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Editor’s Note: “Shaped By COVID-19” is a weekly series designed to help you stay active while you’re homebound with workouts from some of Denver’s leading fitness and wellness professionals. Got a fitness tip or favorite studio? Email us at digital@5280.com.
The Gym: Feed Your Soul Fitness
Year Founded: 2014
The Trainer: Owner and founder Brandy Martin
Membership Options: Portal access for on-demand recorded workouts ($39 monthly); Virtual and in-studio classes (from $199 monthly); Elevate, a 12-week program that includes one-on-one coaching, classes, and nutritional consultations and guidance (from $550)
If you’ve been in Colorado more than a minute, you probably know that our little rectangle regularly ranks as the fittest state in the country. That’s great news for our healthcare system and Lululemon. It’s maybe less great for those who aren’t living, breathing Under Armor billboards, but who still want to get into fitness.
“Women or men who are overweight or out of shape don’t always want to work out next to somebody with a sports bra and six pack,” says Brandy Martin, owner of northwest Denver’s Feed Your Soul Fitness. “You want to be pushed and you want to be around people who are better, but if people are running circles around you, you feel defeated.”
That is where Feed Your Soul Fitness comes in. The studio specializes in helping clients with beginning and intermediate fitness levels achieve their goals. Whether you’re injured, older, or simply out of shape, Feed Your Soul creates a positive environment that’s not as intimidating as some of the more aggressive exercise spots in Denver.
That doesn’t mean the workouts are easy—members are still going to become best buddies with dumbbells, stability balls, bands, and TRX set-ups—but they are achievable and designed to keep clients coming back. That’s part of the reason Feed Your Soul doesn’t offer drop-in class options, only monthly memberships. “We want to attract people who want that consistency—working out three to five times a week,” Martin says. “The results are better with that.” To wit: One Feed Your Soul client, who contacted us about the studio, lost 45 pounds after she joined the gym.
Now that COVID-19 is here to stay for awhile, workouts can be done in the (appropriately social distanced) studio or at home through Feed Your Soul’s live stream classes. The latter option has proven particularly appealing to people who aren’t yet comfortable exercising in front of others, Martin says. She even offers a list of common household items that can be subbed in for weights—making these at-home sessions a great option on the days when it’s all you can do to get off the couch, much less out the door.
The Workout
This 25-minute body weight workout will involve nearly every major muscle group. Doing the exercises for time—not reps—allows you to go at your own pace. A certified yoga instructor, Martin provides helpful breathing and modification cues that allow you to make the workout harder or easier (or simply remind you to breath during those plank saws) as you go. If by the end of this you’re wanting more, simply restart the video and go through it a second time—just have a sweat towel handy.
