World-renowned martial artist Ray Khan has designed a program known as Kick Fit that pretty much ensures your core will be indestructible. Fellow athlete and current TS employee Angie Arrington spared a few minutes to give us a preview of what we can expect at the grand opening this Saturday, September 24.
Westword:How and why did 5280 Fitness and Thrifty Stick get together?
Angie Arrington: It just seems like a great thing to incorporate the two ideas. What we do at 5280 Fitness, this Kick Fit program, is like a three-minute circuit training that rotates through bikes, punching bags, weights and stretching. Once you become familiar with the routine of it, you are set to apply it in multiple ways to your workout routine. We kind of relate this to skateboarders and snowboarders in the same way you learn tricks, then go to different places to practice them. Once you learn the basics, you can take that as far as you want.
How did Kick Fit come to be?
Kick Fit was designed by Ray Khan, and he has been teaching and has been in the martial arts industry pretty much his whole life. He started very young, and was actually a student of Bruce Lee's protégé, Daniel Inosanto, so it's a very awesome thing to be a part of. Ray designed a program that is a full-body workout for both the physical and mental.
What exactly is Kick Fit, then?
It's a 45-minute workout that encompasses a lot of different physical activities. It starts on the floor with a focus on abs and hamstrings. After a short period, you move to the bike, then onto the bags for a combo of punching and kicks, and then you go to weights on the floor that are geared toward legs, chest and back. This is all in short bursts, so you actually cover all three of these elements several times in a 45-minute period. After the workout, you close out with yoga. What is the advantage of ending with yoga?
Basically, this workout works your entire body in each step. Each part that we do is a whole-body workout. So to end with yoga, it is extremely important to stretch and let your muscles relax. We don't do a full yoga class, as we are not a full yoga studio; we just want to make sure people are actually stretching and getting the most out of the workout.
What is the advantage of applying this to skateboarding and snowboarding?Everything! This is a cardio workout as much as it is a muscle-building workout. A big part of the skateboard and snowboard world is your core. This is going to do that for you. The same with the bags, the floor work and the bikes -- it all comes back to your core. With extreme sports, this is huge. How did you get involved with fitness and this program?
I actually also work with TS in the marketing and graphic design aspect. Now I can apply all that to this company as well. With fitness, I'm just all about being active. I want to incorporate the two, and it's coming together with Kick Fit and 5280 Fitness. It's perfect for snowboarders, because we can market to a demographic who may not usually even think of hitting the gym.
I ride a bike and try to be as active as possible, which justifies my lack of gym membership. How would Kick Fit benefit me?
I think it's important to recognize that participating in this pretty much ensures you won't be sore after that first day on the mountain. It's full-body, full-core, and basically covers all the muscle groups used for skating and snowboarding. But, it's not just for extreme sports enthusiasts; it's for anyone and everyone looking to build up stamina and stay healthy.
The grand opening is this Saturday; what can we expect to see at the studio?
We are going to have kind of a joint grand opening with TS (TS has been open for years but supports the gym) that includes free Kick Fit classes here at 5280 Fitness. TS will be holding a skate demo with a bunch of vendors and giveaways. Our free classes will run starting at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
What is the regimen for the studio, since it's not like your usual gym?
It's going to start as class-oriented, so you can't just come in and ride a bike for an hour. We'll offer packages of classes that gradually discount as you purchase more, and we'll go from there to see our demographic, which is essentially everyone, since this is such a universal workout. Eventually we'll have some fight choreography classes (Ray Khan is the fight choreographer for Starz Encore), and hopefully some dance choreography eventually.
This is a way to be with your buddies and get a good workout, without all the stigma that comes with going to the gym. Here there is graffiti, music and friends. Our classes are simple, too, with the free day on the grand opening, then $15 walk-in classes after that, or you can choose the punch card discount program, where you get the classes at a cheaper rate for pre-purchasing them.
