About Us

Redefining the Workout

It’s a simple equation: combine the best of movement traditions with new school science. If you move right, with balance and vigor, your body will change, but more importantly: how you move will change. Even if the first step is aimed at your beach body, it’s all good–who doesn’t want to feel their best? But it’s the entire path that matters. A strong mind, strong body for the long road: here’s what inspires us to keep moving:

• Vigorous Fun. Our workouts are vigorous and challenging. We set goals, we improve, we enjoy the practice. Jump a rope, swing a kettlebell, crawl a field, do it with others.
• Community. No one can do it alone. People who workout together get more out of each workout, stay motivated, and learn better habits. Research proves it! Do it with folks who motivate you, who you want to be around.
• Passion. Look at a fitness-fanatic’s body and you can make a pretty educated guess at their mindset. We don’t shape and pump. We’re not intensity cultists. We’re movement geeks. We move to inspire an active, interesting life. And guess what? Bodies that move their best, look their best.
• Variety. We squat, lunge, twist, pull, push, fold, crawl, swing, & jump with the entire body, toes to fingers. New exercises, new takes on old exercises, new recipes. We’re an evolving movement lab, but everything stems from the fundamental movements that our bodies evolved to do.
• Balance. One end of the exercise continuum sits quiet disciplines like tai chi and traditional yoga. On the other end you have body-building, power lifting, endurance junkies, and hard-core intensity-seekers. Your brain and body needs vigor and release. For better ability and durability, seek the middle way.

Josh has been a devoted runner, cyclist, swimmer, weight-lifter, rock climber, snowboarder, and martial artist—at times all at once. He’s run a 4:30 mile and a 16 minute 5K, benched, squatted and cleaned big weights, won collegiate rowing championships all over the country. Though these experiences taught him much about himself, but like all intensity-seekers, they also left him pretty banged up.

He sought another path. For over a decade, tai chi, chi gung, and yoga balanced a devoted study of traditional Chinese martial arts. He learned awareness, to balance tension and release, to link movement and direct strength through breath. He learned what gym-rats and endurance athletics don’t teach.

But over time the exotic disciplines also proved specialized and incomplete. His back hurt while shoveling. He couldn’t lift boxes. He was winded more readily. His energy levels tapered. He felt what seemed like age creaking in.

He sought a new definition of strength and ability. Bodyweight movements like classical gymnastics (think pikes and planks) and calisthenics (think animal walks and climbing ropes), kettlebells, swinging clubs, dumbbells, sandbags, and all seamlessly combined the strength, flexibility, and vigor. The workouts were more varied, more efficient, and more natural. He worked out less, and yet felt more able and more physically vital than ever. His martial abilties improved, his running legs got lighter, and his chronic injuries dissolved. And stayed away.

Gymnasium’s muse is Grandma Kaye. At 90, she walks 4 miles after her morning exercise routine, carries her groceries home (no car/small town), shovels show, does puzzles, and volunteers at the nursing home and for Habitat for Humanity (door painter in chief). She can still put in 18 holes of golf with her kids and holds time with family and friends above all else. She’s constantly singing and laughing. She lives a simple, inspired life. See her profile by a fashion blogger here.

Grandma Kaye follows every tenet of youthful health and long-road ability: regular movement for body and brain, real food, a positive outlook, and a deep connection to people. Gymnasium stands as a place to connect Grandma Kaye’s recipe with a modern, inspired movement path.

Josh still runs, lifts (things up and puts them down), and practices martial arts, but each practice has transformed. He’s an AKC (American Kettlebell Club) coach, a minimalist running coach, and a traditional kung fu and tai chi practitioner. He’s ACE certified and a Speed, Agility, and Quickness trainer. He’s dedicated to cultivating and sharing a meaningful path with good people. Movement is his anchor for a well-lived, purposeful life.