Smart workout
Lake Mary fitness studio owner says he has safe option to big-box gyms
After a 20-year career in corporate finance, Lake Mary resident Kerry Brown wanted a change. When he came across The Exercise Coach fitness studio franchise, something clicked.
“I was never the big gym rat guy. I’m not the guy that was in the gym five days a week,” he said. “I was into fitness and definitely nutrition, but [The Exercise Coach] just resonated with me, and I thought, ‘Gee that could be a good thing for me to do and something to feel good about on a daily basis.’ ”
Brown — the owner and manager of The Exercise Coach in Lake Mary, which opened May 26 — describes TEC as the antithesis of big-box gyms.
“The environment is really welcoming for people that aren’t connecting with conventional fitness,” he said. “Personal one-onone training here is primarily what we offer. And that really just gets the best out of a workout with a person … within this comfortable studio environment.”
The “smart fitness studio” utilizes exclusive, bioadaptive, robotic exercise equipment called Exerbotics that helps customize workouts to each client.
“They’re strength training machines which calibrate to your own strengths and weaknesses, and not only give you a target on day one but throughout the course of working with the machines,” he said. “It’s smart enough to keep adjusting the target to your new goal based on the strength you’ve gained.”
The 20-minute sessions include the use of three Exerbotic machines and two isotonic strength machines, plus five minutes of high-intensity interval training on either a stationary bike or another Exerbotic machine. Currently, TEC only offers one-on-one sessions — so you get plenty of attention and guidance — but it will eventually roll out semiprivate sessions in July or August that cap at four participants.
“We offer 20-minute workouts twice a week for a full-body workout,” Brown said. “The right dosage of intensity is given on these machines. That’s all you need for just the whole rest of your week.”
New clients will fill out an intake form, map out their goals with a trainer and receive a nutrition plan.
During the first workout session, trainers will conduct tests on each Exerbotic machine to evaluate a customer’s strengths and weaknesses and to calibrate the machines. For each test, the client will sit at the machine and demonstrate 50 percent, followed by 100 percent of their strength, which helps determine a target range to stay within throughout the workout. This range is marked in green, and the goal is to stay within that area for eight reps on each machine — half of each rep requires you to move the machine and half requires you to resist the machine.
The studio is taking precautions to ensure customer safety amid the coronavirus pandemic. All equipment is disinfected before and after every session; the entire facility has been sprayed with MicroShield 360 antiviral spray; employees undergo temperature checks before their shifts and wear masks; clients must sanitize their hands and have their temperature checked prior to workouts; complimentary face masks and gloves are available to visitors (though neither is required); and sessions are by appointment only and currently limited to oneon-one sessions.
“We have no open gym times, so people aren’t running in and out, there’s super-low foot traffic,” Brown said. “A lot of people coming in … are scared to go back to big-box gyms and this is resonating with them at the moment.”
Brown plans to open a second location in Oviedo/ Winter Springs, but for those interested in trying out the experience in Lake Mary, TEC is offering two free sessions to new customers through July 15.