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HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A new Richmond-area fitness studio is creating more than just a place to work out, it’s building a community where women support each other physically and emotionally.
While many people are just waking up at 6 a.m., the ladies of Cirque Fitness Studio on West Broad Street in Henrico County are turning the music on and the energy up.
The studio welcomes women of all ages and fitness levels to join their fitness family.
“Our goal is to make sure that everybody here is active as we age,” co-founder Susanne Kain said.
Kain and Patti Stein opened this physical space just two months ago, but the care between this tight-knit community dates back almost five years at another gym.
“We formed what we call the 6 a.m. squad and that’s sort of what started all of this,” Kain said. “When the gym closed, we weren’t done, we still wanted to work out together but we couldn’t a place that fit us.”
Together as a fitness family they worked to find, renovate and run a new studio.
The space has become a haven created to nurture healthy women who also help each other heal.
“We all have in one way or another put our love into it,” Tonya Brinson said. “We can come here and cry and laugh and let it all out. We’re a family, we know about each other’s families, our kid, graduations, we share prom pictures.”
“If you don’t show up, one of us is going to reach out to you and say are you ok, are you good, and it is that camaraderie and sisterhood that make this gym special,” Dee Tate said.
Each class is taught by volunteers, with both owners working without getting paid as they build their vision.
“We’re just paying the bills, we didn’t get into this to make money,” Patti Stein said.
“These women mean everything to us and that’s why we do it,” Kain added.
As they work to grow their gym family in size and in love, they encourage any woman seeking to get fit alongside soon-to-be lifelong friends to stop by.
“We cheer each other on, we root for each other in and out of the gym,” Kain said. “It’s an uplifting, positive community of Women supporting women.”
Cirque Fitness Studio is holding an open house Saturday, June 21 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at their West Broad Street location.
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