New fitness center opens in downtown Loveland

A new fitness center along Cleveland Avenue in downtown Loveland has officially opened, offering a variety of exercise classes that the owner hopes will connect people in the fitness community.

Fly Fitness opened its doors Feb. 29 along Cleveland between Fourth and Third streets. The downtown fitness center offers several spaces across multiple floors for different workout classes, from cycling to Pilates and more.

“Our big philosophy is we want to make everybody feel like someone when they come in the gym and have them leave feeling better than when they came in,” said Staci Lawson, owner of the Loveland location.

The new location is the fifth Fly Fitness in the country, with two locations in Lincoln, Neb. — where the company started — and two more in Fargo, N.D.

Lawson said she worked out several times at Fly Fitness in Nebraska and in visiting Loveland many times, she found that she had to drive to different gyms or studios to go to different workout classes, something that a friend of hers shared over dinner. This, combined with Fly Fitness’s plan to franchise and open more locations, led to the creation of Loveland’s spot.

The studio is broken into multiple rooms across two floors. This includes a cycling room on the main floor with 32 stationary bikes and a room next door with several treadmills, weights and bars along the mirrored walls where different types of exercise classes can be held, including yoga, high intensity interval training and Barre.

Upstairs, Fly Fitness has set up a Pilates studio with several machines, all on top of classic hardwood and overlooking Cleveland Avenue.

Lawson pointed to the cycling classes as one sign of Fly Fitness’s uniqueness, saying classes are focused more on having fun than competition. Participants are asked to put their phones aside and ride the bikes for a 45-minute workout with intervals and sets to upbeat music. Throughout the workout, riders are not timed or challenged to be the best, as none of the bikes come with monitors and no overhead leaderboard is included.

The setup allows people to “just enjoy the classes,” escape for a while and push themselves without the need to compete, she said.

In the studio’s first week of business, clients stopped by from around the region, Loveland to Berthoud, Lawson said.

“I think what is nice, too, is we have already had people that live (nearby) that walk here,” said Cheryl Schoneweis, the chief financial officer. “That is great that people can just walk over.”

Lawson said ultimately they hope to not only be a good business neighbor to the many spots in downtown Loveland, but provide a place for residents to come together and break a sweat.

“We want to build that community base of health and fitness in downtown Loveland,” she said. “And have people leave here feeling better than they came in and that they are part of something, (that) they are part of this downtown Loveland community.”

Fly Fitness, 350 N. Cleveland Ave., is open 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Friday, 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday and 8 to 11 a.m. Sunday. More information on the studio can be found at feelsfly.com/studio/loveland.