Here are some local fitness and wellness companies that I believe are smart and on target.
Alotapilates
http://www.alotapilates.com/
6418 West Lake Street
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Founded in 1997, Alotapilates is the leading Pilates studio in the Twin Cities. The studio is owned and operated by instructors Jenny Jennings, Caryn Coopmans, and Tia Fink-Hartzell.
We offer private and duet sessions as well as reformer, tower/spring, chair, and mat classes in our fully equipped studio. All our instructors have completed rigorous and demanding classical Pilates certification programs. And we have supplemental training in a range of specialties to accommodate everyone from high-performance athletes to students with physical limitations.
At Alotapilates, we offer only classical Pilates, using apparatus built from the original design specifications of Joseph Pilates’ own equipment. We are committed to teaching the original, classic Pilates Method because we believe the Method withstands the test of time and delivers lasting, life-changing results.
Our mission is to encourage and inspire you on your path to optimal health so that after each session, you feel refreshed, alert, and vital in body, mind, and spirit.
What is Pilates?
The Pilates Method, historically known as Contrology, is a unique approach to physical conditioning developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s. Pilates involves the disciplined use of custom apparatus and mat work. Students learn to practice a system of exercises designed for each apparatus as well as on the mat. Each exercise is to be executed with precision, focus, and control to achieve its specific goal.
“Physical fitness can neither be achieved by wishful thinking nor outright purchase.”
– Joseph Pilates
Balance Fitness Studio
http://www.balancempls.com/about/
2902 Garfield Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Founded in 2002, by Morgan Luzier and Craig Helmer. Back then there weren’t no such thing as “fitness studios,” except the few trailblazers like The Firm in downtown Minneapolis, Uppercut Gym in St Paul, and Lonna Mosow in Edina.
We didn’t intend to be on the forefront of the “locally-owned studio” wave that has since flooded the city with training, yoga, cycling, acrobatics, barre, Pilates, coaching, bootcamps, in-home training and everything in between… but we were. And there we’ve remained for over a decade. Consistent. Reliable. Wholly dedicated to providing the highest quality fitness and wellness in the area.
Don’t get us wrong. Just because we were one of the first, doesn’t mean we’re outdated. In fact, Balance has evolved with the times… adopting new exercise modalities like TRX, Kettlebells, indoor cycling, corrective exercise and CrossFit to name a few. We change as our understanding of wellness changes and as our clients’ needs change.
Clearly, we know who we are. And we know who we are not. We aren’t the cookie cutter, big-box gym with cookie cutter coaches. We are a cooperative of independent professionals. Our independence keeps us hungry and sharp. We are responsive and innovative because our survival depends on it. We thrive because of it! The team of trainers at Balance are diverse in their passions, personalities, specialties and services. We cooperate (vs compete) with one another to find the right professional to help you navigate your fitness/wellness needs and goals. We think it’s the best business model ever.
Oh and our facility? Spectacular. You’ll feel good working out here.
And our awesomeness doesn’t stop and start at our front door. After 20 years of promoting health in the Twin Cities, Balance has a vast network of healers, doctors, therapists, trainers, and coaches in our Rolodex. We are not afraid to refer someone outside of our walls if it is in the client’s best interest. Frankly, our greatest strength is bringing people together in the interest of optimal health.
All this being said, we are also a good ol’ fashioned gym. A place to workout, get your sweat on, and feel better about the cupcakes you pounded in the breakroom during your lunch break. We have a killer cycling club, a robust Nordic ski club, a CrossFit gym on 34th & Lyndale, and a state-of-the-art indoor cycling studio, The Cycling Lab.
FOUR GATES
http://www.fourgatesmpls.com/
4238 Nicollet Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55409
Feel how you were born to move.
Access your life force.
Love your strength.
Experience the physical and energetic shifts.
Our sacred space combines structured physical movement with the free flow of energy. We honor the sacred marriage of the divine feminine and divine masculine, the yin and the yang, the two halves of the whole. Through experience of movement, we learn to internally validate our strength and physical health, access our life force energy, and build our community. We believe in the brilliance of the physical body, the abundance of energetic life force and the power of collective movement to invoke change.
Four Gates Physical and Energetic Culture studio is a space for holistic fitness and bodywork. All of our classes and training sessions incorporate a focused, meditative approach that helps us tap into the flow of energy in our bodies.
We seek Self-realization by way of the pleasure principle. By enjoying movement we facilitate our ability to fulfill our highest potential. When exercise feels good we make more progress (it’s true!) and a fun, supportive, compassionate environment makes challenging exercise feel good.
Fitness must be fun and functional to maximize its benefits and get quicker results. With positive reinforcement we focus on breath, proper body mechanics, and steady progression to create a safe and inspiring environment for all ages, levels and abilities.
Kettlebells, Yoga, Qoya (really cool stuff!), Qi Gong, Personal Training.