Working Up, Not Out
Mystic — Up Fitness takes a brand-new approach to gym workouts that adherents say keeps members coming back for more.
Meagan Seacor, director of the new 10,000-square-foot fitness facility across from Mystic Aquarium in a building once occupied by The Lazy Burrito, said the "boutique gym" lives by the credo that being part of a fitness facility is all about living a better life.
"It's all about getting that uplifting experience," Seacor said. "It's all about feeling good instead of just looking good."
Seacor, whose boyfriend Gary Upton owns the gym, said the best thing about Up Fitness is that members actually use the facility. She said about 70 percent of members use the gym at least twice a week, which is way above the industry average.
The key, said Seacor, is that the gym offers many different workout stations, a variety of classes and modern equipment not found anywhere else nearby. Among the equipment are six self-propelling Woodway treadmills that are easy on the body as well as 35 Schwinn carbon blue stationary bicycles that mimic on-road biking experiences and are amazingly quiet.
The modern facility also features a yoga room and steam rooms with towel service for men and women as well as a climbing wall machine that moves at an athlete's own pace. The gym has 25 employees, five personal trainers and a nutritionist.
"It's a long-term gym," she said. "It's built for a lifetime."
Seacor said Upton, who also owns the Upton Bass musical instrument business in Mystic and is a former elite-level cyclist, got the idea for Up Fitness when he worked at the Sports Club L.A. in Boston. He wanted to replicate the feel of a small urban "gentlemen's gym" in Mystic, she said.
Anyone worried about power-lifting contests and leering muscle men should have no concerns at this gym, which Seacor characterized as more of a club. The club has piped-in music and no televisions, and fitness classes such as bar pilates and Taekwondo are part of the $109 a month fee.
"We want to attract people who are actually invested in their fitness," Seacor said.
The gym includes electronic devices that can monitor clients' heart rates and other factors of interest to those who work out. A full workout report is available to members shortly after they finish their training.
Seacor said the gym offers many different workout options, so members never get bored. The fact that classes are included in the price means they also never have to weigh the cost of a workout beyond the monthly fee, she added.
"Gyms make their money on the people who don't show up," Seacor quoted Upton as telling her. "I want to make a business on people showing up."
Seacor said the formula has worked, and the gym is already well beyond its membership goals. Success has meant considerations of expansion, and there is talk as well of adding a juice bar near the front of the facility, where a fireplace beckons members in.
The club offers a seven-day free trial period with no obligation to join, and this month several special deals are available. Some members, Seacor said, elect to pay a smaller weekly amount if the monthly fee is too large.
The facility has already been asked to host two bachelorette parties and one bridal party, and Seacor expects other similar events to be hosted there as well.
Seacor said the club's facility is to "work up, not out," meaning the main goal is to feel uplifted in spirit, mind and body.
"You want to stay; you want to relax," she said. "People always walk out feeling great."
What: Up Fitness
Where: 12 Coogan Blvd., Mystic
Owner: Gary Upton
Phone: (860) 451-4080
Website: https://up.fitness/
Hours: 5:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 7 a.m.-noon Sat.-Sun.
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