” as often as possible. She admits she loves food, especially tacos and the cakes and cookies she bakes herself.
“My weight doesn’t fluctuate really, but I have friends whose struggle with weight is real. I think people are really hard on themselves, and there’s a lot of shame when they don’t feel like they are in shape. I think when you are in a place of shame, it’s good to figure out a way to do some type of exercise at your own pace and in your own peace.”
Home gyms like hers are not necessarily cheap. The Peloton bike alone cost about $5,000. But Gradney knows what
it’s like to work out on a budget. During her first on-air job at a television station in Victoria, she worked out on her apartment floor.
She swears by fitness apps and says the cell phone is an “amazing” tool to learn about new workouts and watch fitness videos.
About once or twice a year, usually around her birthday in June, Gradney will try a class at a fitness studio to see what new workouts she can incorporate at home.
Her last class at 9Round Fitness, a kickboxing studio, literally kicked butt, she says.
Most of all, workouts whether at home or in studio have to have good music.
“You’ve gotta have great music to motivate you. I’ve walked out of a cycling class because the music wasn’t moving me. I really did.”
Gradney turns up Jess Gynne’s “Hold My Hand.”
“That’s my jam!” she shouts, then starts jumping rope.