Things are starting to work out for Sheena and Ken Meyer. The couple have wanted to start a business for some time and spent the early 2020s “investigating every franchise model out there” — except those in the fitness space.
“I consider myself entrepreneurial by nature, but that didn’t seem a logical fit,” Ken Meyer said Monday.
But the Meyers said they were exercising one day at a “big box” facility when it hit them.
“That place wasn’t catering to our needs,” said Ken Meyer, two months to the day since the couple opened The Exercise Coach, a workout studio on Lee Highway.
“Our thought was, ‘We’re the demographic you should be catering to,'” he said. “We’re baby boomers with discretionary income and a willingness to pay for quality service. We value time and efficiency.”
As they narrowed their focus, they saw that Exercise Coach checked all those boxes and then some, he said. He said it not only targets boomers — the company’s website claims 81% of its clients are at least 45 years old — but also uses technology to “drastically reduce inefficiencies” inherent in the typical workout.
“You go to a big box (gym), and you wait for a machine,” Ken Meyer said. “Then it’s ‘What did I do last time? How much weight was I using?’
“Here, you sit down on a piece of equipment, plug in your number, and that machine calibrates exactly what you need because it remembers and knows where you’ve been,” he said, adding that sessions are just 20 minutes long, but very specifically focused.
“Strength is the key,” said the former member of the state House of Representatives. “You max in very few reps and limit range of motion so that only your muscles are being exercised — no stress on your joints.”
The Meyers added there’s no “intimidation factor” at their studio — no mirrors on the wall, no scales and never more than four or five people working out at any one time.
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The Exercise Coach approach meets with the approval of Kathy Payne, a Calhoun, Tennessee, resident who said she started working out there a few days before it actually opened.
“It’s great,” Payne said. “I can tell a difference in my strength, particularly in my upper body.”
Sheena Meyer said packages at Exercise Coach start at $200 for eight visits, spaced throughout a month.
“Your muscle fibers have to break down (during exercise) before they grow,” said Meyer, who’s one of four coaches on the studio’s staff. “So we suggest two (visits) per week, because you’ll need at least 24 hours — 48 is better — to allow your muscles to rest and recover.”
Sheena Meyer said she’s “feeling good” about the studio’s first couple of months.
“We’ve had a lot of people coming in for their first visit, then bringing friends or family in for their second visit,” Meyer added. “After that first visit, they’ll say things like, ‘This would be perfect for my husband, wife, mom, friend … whoever.'”
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Per the company’s website, Exercise Coach has 198 franchisees nationwide. Meyer said she and her husband are planning to open a second Exercise Coach location next year on the north side of the Tennessee River, and potentially a third on Chattanooga’s western flank.
“So much growth there,” she said, “with the Black Creek area there at the foot of Lookout Mountain.”
Contact Bob Gary at bgary@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.
Staff photo by Bob Gary / On Monday, Ken and Sheena Meyer are shown at their new business, The Exercise Coach, on Lee Highway.