Long work days, hard commutes, too little time.
Stacy Edwards gets the lifestyles of today’s busy households, working couples, and career-first individuals as they struggle to add a little me-time exercise to their daily lives.
Recognizing the challenge, the Federal Way man and fitness enthusiast decided to bring the gym to them.
“We’ll go anywhere,” said Edwards, who recently opened the area’s first GYMGUYZ franchise, a mobile personal training company that brings equipment, coaches and workouts to residential and commercial clients. “We basically answer the call: where do you need us, and when do you need us? And we just go … “
Edwards’ red van is a versatile “gym on wheels” that reaches people of all ages, walks and abilities throughout the area, from Federal Way to Kent, from Auburn to Maple Valley, from the Eastside to Everett. The van comes ready, fully stocked with anywhere between 365 and 380 pieces of fitness equipment.
The idea is to deliver creative, convenient and customized training to help people achieve their fitness goals. Clients vary: could be a man in his mid-80s, a business executive, a young man with autism, a stay-at-home mom.
Edwards is training a couple – she a Seattle doctor, he a Microsoft employee – at their home late at night.
“It’s 7:30 by the time she gets home. She cooks dinner and tries to spend time with her children and her husband, and it’s 10 o’clock,” Edwards said. “And to her point, she’s not going to get into her car at 10 o’clock at night and go to a gym. It’s just not going to happen.”
Edwards and his lineup of eight trainers schedule and meet for one-on-one sessions or group exercise classes in homes, garages, parks and workplaces. The curriculum varies, too, from strength to performance training, yoga to Zumba, Pilates to self-defense, boot camps to sports-specific workouts. Sessions run between $50 and $89.
“We have one van at the moment. We can accommodate about 80 (usually, one-hour) sessions per week per van,” Edwards said. “We use the ice cream truck model when we have multiple sessions during an hour. … We’ll drive up to a house, (ask) what do you need? … We’ll get all (the equipment) out. The trainers do the workouts. They clean it all up, the ice cream truck comes back to pick it all up, and we move on to the next location.
“Also, some of our clients are in their 80s and don’t need the full complement of equipment,” Edwards explained. “In those cases, the trainer will meet up with the van, grab what they need and drive their own car.”
Most important, Edwards tries to match the right trainer with the right client.
“And we try to match their (fitness) goals with trainers,” Edwards said.
After losing several young friends to health complications, Edwards decided to dedicate his life to helping others get in shape. As a father and businessman, who also coaches basketball, Edwards understands that getting to the gym is almost impossible for people who work full time and have families.
He wants to change that with the latest trend in flexible fitness.
Headquartered in Plainview, N.Y., GYMGUYZ has more than 100 locations throughout the country. To learn more, visit gymguyz.com. To reach Edwards, call 425-559-4252 or email stacy.edwards@gymguyz.com.
