WCCO Viewers' Choice For Best Boutique Gym In Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- When winter hits, many of us go indoors to the gym to stay active. With so many locally-owned gyms popping up, we wanted to find the best in Minnesota.
You voted for your favorite boutique gym and sent Natalie Nyhus to Fitaholic Fitness in Ham Lake.
When winter hits, many of us go indoors to the gym to stay active. With so many locally-owned gyms popping up, we wanted to find the best in Minnesota. You voted for your favorite boutique gym and sent Natalie Nyhus to Fitaholic Fitness in Ham Lake.
The members of Fitaholic Fitness are feeding the best kind of addiction: good health. Damion and Noelle Meyer debuted their gym in Ham Lake just last year, and already they're creating addicts.
"I wanted to do things a little differently. I wanted people to walk in and say, I've never felt, seen or experienced this before. Because at the end of the day, we are our own gym," Meyer said.
After working in the industry for years, the Meyers took the best of pieces of what they knew and created Fitaholic Fitness.It's their unique take on group strength and cardio training, plus an additional 24 hour gym for members.
"Our fit is not to be so small that we can't feel like we can cover needs. And we don't want a 30,000 square foot facility where we have a thousand members and I know zero of them," Meyer said.
"I've done the big box gym, and I think the only person who knew my name was the lady at the front desk," member Kristine Hawkins said.
Not so here. Damion knows his members, and they have his back, too.
"It's very humbling to know that if we are ever in need as a small business, I would have hundreds of members who would help us in a heartbeat," Meyer said.
In return, Damion takes care of them, leading members on their fitness journey.
"He's crazy! He really will push you but keep you working hard that you're not feeling overwhelmed, but yet challenging yourself. That's what I like the most about him," Hawkins said.
"We listen to him screaming from five minutes before class until the very end and he never stops. He brings it every class," member Troy Hummelgard said.
"We all save 10 percent in that reservoir tank, right? I want to get that 10 percent out," said Meyer. "When a new person comes in, they are immediately brought into the family. We don't have a lot of headphones in our gym. We have a lot of handshakes and high fives. It's a hard day to not find somebody who's happy when they leave the gym. Doesn't matter what problems they have when they come through the door, they are eliminated within 45 minutes."
Thank you to all the folks at Fitaholic Fitness who did an extra workout today for our story. Your other favorite boutique gyms are the Body Project in Eagan, the Workout Bandits in Andover and The Aviary in Minneapolis.