n FITNESS
W
hen you walk into Sacramento Pipeworks, in a vin-
Devotees say these gyms also offer something the bigger
tage brick building on North 16th Street that was ones don’t, a place where people come together for a com-
once a metal factory, the first thing you see is a mas- mon interest. In our increasingly disconnected lives, people
sive, 40-foot climbing wall partners work together are connecting through exercise. Gretchen Eiferle is a teacher
to scale — one climbing and the other holding the who comes to Pipeworks for the machines, yoga and the wall.
safety rope, a technique called a belay. Alex Honnold, a Sac- “I love it here,” she says. “I love the camaraderie. It doesn’t feel
ramento native who in 2017 became the only person to climb corporate.”
Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan with no ropes or safety
equipment, trained here. A documentary about his climb, A BOOM IN BOUTIQUE GYMS
“Free Solo,” won an Academy Award.
Thirty years ago, muscle gyms like Gold’s Gym were the norm
Pipeworks also has one of the Sacramento area’s larg- and the aerobics craze started by Jane Fonda and Richard
est and most popular CrossFit gyms and offers group class- Simmons was in full swing. Gyms then grew into clubs with
es such as yoga, pilates and cycling. KCRA meteorologist a focus on families, with racquetball, basketball, tennis and
Tamara Berg joined Pipeworks
swimming pools — and even day
four years ago and does CrossFit
care for the kids. Now, the trend has
classes five to six times a week,
turned full circle, back to boutique
jumping on boxes, doing dead-
centers.
lifts and climbing ropes. “Cross-
“People are looking at their life-
Fit has become a staple in my
style and saying things are so hec-
life,” Berg says. “Some of my best
tic, I need to exercise,” says David
friends I’ve met at Pipeworks,
Hawkins, a biomedical engineer
and they hold me accountable for
who studies fitness trends for UC
sticking to workouts.”
Davis. “So they’re reaching out to
Health and fitness is a $30
a variety of things.” He says the
billion industry in the United
American College of Sports Med-
States, according to the Interna-
icine now offers certifications for
~ Tamara Berg, meteorologist, KCRA
tional Health, Racquet & Sports-
group exercise instructors, not just
club Association, with more than
personal trainers, to reflect the de-
60 million members at 38,000
mand for group fitness.
clubs, and one in four Americans belong to a gym. According
Another example of the boom in boutique gyms is
to IHRSA, the industry is growing 3 to 4 percent a year — and Ultimate Fitness, opened in Midtown Sacramento in 2006 by
evolving. Americans on average spend $155 per month on mixed martial arts champion Urijah Faber. As the popularity
health and fitness, according to a survey conducted by sports of his sport soared, Faber relocated to a larger 23,000-square-
and nutrition company Myprotein, including $56 on health foot facility on Folsom Boulevard in 2017.
supplements such as protein shakes and weight-loss prod-
His expanded, modern gym has an octagon cage and out-
ucts, $35 on workout clothing and accessories, $33 on gym door boxing ring where professional MMA fighters practice. It
memberships, $17 for healthy meal plans, and $14 on person- also offers kickboxing, wrestling and jiujitsu for men, women
al trainers.
and children. One of the most popular classes is Pulse, a fast-
The past 10 years also have seen the rise of specialized paced combination of boxing, total body resistance exercises
gyms where people are willing to plunk down $20 and more and strength training. “This concept is a place that anybody
for a class. These boutique gyms, which usually have a spe- can be a part of,” Faber says. “It’s got a massive general-fitness
cialty one might not get elsewhere and tend to focus on group side that caters to everyone in Sacramento from all different
workouts, have grown 450 percent since 2010, according to ages. A lot of what we do is based on what the best athletes in
Piper Jaffray, a fitness investment firm, and make up 35 per- the world do … strength, conditioning and recovery.”
cent of the fitness market. They are trying to keep up with
For cycling enthusiasts, options include Team Ride, a cen-
the growing demands for new, unique workouts, including ter opened by four sisters in 2012 that now has three locations
CrossFit, yoga, Pilates, cycling, boxing, barre and more. In in the Sacramento area offering a full-body workout with hand
response to this trend, Pipeworks, for example, added Cross- weights, and All City Riders, a downtown Sacramento facility
Fit five years ago to attract more customers, according to where riders spin through cities such as Paris, Berlin and Los
manager Vaughn Medford.
Angeles projected on a big screen.
“CrossFit has become a staple
in my life. Some of my best
friends I’ve met at Pipeworks,
and they hold me accountable
for sticking to workouts.”
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comstocksmag.com | August 2019