Fitness founder, laid-off instructors keep each other moving
All of Sadie Kurzban's boutique fitness studios may be closed, but her tens of thousands of acolytes are still shaking and grooving to the beat of the music in her company's high-intensity, cardio dance classes.
The 29-year-old Kurzban is the founder of 305 Fitness, a dance-oriented workout method that has started streaming all of its classes online since the coronavirus pandemic forced her to temporarily close her seven permanent, physical studios.
Typically based in New York City, Kurzban shut her studios even before she was forced to in order to protect her community. The risk of someone becoming infected with COVID-19 didn't seem worth it, she said.
"We told our community, listen, this is serious. Even if you're young and not immunocompromised, this is serious. Please take this seriously, go home," Kurzban told CBSN.
The party continues online, though, where Kurzban uploads videos of herself leading classes from her parents' home in Miami.
No two workout classes are alike. During a session, time flies by and the dynamic movements are nothing like a rote workout regimen. Kurzban and fans liken them more to a grueling dance party with easy moves like air punches set to up-tempo music.
"It's been really quite an undertaking. Every single day, we have a live class, where hundreds of people tune in," Kurzban said.
Leading virtual classes has helped 305 Fitness encourage even more people to exercise. "Teaching classes online has been incredible in a lot of ways, because we've been able to reach an audience that may not have made it to our studios. Whether that's because the price point was unaffordable before for them, or because they geographically were somewhere else," Kurzban said.
She has given her own instructors, as well as other out-of-work gym industry professionals, the keys to earning income while their places of work remain off limits to the public. Kurzban offers the 305 Fitness' instructor certification program for a fee and the program allows instructors to teach the 305 Fitness method to others.
"If you're someone who is unemployed right now, you're looking for a side hustle, you can learn how to teach 305 Fitness and then get your own following," Kurzban said. "We're seeing a lot of our certified instructors have some success, and actually make an income."
