I wanted to reach out regarding my recent gym experiences. I’ve been in a conventional gym called Oxygen for a whole year and it was mainly lifting. After a year I wanted more of a SHOP style workout and there were multiple options in my area, so I ended my Oxygen’s subscription to pursuit something different.

I signed up for this new gym on Jan 10th and I realized how corporate it was. The facility was huge but they’d have 3 classes at the same time + OPEN GYM. It was very loud and they barely played music, let that sink in. No music while working out…

The coaches didn’t seem approachable and viewed us as a chore like there was no connection whatsoever, they even body-shamed me at the start and didn’t let me register to the higher level workouts saying “we don’t want vomit on our floors” After 10 workouts I still don’t even know their names. No Power workouts, no EMOMs, and no workout-specific mobility. What hurts the most is that their basic monthly subscription was more expensive than both the SHOP standard package AND the personal programming we had towards my final SHOP months COMBINED!

I didn’t want this to be a rant email but rather a reflection on what the SHOP did for me.

• So, You, Ray, Christy and Melissa. I genuinely wanted to say thank you for:
• Caring about our wellbeing
• Caring about our lives outside the SHOP
• Caring about having us do the workouts
• Caring about the quality FIRST. then the quantity
• Making sure there is always adjustments and workout accommodations if there was an injury.
• Caring and Listening to our suggestions and stories.
• Making it inclusive for everyone, new and old, since day one.

And most importantly, thank you for making every workout fun! And making me leave the SHOP doors even after a 30min AMRAP still beaming a smile (even in my braces phase).
You’re all awesome and I miss you guys dearly.

#SwoleAFamily