CYGA Finds Success in a Good Combination

In the four years since opening its doors, CYGA, Cycling and Yoga, and its creators, Margie Freeman and Julie Prochnow, have sought to offer Shorewood a more "unique" look at fitness.  

“CYGA is more of a boutique type fitness facility,” said Freeman, who discovered the concept while living out West. “We turn yogis into cyclists and cyclists into yogis!” 

CYGA, Cycling and Yoga opened its Shorewood location at 3575 N Oakland Ave, in September of 2009.

Freeman, partner turned owner when Prochnow retired last September, grew up in nearby Cedarburg. She was first turned onto cycling while attending college at San Jose State University in California. 

“During the time I spent in San Jose and in the San Francisco Bay area, I really got into the cycling community,” said Freeman. “California is like a cycling Mecca; it is very fitness oriented.” 

After spending 13 years on the West Coast, Freeman moved back to the Milwaukee area to be closer to family. Upon moving back, she hoped to maintain her cycling hobby. However, she was forced to swap out her road bike for indoor cycling during the cold, Wisconsin winter months. 

“It was then that I also started getting into yoga,” said Freeman. “However, I soon found myself going to two separate facilities for each of my workouts. I had to ask, why isn’t there a good yoga and indoor cycling facility in the same place?”

The concept behind CYGA is not new. 

“This is something they have been doing all over California,” said Freeman. “I didn’t know why we weren’t doing this here.” 

When introducing her brand to Shorewood, Freeman was not concerned about competition from other local businesses.  

“CYGA is the only combined cycling and yoga studio in the area,” said Freeman. “When we started, we were the only one in the Midwest.”

Along with basic yoga and cycling classes, CYGA offers combination classes: CYGA CYCLING + YOGA. The combination classes are 60 minutes long and consist of 30 minutes of cycling followed by another 30 minutes of yoga. Freeman believes it is the specificity and rigor of the CYGA classes that gives her business an advantage.

"At CYGA people are getting their fitness and cardio in their cycling classes,” said Freeman matter-of-factly. “This helps in that they are not looking for yoga to do everything for them. They are not using yoga to meet all of their fitness needs, giving them more of the balanced, more true yoga mindset.”

Freeman also finds importance in making her business environmentally accountable. CYGA was recognized by the Shorewood Conservation Committee and awarded “The Green Leaf Award,” which seeks to encourage small, local businesses to operate more sustainably. The CycleOps: Club Pro 300s found throughout the cycling studio are purchased locally, from CycleOps Power in Madison. However, it is the machine’s state-of-the-art design which set the brand apart.  

“By using the CycleOps Club Pros, individuals can see how much power they are exerting during a workout and see how they are getting stronger,” said Freeman. “This is real-time training which was only available to professionals and now it is available for everyone.”

In the future, Freeman would love to see expansion of her brand. 

“CYGA was designed so you could do that,” said Freeman. “I would love to see one in Madison or Chicago.” 

However, Freeman could not be more pleased with CYGA’s Shorewood location. 

“I love the diversity of this area,” said Freeman. “I love the energy of the East Side and the North Shore family feel. We have UWM, we have the East Side, we have Marquette, we have the families from the North Shore and we have downtown,” Freeman continued. “People come from all over and they are of all ages.

More information along with pricing and class schedules can be found at CYGA’s website.