Going to the gym doesn’t just mean lifting weights and running on the treadmill.
In the past couple of years, central Ohio has become flooded with local fitness studios offering group lessons and personal training, each one targeting a different facet of physical wellbeing.
On this week's Fascinating Ohio, we will learn more about three local fitness studios that offer different types of workouts and the fitness professionals behind them.
Guests:
- Todd Johnson, owner, United Strength
- Jamie Gladieux, co-owner, Lagree House
- Jacqui Redmond, co-owner, Lagree House
- Heather Daye, owner, Studio 86
Transcript
This transcript is generated with AI. To ensure its accuracy, review the audio file.
Amy Juravich: Welcome to All Sides with Amy Juravich. This is Fascinating Ohio, a show from All Sides on WOSU where we introduce you to people from the Buckeye State with an interesting story to tell. This is fascinating Ohio, the fitness edition. We're learning about three different local gym studios and highlighting their owners.
Going to the gym alone can be nerve wracking. And if you're new to strength training, you might need some guidance on developing a routine. The United Strength Gym in downtown Columbus offers the best of both worlds. Along with a traditional open gym, they also host group gym classes and personal training. Joining us now is a personal trainer and the owner of United Strength, Todd Johnson. Welcome to the show.
Todd Johnson: Thanks, Amy. Thanks for having me.
Juravich: So you've been in the fitness industry for 15 years. Why did you decide to pursue a career in fitness?
Johnson: So I would say it's actually closer to 20. So originally, so my degree is in exercise physiology. So my goal was actually to be more of a doctor, do pre-med, that type of, but I wasn't really interested in going to school for another 10 years and being in a lot of debt by the time I got out.
So I shifted and I started actually more in like the PT setting. So I worked more in the hospital setting and then. That wasn't really my passion. I wanted to help more people on a broader range. So then I moved to Columbus and started personal training at that point.
Juravich: Okay, so you started as a personal trainer. Where did it shift into, I think I want to open my own gym?
Johnson: Yeah. So, uh, I was working at the JCC when I first actually moved here, uh in Bexley. Um, and, uh myself and the fitness director at the time there, we decided, um, that, you know, we wanted to create fitness that was different, you know? Uh, than what was currently out there. So then we opened up our, my, my first gym, which I owned, which was called 11 Athletics, which was just outside of Bexle.
Juravich: Okay, what what years was that?
Johnson: So when we opened that, that would have been 2014.
Juravich: Okay, so you've been in this business for a while.
Johnson: I've been in it for a while, I think almost 20 years now actually.
Juravich: But you opened United Strength in 2021. What led to that decision?
Johnson: So I had a falling out with my business partner as happens, entered into a five-year litigation, got a rude awakening to the legal system and how it actually works and not typically is for us, unfortunately. It's usually whoever has the most amount of money. But that's neither here nor there, but shifted my focus on what means the most to me. And that was a brand that wasn't necessarily mine. It was something that we had together.
Um, and then I opened United Strength. United Strength is only me. It's, um, my concept, my brand. Um, it really like embodies what I'm trying to do in the fitness industry.
Juravich: Tell me about the name. Why did you name it United Strength?
Johnson: So United Strength, it's about we are stronger together. We need to be united. We need not see other people as constant competition. So, and then we're also stronger together, you know what I mean? It's about having shared discomfort, especially when it comes to fitness. It's being in a setting where like, because a lot of people are uncomfortable in fitness settings. And one of the reasons I think most people are uncomfortable is, they just don't fully understand what they need to do for themselves.
So I think having that group of people, you know what I mean, that you can come to and you can count on on a consistent basis is what really helps you in life, you know I mean? And it's very rare that you get to actually meet new people on a consist basis and get to know them besides surface level other than a gym, because you're gonna meet all different walks of life in a gym. Which is what's great. That's why I love this industry is because I've gotten to know so many people and develop so many connections, like true connections with people.
Because I've had some of the same clients for my existence, you know what I mean? So I have one client that I started training when he was 16 and now he's 34. So it's wild. I mean, like I have, you they're like family to me, some of my clients that I have.
Juravich: You open United Strength in 2021, so, I mean, technically that was post-pandemic, but probably a strange time to open a new business.
Johnson: Oh, it was definitely a pandemic. So when I signed my lease, it was 2020. Oh, wow. So I think November of 2020 is when I sign my lease. And I mean, granted, I was in the middle of a five year litigation, too. So I'm funding a litigation. I'm in the pandemic, which fitness isn't really the best thing to be in during the pandemic, especially not knowing, you know, people didn't want to be and group settings at that point, let alone sweating and all that stuff together. So it was a challenge. But I mean. I knew what I wanted to do. I know what my passion is and that's helping people and I didn't really have another choice.
Juravich: So five years on from that initial trying to open a business in a pandemic time, how does it feel? How's your business doing?
Johnson: Business is doing great. I mean, to be honest, I've been it for a little bit. So I know what I'm doing. Every business that I've opened, every gym that I have helped establish has been profitable year one, which is pretty hard to do most places. I'm just very much a systems person. I know, what works, what doesn't work, what to integrate, what not to integrate. What makes the most sense, what does it make sense? As far as equipment, logistics, people, it really does make a difference.
Juravich: What types of workouts does United Strength specialize in?
Johnson: So United Strengths specializes in one thing, what is best for you. So unfortunately, the fitness industry is very overwhelming right now for a lot of people, just because of the fact that we just have so much information out there with social media that we get to a point where we don't even really feel like we understand what the truth is, what it is that we need to be doing. Does that make sense? Yeah. So.
I think United Strength and like what, how we do our training is like, we try and help you cut through the noise of everything that's out there and help you focus on what's best for you as an individual because fitness is not a one fits all approach for a lot of things. And that's kind of how traditional commercial fitness is. It's trying to simplify something so that everybody can really understand it. But the reality of fitness is it's already simplified. The things that work the best is the stuff that's been around for forever.
You know what I mean? We keep coming up with these new ways to do things because people want new ways to get excited about fitness. But unfortunately, we've been doing the same thing for forever, weight training is by far the most scientifically proven best way to gain strength, to lose fat, to feel better. Have better mental health, that's by far the best thing that you could do. So what we do at United Strength, we have two specific workouts that we do. For our classes at least, there's a build and there's burn.
So one is strength focused and one is cardio hit focused. When you combine both of those, you're going to get the best results. But ultimately, weight training needs to be your foundation. That needs to what you are starting with. If you are not working on developing muscle, then you are not setting yourself up. To be in the best position health-wise as you age.
Juravich: This is Fascinating Ohio From All Sides on 89.7 NPR News, and this is Fascination Ohio, the Fitness Edition. We're talking about United Strength. It's a gym in downtown Columbus with owner and personal trainer, Todd Johnson. You mentioned HIIT. You'll have to tell us what is HIIT?
Johnson: So hit his high intensity interval training.
Juravich: H I I T correct. Yeah Correct, yeah, yeah.
Johnson: So it's about getting your heart rate up and then bringing it back down, fully recovering, then getting up, bringing it back down fully recovering. By doing HIIT, it's been proven to be the best way for fat loss. And then steady state cardio is still good. You can still lose weight, but we're talking about optimizing. We're talking about what is best to get to the results the quickest. Does that make sense? Yeah. So like... Steady state cardio is great, going out and running for a long period of time, but it's not optimal time-wise. So like if you want to go run a couple miles, it's gonna take you a lot longer than for you to do a quick HIIT workout, which you're gonna get the same results, if not better results, because of the fact that it's going to be more fat burning.
Juravich: Tell me about like describe the gym. Is it mostly weights? Do you have treadmills? Where do you have group classes in like a big open area? Yes
Johnson: Yeah, so my gym is very, very different than the traditional gym because of the fact that I've owned multiple gyms and I've kind of had, so 11 Athletics was a 25,000 square foot facility. So it was a massive facility. So we kind of focused more on, I mean, we did a lot of gym pop, but we were also doing a lot athletes. So we were training. If you were an athlete, you were coming to us. If you're working the NFL, NBA, we had all the ex-OSU guys came through. So we had a lot people there. Um, but that wasn't it for me. You know what I mean? I knew that that wasn't t the route that I wanted to go down.
Um, so then I downsized my current facilities, probably a little under 4,000 square feet, but it's very optimized. We have 500 members or more in that space, but its, its optimized. So my gym is very esthetic too. Um, I'm very much a design esthetic person. I do all my design, all my logos, all my branding, everything myself. I'm kind of a one-man show when it comes to that. So the way the gym is set up, it's very functional.
So a lot of gyms, it just machines on top of machines, on top of the machines that do one motion. And those machines cost a lot of money too. So it's not also optimal in that sense. And it's also not optimal for your body. We need to do things that we do on a day-to-day basis. That's functional movement. Things that we're doing that's gonna help strengthen us for the things that do in our day-to-day lives. So if we're sitting down on a piece of equipment that just does this, that's not really gonna help us because yes it will, you're gonna be able to strengthen certain things, but using free weights, different things like that is going to be much more beneficial than just sitting down on one piece of a equipment and doing that.
And what we do is it's more about educating people. I think that is the issue with fitness too is we've created almost like this dependency. You are dependent on a personal trainer. You are a dependent upon a class. You are depending on X, Y, and Z. You know what I mean? Instead of you fully understanding what's best for you. So what we try to do is cut through that and really help you understand how to work out. Like my muscle connection, proper form. What you need to be doing. That is what is essential.
So that way people leave, they can actually feel comfortable when they walk into any gym. Because I'm not trying to get people to just come to United Strength. I wanna actually change people's lives. I want them to actually be healthier. I'm in it for the money. I'm now in it for trying to pack out my place. I'm it because I actually wanna make an impact.
Juravich: Do you teach people and coach people through the classes, or do you need to sign up for the personal training sessions to really figure out what each individual needs?
Johnson: So the nice thing is the way that we have it pretty much set up is yes, it's going to be better to have more one-on-one to really fully understand what it is that you want, what you need to do as an individual, but you can pretty much pop into our classes and then personal training as well and still get full education. So our classes are capped at 15. So you're going to get a lot more individualized attention with our coaches. Our coaches are very A lot of our coaches have been doing it for a while as well.
And we, like I said, we put education first. So let me give you an example of like our build class. We actually program things out. So a lot of places don't program stuff out. We program things based on a strength component in the beginning and then accessories for that lift. So when we go through this, we're actually educating you as we're taking you through this so that you are fully understanding what you're doing, the form that you're doing, how you need to brace. It is hard to do that, but like the more that you come, the more we can break it down for you as an individual. So if you're coming in, yeah, you can come in with no experience and we'll be able to help you do what you need to do because we have the experience and we have education to do.
Juravich: To many, going into a new gym for the first time can be intimidating. They don't really know what they're doing or if they're gonna get along with the people there. I mean, what do you say to people who maybe would pick your gym and try it out for the fist time?
Johnson: I think it's about the people, it's about the energy, you know what I mean? And I think that if you, I'm very much a community builder, I'm like very much building like a culture within my community and the facility. And not only that, but just within Columbus too, because like, I think its about the people, they really is. Like when you're around the right people, you act differently, you show up more, you know, like when you are around that positive energy. Where people just want to uplift you and help you and don't have an agenda attached to it, it makes everything kind of a lot easier, not just fitness, but life in general.
Juravich: Yeah, you already mentioned this, but you're not the only coach at your gym. I mean, tell me about your team.
Johnson: So yeah, so I actually have six other coaches on my staff right now, and they're great. And that's honestly what makes us different too, is like I said, is the people. Everybody that is at my current facility has been with me since I started, which is also rare. You see a lot of trainers like hop around from gym to gym a lot. So I think that that's a testament as well too on our team and on kind of what we're building. But everybody is very experienced. They're very great at what they do and they're just good people.
Juravich: And the location that you're in, I mean, tell me where in downtown Columbus you are.
Johnson: So we're actually right on Columbus State's campus, right on the corner of Nalton and Cleveland Avenue. So yeah, we're right in kind of the heart of downtown and warehouse district.
Juravich: Do you have like students at Columbus State or do you have, like, grownups who live in the area? Do people drive to you? Tell me about your car, tell.
Johnson: Yes. So the clientele kind of comes from all over, but we have a lot of downtown, but we also have a lot of Bexley, which is close. And obviously that is where my, my base has kind of come from with like my training, because I started at the JCC in Bexle. And then my previous gym was in just outside of Bextly. So we have a lot Bextle influence as well.
I would say we definitely have a lot of high performers. Our gym is definitely not for everybody. It's for people that understand the value that we are providing, if that makes sense. Um, because there are a lot of different fitness modality options. Um, but we are one of those ones that's different because like, we truly want to educate you so that way when you leave, you really fully understand how to use fitness the best way that you can in your life.
Juravich: Later in the hour, we're going to be talking about Legree, Pilates, bar. I mean, there's lots of different forms of exercising. There's lots a different equipment being used. Have you tried any of these other types of? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Johnson: Um, I think all fitness is, is great, honestly, like if you're doing something, if you are moving your body, like that's great. That's what we need to be doing. Um, but I will say this, like you need to, and I'm very positive on this. Like you need. Put strength as your foundation. Like you to be using weights, like for longevity, because a lot of times people don't think about the future they're thinking they're living in the now and that's fine.
But... The reality is as we age, our muscle decreases. Like I think the actual stat is 74% of people don't work out on a regular basis or don't meet that criteria. And then you add the fact that we are all, a lot of people are on GLP-1s right now. And I think that that is great, but I think one of the issues with that is if people are not eating properly with that and they're not strength training, you are going to significantly lose muscle. Deteriorate your muscle and as you age, you're going to have significant issues.
Juravich: We have been talking about the gym, United Strength, and we've been talking with owner and personal trainer, Todd Johnson. Thank you so much for your time today, Todd.
Johnson: Yeah, no problem, I appreciate you having me.
Juravich: And coming up, we're going to talk about the Legree house and we'll find out exactly what Legree is. That's when Fascinating Ohio, the fitness edition from all sides, continues on 89.7 NPR News.
While you're listening to all sides, I'm your host Amy Juravich.
This is Fascinating Ohio, a show from All Sides and WOSU where we introduce you to people from the Buckeye State with an interesting story to tell. And this is Fascination Ohio, the fitness edition. We're learning about three different local gym studios and highlighting their owners.
In the past few years, central Ohio has been flooded with local fitness studios, each targeting a different facet of physical well-being. LaGree House, located in Dublin, Grandview and Clintonville. Offer group legris classes, a workout performed on a megaformer machine focused on toning the body. And joining us now are the owners, Jamie Gladieux. Welcome to the show, Jamie.
Jamie Gladieux: Thank you, happy to be here.
Juravich: And Jackie Redman. Welcome to the show, Jackie.
Jacqui Redmond: Thanks for having us.
Juravich: So we're gonna do first things first. You gotta tell me what LeGrie is. I know, cause I looked it up when, you know, looking up your studio, but tell me, what Legrie is, Jamie.
Gladieux: Legree is a low-impact, high-intensity workout, all performed on the Megaformer. And it is a 50-minute instructor-led class in a small, intimate group setting environment. We have anywhere from 14 to 16 Megaformers, so it's limited in class size. The instructor can really focus on giving a lot of individualized, one-on-one personal attention, but yet still having that community.
Juravich: Jackie, I mean, I stumbled over the word megaformer, so you can tell I've never done legris if I didn't even know how to say the name of the machine. What is a megaform?
Redmond: It is a 10 foot long machine, the machine derived from the Pilates machine, LeGree is the last name of the man who created the workout, Sebastian LeGee is his name, and the mega former is his take on that machine. I mean the machine has a series of weights that you can turn on and off to add resistance or remove resistance during different moves, which the instructor leads throughout the entire class.
Juravich: Now I watched some videos of LaGree happening. I watched them, I saw some photos from your studio and as someone who's never done it before, I've taken Pilates classes, but on a mat, not on a machine. So as someone has never done up before, tell me how to not be intimidated. Thank you so much.
Gladieux: Yeah, fair question, because we always tell our new clients that it can be intimidating, because there is a bit of a learning curve, which is why the instructors are there to support you, offer you modifications, challenges along the way. But we ask every new client to arrive a little bit beforehand, so that way we give a complete overview of the megaformer so they at least understand the mechanics, the basics of the machine. And then from there, we will guide you and provide all the modifications, injuries. If you're prenatal, postpartum, we equip you with all of the tools to have a successful class.
Juravich: Jackie, what made the two of you decide to open a Legree studio? I mean, you could have opened a Pilates studio. You could have open any type of gym. Why Legree?
Redmond: It's so true. That credit goes to Jamie. She's our LaGree star and has all the knowledge. She, for a time, and feel free to jump in, she lived in Atlanta for some time. LaGrie was a bigger deal down there. There were more studios. She became an instructor and fell in love with the workout herself. And when she moved back to Columbus with her and her husband, that's when we connected. I had this background in marketing, so it really came from this genuine place. She loved it. She wanted to do it more, wanted to introduce more people to it, and it worked out nicely with kind of what we were both doing.
Juravich: You basically introduce LaGree to Columbus.
Gladieux: No, we were one of the first to arrive on the scene, but not the first. But it was very, it has definitely grown the LaGree community in, you know, Ohio and greater Columbus, Ohio, which is great to see, to have so many different LaGrie offerings.
Juravich: Well, obviously, if you have you have three studios, right? So that you have grown, which one did you start with?
Gladieux: Clintonville was our first location
Juravich: So that means that you opened Clintonville in 2020. Is that correct? That's not the greatest year for fitness studios. You are correct. Tell me about that. What was the date? When did you open? Yeah.
Gladieux: We opened well we did a soft open in December 2020 but our official opening was in January 2021. So as you can imagine during that time we were wearing face shields and for a workout that is so intimate and highly set on hands-on adjustments we of course had to you know change our whole design of how Generally, an instructor goes about with LaGree, and we really came out great on the other side. And I think it made it so much more special, because we were forced to figure out other ways that connect with clients, since the hanging around and get to know you before and after class was a little more limited.
Juravich: So five years later, I mean, how are you feeling about this idea of like, let's go into the very crowded gym space and let's open a fitness facility. How does it feel now?
Gladieux: You know, we are very happy with the three and our Grandview location is fairly new We just opened a few months ago our third location so we're finally just bringing our feet back to the ground and taking a step back and
Juravich: And Jackie, I believe your husbands are a part of the team, too. Is that right? Can you tell me about that? That's right. So, again,
Redmond: lot of credit has to go to them. They were friends in college so they've always been very close and so they're really the ones that kind of connected this idea like hey Jamie really would like to do Legree when we move back to Columbus. Hey Jackie has this marketing background maybe they could make this work somehow and so, they really brought the idea of us working as a as a group of four, they brought that idea together. And kicked it off. And now today, Justin does all of our financials. My husband, we joke and call him the janitor, but he's on call for machine fixes and random things that, you know, maybe Jamie and I don't have time to do or don't want to do. So they kind of fill in those gaps for us, but are still a huge part of any kind of, you know brainstorm new ideas, new thinking, truly comes.
Juravich: From the four of us. This is Fascinating Ohio, the fitness edition from all sides on 89.7 NPR News, and we're talking about the LaGree house with owners Jamie Gladieux and Jacqui Redmond. Now from looking at the pictures, I'm not trying to say, but is it mostly women at your studio or do you have male clients too?
Redmond: It is primarily women. We certainly see men too. I give so much credit to those men who walk into a studio that is primarily women. So it's honestly really cool.
Juravich: To see that mix. And tell me about the actual workout, Jamie, since you since you brought it here and it's your passion and your love. What kind of I mean, this is not intense cardio. This is muscle toning. And it's slow and deliberate. Tell me more.
Gladieux: Yeah, with the megaformer, the springs that Jacqui mentioned describing the mega former is a spring, it is a resistance based workout. So because of that, it's cardio, it stretching, it lengthening, toning, but that's resistance based training really focuses on improving muscle endurance. So it has a very you know, melting pot of all things.
Juravich: Well, and Jackie, I'm an Orange Theory fitness lady, so neighbors with you in Clintonville, just down the street, gym friends, right? But I've never really found my home in yoga or Pilates. But tell me about someone like me who, if you know what an Orange theory workout is like, what would it be like for me to join a LaGree class?
Redmond: I think in a lot of ways, it would feel similar. I think one of the biggest things, and again, depending on someone's personality, they might appreciate one or the other. But in Legree, you get on that machine and you're on that the entire class, that 50 minutes, and being led through with the instructor. So I just think to some people, it just kind of creates this piece that they're in their spot and kind of have ownership over that. And they're able to modify and do things however feels good to them, which again, I'm sure those things are happening at Orange Theory as well, so. Yeah.
Juravich: There are a lot of places in the area that offer legris, but it's becoming more and more popular. Talk to me about the growth of legri. I mean, do you still have people like me who come up to you and say, what is that? Or is it happening less and less?
Gladieux: All the time. That is one of our challenges and I'm sure Jacqui could speak a little bit more into from the marketing standpoint of just trying to you know going to fitness expos for example. We learned rather quickly or even a farmer's market because we're at Bridge Park and the farmer's markets happen every Saturday and so we've tried to explore different ways to help get the message out there on what is LaGrie but without having the mega former and because it is such a big machine. It's not necessarily easy to pack and travel. You're not bringing into the farmers market. So it's very hard to, you know, describe Legree and truly what it is unless you're there. So we've had to really come to find some unique ways on how to get the messaging out there.
Juravich: Yeah, Jackie, tell me about the marketing because I don't know if you know Mr. Legree personally. Like, do you wish, like, you're like, why did you name it after yourself? We need a different word.
Redmond: Exactly. And Jamie and I talk about this a lot. It gets easy, which I'm sure is the same for any business. When you're so deep in it, we'll talk about legris as if it's common knowledge, and we have to oftentimes take a step back. And okay, still probably 95% of Columbus doesn't know how to pronounce legrie, what it is, that it's a workout, anything like that. So I think really keeping things, we have been so focused since the beginning, and I'm proud of us for this.
We've kept things as simple as possible. It is a complicated workout. There's gonna be moves, no one knows what they mean. You know, it's gonna take, we usually say, four to six classes to start getting the hang of what you're even hearing. So because of that, we've kept our marketing simple and the way we talk about Legree, even the types of classes we offer and just what we do inside the studio. We wanna keep clean and simple.
Juravich: And the reason that Legree came up for one of my student producers has ClassPass. And so Legree House is available on ClassPass, which is a gym membership that gives you monthly credits to go to a variety of gyms. So it's not just one place. What has your experience been like with ClassPass? Do you want to talk about that? Sure. Yeah. It's a good way to try it out.
Redmond: It's so smart for students, but also at any age, it's so smart. If you haven't found a home base, and you don't have to, you can always jump around. Some people are looking for that home base. So whether you like jumping around, or you're looking for a home based, it is the perfect way to try out different studios and see what works best. The only downside to class pass is that you're typically limited in scheduling, whereas someone who's booking directly with a studio like Legree House. You'll have full access to the schedule where ClassPass is more limited with what classes they can book. Outside of that, it's.
Juravich: It's a great idea, it's very smart. And Jamie, tell me about the community you're building. I know you said Grandview's brand new, but maybe Clintonville where you've been for the longest time. Do you have people who have been with you for years?
Gladieux: We do. We actually, great question, because we just celebrated one of our clients' thousandth class milestone. And she now is taking 1,000 classes with you. OK, wow. Which means she's basically been with us from the start at Clintonville. She's now an instructor with us. But our client base, being that we're relatively pretty close between all three locations, a lot of our client will bounce around from location to location. But we're really big on being a very welcoming studio, very open, all ages, all sizes, all fitness levels, and it's really paid off. That is our number one compliment, and we're very proud that we are well-received on being welcoming and very open given that it can be an intimidating workout as we discussed.
Juravich: Jackie, do you feel like Legree covers all the bases? Like, can you just join Legree and that be your only thing? Or do people do other strength training? Do they do running? Tell me about that.
Redmond: Sure, I do think it's so dependent on the person. I could confidently say we have many people who only do Legri, but we've also heard so many positive things. Something that jumps out to me is running, specifically supplementing marathon training, things like that, where people want some more of that strength-based workout to compliment all the cardio that they're doing.
And also, as Jamie mentioned, modifications that we can provide coming back from injuries, surgeries. You know, postpartum, during pregnancy, I think is really a strength of ours because of the machine and our instructors are well-versed in those modifications. So you can still do this workout, but it can work for your body.
Juravich: Just to end on, did either of you picture yourself having a career as a fitness studio owner? Was that your dream?
Gladieux: Not coming out of Ohio State no it wasn't but it was a happy change of events that's for sure I've always loved fitness always been passionate
Juravich: What did you study at Ohio State?
Gladieux: Animal science. Oh, so this is different.
Juravich: Yeah, it is. Big turn, big turn. What about you, Jackie?
Redmond: I did not imagine this in a million years. It's completely new, but I think it makes me better at it because I come from this kind of different perspective where I'm not a lifestyle fitness girl like Jamie's always been. Well, I think Jamie's an animal girl too.
Juravich: She is. She is, yeah. But you studied marketing, so that part, so being a gym owner probably wasn't on your bucket list, but marketing a gym could have been.
Redmond: Sure. It could have been, and it's so interesting, you know, because you can market anything, but you don't feel that way. Going into it, I remember asking Jamie like, wait, I don't know anything about Legree. And but again, I think it helps us because we both really have our own lanes and bring these different perspectives. We oftentimes say, you know, Jamie protects the integrity of the workout. I want to protect how people feel when they walk in the door, when they see us on Instagram, you know, how that makes them feel. So it works in our favor I think that we're so, we're so different.
Juravich: Well, and just for the final question, either of you can answer it for someone listening right now, if they've always wanted to try to legree, but they haven't yet, how do you convince them to give your studio a try?
Gladieux: We have 45 classes a day, roughly, seven days a week, from, you know, 5:15 a.m. Until 9 p.m at night. You know, we have almost 80 plus employees at this point. They're just bound to, if you try us out, you're going to have a unique experience. There are so many opportunities for a different style class and to really find what you're looking for.
Juravich: We've been talking about the LaGree house with the owners. Jamie Gladieux. Thank you for being here, Jamie. Thanks for having me and Jacqui Redmond. Thank you for your time today, Jacqui. Thank you and you're listening to Fascinating Ohio the fitness edition. Coming up, we're going to meet the owner of Studio 86 Fitness. That is when All Sides continues on 89 7 NPR news.
You're listening to All Sides. I'm your host, Amy Juravich.
This is Fascinating Ohio, a show from All Sides in WOSU where we introduce you to people from the Buckeye State with an interesting story to tell. And this is Fascitating Ohio, the Fitness Edition. We're learning about three different local gym studios and highlighting their owners. A fitness routine isn't one size fits all. Different types of physical activities benefit different types of bodies. Studio 86 Fitness, located in Clintonville and Westerville, offers Pilates, jumping fitness, bar, and private sessions. And the workouts focus on mobility and strength, and also some cardio. Joining us now is Heather Daye, trainer and owner of Studio 86 fitness. Welcome to all sides, Heather.
Heather Daye: Thank you so much for having me.
Juravich: So Studio 86 offers a lot of different workouts. I mean, give me a rundown there. I just named that you have Pilates and jumping fitness. Tell us what you do.
Daye: We offer traditional Pilates. Jumping Fitness is a mini trampoline rebounding workout that's coming from the Czech Republic. So it's more of a unique style. It's not just like your 1980s spring trampoline, let's jump a bunch. It's not choreographed dance, so you don't have to be a dancer, but it is set to like high energy EDM like house music.
We also offer bar, which I take more traditional approach to the bar style that you don't see a lot in the less in general. Uh, so with my background in Pilates and having started Pilates through physical therapy, uh, working in physical therapy, I took a lot of the movements and bar that tend to bother people's knees and backs and just took them out. Uh, So making it a lot more accessible to people who are injured, coming back from injuries, coming back from surgeries. Uh,so combining all of that, we have a full body experience If you take all three with the Pilates. And the cardio and the bar put all together.
Juravich: So do a lot of people at your gym do all three or do people pick one of the three? Like is it, is it meant to be an all three thing?
Daye: Not necessarily. I didn't start it with the intention of you need to do all three to get the most out of coming to Studio 86. I just happened to teach all three of these things, and I wanted them under one roof. It wasn't really something at the time you saw a lot of, one studio with multiple genres being offered. You still don't see that quite a lot. Thatwhere ClassPass came into things. They tried to fix that. But. I teach all three, so I'm gonna open a studio that has all three under one roof, but you still get a lot of benefit from doing maybe just one style.
Juravich: Did you start with Westerville or Clintonville?
Daye: I started with Clintonville. Okay. I grew up there.
Juravich: And then you expanded to Westerville. Yes. Okay. Tell me about the name. Why did you call it studio 86?
Daye: I was living in Los Angeles at the time in 2019 and I was starting a online subscription membership website where you could do mat Pilates, bar and trampoline workouts from your home. So this was a whole year before COVID happened. You were ahead of your time, you didn't know it. And I needed a name that didn't have a location attached to it. And I was going through names after names after names and asking friends and family and I just threw out Studio 86. I was born in 1986.
Juravich: Oh, I was going to say that's what I was getting at. Why that number? That's why.
Daye: That's why and everyone's like you know what that's easy to remember that works you can use it so it's stuck and It's been working well
Juravich: You're like, why not 86, right? OK, so tell me about, you know, at some of the benefits of the low impact mobility focused exercises that you were just telling me about. I mean, that you said that they're for people who maybe are just starting out or coming back from an injury. Tell me about that.
Daye: Um, everything we offer is really beneficial to not only people coming out of surgery, physical therapy, who are new to fitness, uh, it's also beneficial as cross training for professional athletes, people who do a lot of other styles of workout who want something a little more low key and still get benefit from it. So I am not the person that will say like, what I offer here is the only thing you should be doing.
If you can do other things, that's fantastic. You should do strength training. You should do cardio. Just because I don't offer it doesn't mean it doesn' exist, right? But all of these things are complimentary to other things you can do in life and you will get a lot of benefit from not aggravating injuries, back conditions. If you can't do other stuff in life, these are great, especially traditional Pilates will help you live an easier life, a better life.
Juravich: This is Fascinating Ohio from all sides on 89.7 NPR News, and this is Fascinating Ohio the Fitness Edition. We're talking about Studio 86 Fitness with the owner, Heather Day. You have been a professional dancer and fitness instructor for more than 17 years. Talk to me about, you know, the interest in dance. Where did that app come from?
Daye: Um, I've been dancing my whole life since I was three. My mom was a dancer before me. I decided at 12, I was going to be a professional dancer. So I worked towards that goal. I became semi-pro at 16, 17.
Juravich: In what style of dance? Ballet?
Daye: I'm classically trained, ballet, modern jazz, tap, so kind of all of that. Graduated with a BFA in Seattle and decided to move to Los Angeles. So in LA, I also trained in circus arts. At the time, it was kind of required to get a job. Finally got a job in physical therapy, which is what I thought I wanted to do when I retired from dance.
And I was a physical therapy aid, and it just so happened to be at a clinic that did Pilates-based rehab. And they said, you have to get trained in Pilates to work here. So I said, cool. That sounds great. I've been doing Pilates for a couple years as a client. After a few years of that, I decided I didn't wanna spend $300,000 to go to grad school and have student loans, and I was just going to teach Pilates full-time. And I really dove into that and have this background in rehab going into it, which is very unique.
Juravich: Why is Pilates particularly good for dancers, maybe, or someone like you, yeah? I'm...
Daye: I wouldn't say it's particularly good for dancers, but as I mentioned before, it's a fantastic way to cross train. So it helps keep your body healthy, your mobility there, your flexibility strong, because without strength, flexibility doesn't really matter. So specifically for dancers they need all of that. All the time and injury prevention is key for a long career in dance, which Pilates really helps prevent injuries as it continues to strengthen muscles and joints.
Juravich: Well, and I read that you have direct lineage with Joseph Pallotti, the guy who invented Pallottis, is that true?扬 Technically, yeah.
Daye: Technically yes my master trainer trained with Romana who trained under Joseph I don't really think that's a big freaking deal at all you know I don't go around being like ah but you know some people care about that it is part of my you know lineage line of training but
Juravich: You were trained by someone who was trained by the Pilates guy. Yes. Well, for our listeners who may not know, Pilates has become more of a household word. You know, earlier we were talking about legris, which is not necessarily a household word right now. But more people know what Pilates is. But just in case someone doesn't know, describe traditional Pilates.
Daye: Traditional Pilates is a low impact whole body workout that emphasizes core strength, mobility, and flexibility. You are not only working on the reformer, which is like a moving, rolling platform with springs. We have mat, which is just like a yoga mat on the floor. We have different pieces of equipment throughout the whole method. Piece of equipment called a Cadillac, which is a table with bars over the top making like a big box.
And it's all spring resistance. We have a piece of equipment called the chair, which is basically a square piece with a pedal. So he developed all these, Joseph developed all these different pieces of equipment while working with individual people and trying to get Pilates into the home of every American. His goal was that every American did Pilates for their health and wellbeing in daily life.
With that, Pilates is very detail-focused and very mindful movement, so we keep at my studio classes at no more than five people for the equipment classes because so much focus needs to be paid to the client. In my opinion, anything over six to eight people, a teacher can't really do that well with the amount of detail that is required for Pilates in general.
Juravich: Do you have, so you have some of the Pilates equipment, do people rotate on them through the class or is it each person has a piece?
Daye: So each person has a reformer. Generally, we have reformer-specific classes, chair-specific class, tower, which is like the half version of a Cadillac, specific classes. We do have mixed equipment classes as well, where you would rotate kind of like a circuit through each piece of equipment. Back in the day, classes were just called equipment classes, and you would walk in, and the teacher would just, we're doing this today.
Yeah, you wouldn't really know what to expect As we've gone through the last 20 years in the Pilates industry, the consumer expectation has definitely changed. People want to know what they're signing up for. They want to what the expectation is and what they are going to be doing. So studios have shifted more towards the specific equipment style of leading a class.
Juravich: What made you decide to get into the having, you know, cause you said you started with teaching people at home, but like what made these decide to get into this busy fitness studio space? I mean, Columbus has a lot of gyms that all do a lot different things. What made you say, I'm gonna open one too? What I open-
Daye: didn't exist. Not really, not with everything that I offer. It still doesn't really exist outside of me. And at that time in 2019, I was like this is something I want to do. I want be able to teach in person and basically do it my way, the way I was accustomed to teaching instead of adhering to other studios requirements. I ended up finding a space that used to be my mom's dance studio. And came full circle for me to be able to rent there. I already knew the landlord and it was kind of nice to like reconnect in that way.
Speaker 1: Oh, that is nice.
Daye: So that just kind of solidified making that choice for me. But then I also opened two weeks before COVID hit, so.
Juravich: Well, you survived through and now when did you open your Westerville location?
Daye: Towards the end of 2024.
Juravich: Okay. So, um, so I mean, obviously you're thriving as a business. If you were able to open a second location, I mean do you have big plans, more expansion or is too good?
Daye: I love having two, I would definitely be interested in a third location, but that takes time. You have to make sure everything is in place, instructors are good, training Pilates instructors takes one to two years. So growth is a lot slower. If you're going to to have properly educated teachers. Do your Pilates instructors teach bar and your jumping classes? Some do. Some do the training. trainings for those. Most, I would say, teach just Pilates. It's what they want to focus on and that's totally fine.
Juravich: So there are other places in Columbus that offer Pilates and bar, maybe not together, but separately, but are you one of the only ones offering this jumping situation?
Daye: There is literally one other studio that offers trampoline class, but our styles are very different.
Juravich: So tell me more about this. Yeah, because I looked on your website. I saw videos and photos of the trampoline class. But describe the trampolines to people.
Daye: Uh, it is about a three to four foot wide hexagon with bungees instead of springs, and then we have a handlebar that comes up on the front of it. So it's very wide. It can hold up to about 350 pounds. Um, and so it's a very accommodating to all body types and we have many different styles of jumping class that we do for different levels.
Juravich: It looks really fun. Is it fun? It's super fun.
Daye: Is it fun too? Yeah. Oh yeah.
Juravich: Yeah, I mean you're you're literally jumping on a trampoline. Tell me about the workout. Is it very cardio or very it's
Daye: It's very cardio heavy. This is not something I would recommend to someone who hates sweating, who doesn't like cardio. But it's also a lot easier on the joints. And it is, according to a research study by NASA, 10 times more effective than just running outside. Really? Jumping on a trampoline? Jumping a trampolines. We engage about 400 muscle connections in the body throughout a whole class, a 50 minute class. And you burn 500 to 800 calories.
Juravich: So, for someone like me whose knees have decided to be 20 years older than my actual self, would this be better for me? Oh, yeah. Very gentle. What's the impact like?
Daye: The impact is very light. There's still some impact, of course, so we don't recommend this for people who have bulging disk or herniated disks because you still have impact to your skeleton. But it's much lighter than running on the street or even running on a treadmill. Treadmill is still better than running in the street to your knees specifically. So we have a lot of clients that have arthritis in their knees that have also had complete knee replacements and they love the trampoline class because it lets them get cardio without the achiness.
Juravich: So whenever you decided that you were gonna do all three of these things in one gym, did some people tell you, no, no no, just focus on Pilates? Or was everyone on board with like, yes, you should offer all three, be different.
Daye: I would say most people were on board. They also know me and I'm just going to ignore them if they tell me no. So very few people told me like, oh, no, you should keep them separated. I was like, this isn't going to work separated. Pilates might work, but without being a big national franchise, bar will not work. Neither will the trampoline class. Those two needed the strength of the Pilates workout to really survive.
Juravich: In just the final 30 seconds we have left, what would you say to someone who is maybe like not, doesn't go to a fitness studio? I mean, how do you find a home at a fitness studio?
Daye: It's hard, you really have to try different places. In terms of finding who you really mesh with, I think that depends a lot on not only the vibe of the studio, but the instructor you take with. So you just try different instructors and you're bound to find someone that you're like, I really am in tune with this person, this person gets me, I don't feel nervous, I don't feel uncomfortable being in the space. If you're willing to put yourself out there, you'll eventually find a space that. Makes you feel comfortable and want to come back.
Juravich: We have been talking about Studio 86 Fitness with owner Heather Daye. Thank you so much for your time today.
Daye: Thank you.
Juravich: And this has been Fascinating Ohio, the fitness edition from All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. And I wanna say thanks to the All Sides staff producers, Marcus Charleston and Erin Esmont Rabinowitz. Student producers, Iza Huck, Colin Simpson and Brianna Fortunate. Our student producer from Denison University is Ellen Hanson. Video production by the Ohio Channel. Board operation by Chris Johnston and Trey Hayes. Thank you for listening today. I'm Amy Juravich from All Sides on 89.7 NPR News.