August 2, 2004
The Zen of fitness | Personal trainer Stephen Anderson opens a high-end gym in Portland
By Michaela Cavallaro
A workout that strengthens both the body and the mind is the "hottest trend" in fitness today, according to Stephen Anderson, a longtime personal trainer in Portland and a fitness consultant to the city's police and fire departments. Witness the celebrities flocking to yoga and Pilates classes, which combine physical movement with attention to breathing, focus and alignment. Hoping to capitalize on that trend, as well as what he says is the fitness industry's increasing movement toward boutique services, Anderson recently opened The Body Architect, described in its publicity materials as a high-end "Zen fitness studio." "It's like physical therapy meeting the fitness world," Anderson says of his philosophy. "We're teaching successful movement patterns, to try to train you for the game of life."
Anderson's new venture is housed in an aggressively designed studio perched atop the roof of Portland's recently renovated Nissen building. Formerly home to the scorching ovens of the Nissen bread bakery, the building now contains luxuriously appointed showers with river rocks embedded in the floor, a Japanese filtered drinking water system and a high-tech rubberized floor, the light gray color of which Anderson says is "very important" to the facility's mood. (The building also contains several other tenants, including Casey Family Services, an Asian grocery and several smaller firms.) Visitors to The Body Architect use a locked private entrance at the rear of the building and either are buzzed in by a receptionist or, if they're members of the studio, use an electronic key fob to get in.
The facility is designed to accommodate 250-300 members, as opposed to the several hundred Anderson says are enrolled at a typical gym; so far, he's got about 50 people signed up for the $95-a-month membership. Anderson justifies that high price ˆ gym memberships in the Portland area typically run from about $35 to $60 a month ˆ with fitness machines he says are unique to Maine, plus the inclusion of amenities like personalized headsets for the flat-screen TV monitors on several treadmills and elliptical machines, and trendy products like Bumble and bumble shampoo in the showers. "I wanted to pay attention to the details and create an experience," he explains.
Anderson and his wife, Antonia, a native of Italy who is managing director of The Body Architect, put nearly $250,000 of their own money ˆ including a $120,000 home equity loan ˆ into the facility, which opened to the public in April. It wasn't a great time of year to open a fitness studio in northern New England ˆ with the approach of summer, Mainers tend to move their exercising outdoors ˆ but Stephen Anderson says the off-peak opening allowed them to fine-tune their systems before the September membership rush.
With the help of a local marketing consultant, they've just begun to publicize the facility's existence with a slick press kit they're sending to local and trade media. They've implemented a program that rewards current members with nutritional supplements for referring friends and family to the gym. And they're about to begin a corporate wellness training program. In addition to discounts for corporate memberships and on-site ergonomics and nutrition workshops, The Body Architect provides what it calls "corporate athlete" fitness training, which publicity materials say is "aimed at boosting executives' physical, mental and emotional well-being using sports-training methodology to retool the lives of harried executives." The training costs $100 an hour for 10 hour-long sessions.
Should The Body Architect take off as Anderson and his associates believe it will, they have plans in place to turn Anderson into a bona fide fitness star, with Body Architect books, DVDs and even franchise locations. "The gyms of old are pretty much dinosaurs," Anderson says. "This to me is the future of fitness."
Anderson's new venture is housed in an aggressively designed studio perched atop the roof of Portland's recently renovated Nissen building. Formerly home to the scorching ovens of the Nissen bread bakery, the building now contains luxuriously appointed showers with river rocks embedded in the floor, a Japanese filtered drinking water system and a high-tech rubberized floor, the light gray color of which Anderson says is "very important" to the facility's mood. (The building also contains several other tenants, including Casey Family Services, an Asian grocery and several smaller firms.) Visitors to The Body Architect use a locked private entrance at the rear of the building and either are buzzed in by a receptionist or, if they're members of the studio, use an electronic key fob to get in.
The facility is designed to accommodate 250-300 members, as opposed to the several hundred Anderson says are enrolled at a typical gym; so far, he's got about 50 people signed up for the $95-a-month membership. Anderson justifies that high price ˆ gym memberships in the Portland area typically run from about $35 to $60 a month ˆ with fitness machines he says are unique to Maine, plus the inclusion of amenities like personalized headsets for the flat-screen TV monitors on several treadmills and elliptical machines, and trendy products like Bumble and bumble shampoo in the showers. "I wanted to pay attention to the details and create an experience," he explains.
Anderson and his wife, Antonia, a native of Italy who is managing director of The Body Architect, put nearly $250,000 of their own money ˆ including a $120,000 home equity loan ˆ into the facility, which opened to the public in April. It wasn't a great time of year to open a fitness studio in northern New England ˆ with the approach of summer, Mainers tend to move their exercising outdoors ˆ but Stephen Anderson says the off-peak opening allowed them to fine-tune their systems before the September membership rush.
With the help of a local marketing consultant, they've just begun to publicize the facility's existence with a slick press kit they're sending to local and trade media. They've implemented a program that rewards current members with nutritional supplements for referring friends and family to the gym. And they're about to begin a corporate wellness training program. In addition to discounts for corporate memberships and on-site ergonomics and nutrition workshops, The Body Architect provides what it calls "corporate athlete" fitness training, which publicity materials say is "aimed at boosting executives' physical, mental and emotional well-being using sports-training methodology to retool the lives of harried executives." The training costs $100 an hour for 10 hour-long sessions.
Should The Body Architect take off as Anderson and his associates believe it will, they have plans in place to turn Anderson into a bona fide fitness star, with Body Architect books, DVDs and even franchise locations. "The gyms of old are pretty much dinosaurs," Anderson says. "This to me is the future of fitness."
Mainebiz web partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments