Danforth workout spot is the BOMB
[attach]5759[/attach]PVC pipes don’t exactly top the list of standard workout equipment found at other fitness studios, but for Kevin Bennett and Victoria Wickett that’s the point.
“To be a little more unique, we’ve got three things that no other studio has,” says Wickett. “The slosh pipe is wicked because you’re always challenging your core because the pipe is only about 2/3 full so when you’re moving from side to side or up and down you’re constantly having to stabilize the water in your hands.”
When they opened BOMB Wellness in January on Danforth Avenue near Greenwood subway station, she says they were also the first to have TRX suspension training systems and are the only studio in Canada to have striders, which are a cross between ellipticals and spinning bikes.
“We’re really trying to mold our programming to the people actually using the facility,” she says. “Basically we’re a group fitness studio and we offer all small group classes.”
Wickett, who also works part-time in corporate wellness, says she first met Bennett while he worked in the same building downtown.
“He has a really strong martial arts background and I come from a fitness and health promotion background,” she says. “We hit it off, I think it was his accent, we moved in together and bought a dog and then we decided to open a business like two months later.”
Through BOMB, which stands for bodies only managed better, she hopes people gain more of a sense of community since it’s largely people from the neighbourhood taking part in their classes.
“We want them to get to know each other. We like getting to know them and it’s funny walking down the street when everybody knows our dog,” says Wickett.
In addition to the small group sessions, BOMB Wellness also offers personal training, yoga, massages, nutritional planning and meal preparation and custom boot camps and challenges.
Although some people have speculated they’re going to need a bigger space to house a growing number of clients, she says that won’t be the case.
“We do want to stay small so we can give everyone individual attention,” Wickett says.
She says they will soon be kicking off a learning to run program and are also home to two thick and long black ropes they refer to as battle ropes.
“The battle ropes, they’re really popular because they’re really hard,” she says. “Basically it’s just a matter of creating a wave that makes it right to the end of the rope and you can do it side to side, up and down or in circles. It’s madly hard and it’s really good for your arms and upper body strength.”
Although she says she was petrified before they opened since it was their first time as entrepreneurs, she says she’s now excited since she knows they have a good product and says word spread quickly in the community about the studio.
“I really love to see people making progress with their fitness goals,” she says. “We just had a group of ladies over the weekend do a 10 km walking race and they finished in the top 10.
“So that was really nice to see and it’s cute to get their little Facebook posts on the wall saying, ‘it’s all because of you.’ ”
