Mike Swienty is putting a new spin on exercise in Kent.
The former 24 Hour Fitness employee opened the first “cycling boutique” on the Kent Kangley Road shopping center to focus exclusively on cycling.
His studio, Lifestyle Indoor Cycle, opened last month and while he’s still working on getting his name out, he’s optimistic about the idea of the future for “fitness boutiques” in Kent. The boutiques are specialized fitness centers for a specific activity, such as cycling.
After attaining a degree from Washington State University, Swienty worked as an accountant before becoming a cycling instructor for 24 Hour Fitness. After many years with the company, he realized that he could offer better instruction and training and struck out on his own.
The studio, nestled in the shopping center on Kent Kangley Road, features 20 bicycles and three (soon to be six) instructors who provide a variety of different workouts for indoor cycling.
The biggest difference between his studio and the more limited resources in other cycling workouts, Swienty says, is his ability to fine tune and control a workout electronically. By using a tablet computer networked to several displays and the sound system, Swienty can show an active hill profile of how strenuous each workout should be.
He then combines the profiles with music that sets a tempo for riding, sometimes going slow and deliberate to Joan Jett’s “I hate Myself for Loving You” or fast and rigorous with Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”
“There’s a direct link between technology and performance,” he says.
Sweinty believes that this format of boutique style fitness centers could take off in an area like Kent, where often not everyone wants to go to the same fitness center every time.
Lifestyle Indoor Cycle Studio, at 13003 SE Kent Kangley Road, features a progressive cost scale per ride.
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