A gym with a lot of UI connections
UI alumnus Aaron Larmore accomplished a life-long dream when he founded Fit2Live in July 2008.
He had worked with coaches at the UI and athletes of various ages before starting the gym, but he found he enjoyed mentoring the younger athletes more.
Larmore said his group of kids kept growing, and he needed more space, leading him to found Fit2Live, 123 Highway 1 W. Now he, along with eight other UI alumni and a handful of UI interns, work as personal trainers.
“What we offer is so much different than, you know, your traditional gym,” he said. “The workouts, they’re not monotonous — it’s something different every day.”
The gym offers several programs, including kickboxing, jujitsu, and CrossFit — which incorporates strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular exercises in one workout.
The trainers hope the gym continues to grow so they can branch out to other areas.
“Long-term wise, we’d like to expand,” Larmore said. “Have other Fit2Lives in other places, and pretty much just do the same thing where we can offer a good family experience where the kids can workout and the parents can workout.”
Jeff Witthoft, a 2008 UI alumnus, started as an intern under Larmore and now works with the youth athletes at Fit2Live.
“It’s just so much fun to work with little kids and just see them smile,” he said. “I think our whole concept of how we train our athletes and how we progress them through everything — it fits their needs really well.”
Stephanie Escobedo, 24, graduated from the UI in December. She is an instructor and works “behind-the-scenes” to keep the business running smoothly.
Witthoft and Escobedo both said they would like to expand the gym some day and possibly start their own Fit2Lives in other towns, but noted the Iowa City gym still needs to grow.
“We’ve got to get this place big enough first,” Witthoft said.
Larmore said Fit2Live’s membership consists of around 70-80 high-school athletes, 20-30 college students, and many youth and senior citizens.
UI junior Carly Marquardt was a member for about three months before canceling her membership because of the steep price.
“I thought it was $100 a semester, and it ended up being $100 per month,” she said.
But Marquardt said she enjoyed the gym and the CrossFit program while she was a member. She is a health and sports-studies major, so she said she found the trainers interesting to talk to and compare experiences with.
“I probably had at least two trainers there … it was really informative,” Marquardt said. “It was like a one-on-one time even though you were in a big group.”
Larmore said the membership cost varies, but with each program, clients receive instruction from personal trainers and physical assessments every three months.
Escobedo said she and the other trainers all have personal relationships with each client, beyond coaching members in physical fitness.
“We are concerned with each individual client and member. We want them to reach their goals,” she said.
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