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By Bridgett Weaver – Reporter, Louisville Business First
Apr 14, 2017, 2:37pm EDT
The woman behind CycleBar in St. Matthews is opening a second workout concept just a few doors down from her spinning studio.
Katie Ryser will open Club Pilates in June at 4600 Shelbyville Road, Suite 116, right beside Trader Joe’s. It is a franchise of a concept that is based in Orange County, Calif.
Club Pilates will operate in a 2,400-square-foot space, which is about to undergo an extensive renovation. Tommy Edwards with Hagan Properties Inc. handled the leasing deal. Ryser declined to discuss terms of the lease.
Ryser said construction crews will be gutting and renovating the inside of the building over the next month. It will include a studio with 12 reformers (a pilates-specific piece of training equipment) and a private room with two reformers that include a tower attachment.
She said the workout traditionally is a very serious one, but she hopes to offer a more fun and light-hearted experience with music and energy.
Although the pilates workout system is traditionally considered a women’s workout, Ryser said the goal is to offer a good, thorough workout option for everyone — even men.
“Pilates has sort of a weird reputation as being pretty exclusive and something for older, wealthy women. But it’s not that way at all,” Ryder said. “It’s actually a strength training, core-building, muscle-elongating practice that is a very important part of almost every professional athlete’s workout.”
Both men and women can really benefit from the workout.
“There never needs to be a gender assignment to this type of fitness, to any type of fitness,” Ryser said. “And we love shattering stereotypes.”
She said the goal is to make it more accessible to the community as a whole instead of the wealthier clients by offering a lower price-point than most specialty gyms.
“The way we make it work is with a lot of classes and a lot of clients,” Ryser said.
Ryser just opened the CycleBar in November and said the spinning studio has been successful.
“The success from CycleBar really gave us the chance to branch into pilates, which is really not a strong presence in Louisville,” she said. “(Pilates) is so integral in the coastal cities and it’s time to bring that to Louisville and get Louisville a little more up to speed.”
She said when the studio opens in June it will start with 28 classes per week, but will quickly ramp up to 60 per week. Prices will range from $169 for a monthly unlimited pass to $79 for 4 classes a month. Ryser said the first 50 members to sign up will get 20 percent off for their first year.