KOLOA: space age liquid cooling technology. A stationary bike named CAROL that can simulate a tiger chasing. Digital body scans. An endurance machine that stores users’ training history on cloud servers.
These are the hallmarks of The Smart Fit Method, a new boutique gym owned and operated by fitness instructor Jodee Burris.
“I am super excited about this. My passion is seeing people transform,” Burris told The Garden Island during a tour of his Smart Fit facility located across from the Koloa Post Office on Koloa Road. “We have the fitness, the nutrition and the responsibility. I think those are the three key pillars that people need to transform.”
Burris was joined by his friend and business partner Rob Darnbrough, an entrepreneur who founded The Smart Fit Method in Southern California.
The duo’s enthusiasm for exercise and technology was evident as they checked out each machine in the relatively small space of the gym.
Burris started with the Vasper, a “cold HIIT (high-intensity interval training)” machine that uses NASA-derived technology and compression cuffs attached to the wearer.
“Cooling down your core temperature allows your body to work at a higher level without becoming fatigued. The compression traps red blood cells in the muscle and builds up lactic acid,” Burris explained. “When you’re here, you keep your body in that lactic acid state for 21 minutes.”
The end results, according to Burris, include better recovery from effective but low-impact training.
Darnbrough agreed, noting that he found the Vasper machine after suffering from a heart condition that prevented him from following his traditional exercise regimen.
“At 49, I developed an aortic aneurysm from overtraining,” Darnbrough said. “Overtraining is detrimental. It’s not doing anything. You have to be careful with that.”
That is the core of the Smart Fit Method. Like many fitness companies, the gym advertises more results in less time: three 20-minute workouts per week, to be precise. Burris and Darnbrough believe it can be done with machines that increase the effectiveness of workouts and reduce the risk of injury.
“Jodee and I started talking about how this is the future of physical activity,” Darnbrough said, as he calibrated a computerized adaptive resistance machine. “Because what’s been missing in fitness is that they use the term ‘health and fitness’ like they’re aligned. But ‘health’ is ‘without disease’. ‘Fitness’ is ‘physiological headroom’. We are trying to increase the distance between us and the grave.”
Darnbrough expanded on the Smart Fit philosophy as I put myself through a routine on the adaptive resistance machine, which graphed each rep in real time on a screen.
“When we go running, we do it to be in shape. But we can wear out our joints, so we shouldn’t call that ‘health and fitness,’” she argued. “We have to be careful to differentiate between fitness and health.”
The unknown design of the adaptive resistance machine had caused some confusion, but its effectiveness was evident.
Next, he lay down on a cooling mat set at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, meant to reduce muscle soreness.
“I see this as a way for people who are out of shape, who are overweight, who are dealing with health conditions, dealing with injuries, where a traditional gym or group fitness class is not going to work for them,” Burris said. . “We can fix anything here.”
The Koloa Smart Fit Method will make its grand opening on Monday, March 21.
Burris encourages interested individuals to book a free demo workout at smartfitmethod.com. The first 50 members will receive $50 off their monthly membership for the first year.
Regular membership costs $349 per month. The five and ten session packages are $125 and $200, respectively.
•••
Scott yunkerreporter, he can be reached at 245-0437 or [email protected].
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({
appId : ‘169140533668925’,
xfbml : true,
version : ‘v2.9’
});
FB.AppEvents.logPageView();
};
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));