Finding 'Uforia' In Palo Alto

What, 10 more medicine ball sit-ups? She might as well have said a thousand.

The uDefine fitness class at the new Uforia Studios downtown kicked my butt. It was the best workout I have had in a long time, and in the strangest spot—an old church.

Uforia opened Feb. 1 in the old AME Zion church on Ramona Street. The founders, husband-and-wife team, Sarah Lux and Robert Hanson, opened the two-room gym with the intention of bringing to the Bay Area what they had only found before in New York City and Los Angeles: “drop-in” fitness and cycling classes.

No membership. No dues. And though the classes run a bit steep at $25 a pop, small class sizes make for a personal-training type of experience.

The main studio features the original wooden floors and scalloped windows of the quaint, one-room church. What was once a tiny basement has been converted into the cycling room, with a mini child care center adjacent.

“It took well over a year to find the right location,” said Lux. “It was a little small, but really funky. I loved the idea of being in this old beautiful church.” Best of all, parking is not a problem, with underground and street parking available.

“The instructors are the best I've seen,” said fitness junkie David Flexo of Palo Alto, who was part of Uforia's focus group to determine which classes to offer.

Lux and Hanson spent eight months hand-selecting 24 experienced instructors from throughout the Bay Area.

“The level of instruction is more tailored to the fit person,” rather than to the person hiding in the corner of a 50-person class at your typical gym, said Flexo, who runs and does weightlifting and Pilates at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto.

You won't find these kinds of classes at 24-Hour Fitness. Each class—from uDesign to BarBlend to uCycle—is specially designed, and because the venue is so small (one workout studio, one cycling room), class maximum is 15.

“Here, it's only group exercise, so you get to know each other and push each other. You're part of a team, part of a family—that's motivation,” said uDefine instructor Ina Inman, who is also a personal trainer at The 3rd Door in Palo Alto. “Also, this studio is smaller, so you get more individual attention and more for your money.”

Inman said the goal of her uDefine class is to “tone up, shape up and get stronger,” no matter the level of the student—beginning to advanced. But she warns early-risers to be prepared. “The 6 a.m. class has strong guys. But the 5:30 p.m. class is different,” more laid-back, said Inman. I beg to differ.

Hanson and Lux came up with the idea for Uforia 3½ years ago. Hanson used to compete on the Canadian national track and field team and Sarah on the Stanford triathlon team. The couple originally came to Palo Alto from Canada when Hanson attended Stanford for his masters in mechanical engineering.

“What makes all the difference in the world is having a group of people and a knowledgeable coach and instructor,” Lux said of Uforia's concept for fitness. “I was a triathlete, my husband was a track and field athlete, and we decided that group fitness is probably the best way to do this.”

After speaking with hundreds of people, organizing focus groups and checking out the drop-in classes during a few trips to New York City, Lux and Hanson knew what they wanted.

In the typical “drop-in” class spirit, each class is designed to give a full-body workout, combining several fitness styles at once. Uforia's unique BarBlend class combines intense interval training with low-impact exercises using the ballet bar, exercise balls and Pilates equipment. uDance combines different dance techniques with dynamic music, while uDefine combines free weights, resistance bands and TRX suspension training.

Starting President's Day weekend, Uforia will offer a new class, UCY, which includes an hour of cycling and an hour of yoga workout—a combination unique to the Bay Area, according to Lux.

After only a week since its opening, Uforia has 180 clients and 27 weekly classes. “We'll be up to 50-plus classes in the next couple weeks,” said Lux, who has found advertising on Facebook to be very successful for the studio.

Watch out, New York City—Palo Alto may become the next hub of nonmembership, drop-in fitness and cycling classes, thanks to a little thing called Uforia. 

Find Uforia Studios at 819 Ramona St. in downtown Palo Alto and on its website, uforiastudios.com. Drop-in classes are $25 each; unlimited classes for the first month, $150; five-class pack $110; etc.