Proof Fitness opens downtown location that offers Lexington a gym experience like never before

The top floor of 230 West Main Street has long housed some kind of fitness facility — since 1986, in fact.

Lexington Sports Club, which billed itself as a “luxurious and exclusive setting,” opened then when Nautilus was the fitness rage. LA Fitness, the most recent operator, closed the location in May, 2015.

In its new incarnation, which opens Monday, the owners of Proof Fitness have spent more than $2 million revamping and opening up the 29,000-square-foot complex with giant windows in all directions offering spectacular views beyond.

“Lexington has never had a fitness product like this,” said Brian Johnson, one of Proof’s owner. “You get everything.”

Everything includes, well, all sorts of amenities, services and decor updates. For example, re-use of decor such as reclaimed wood is one of the distinctive touches of Proof, which opened its first gym in 2013 at Tates Creek Center. Sit on one of the new Precor spinning bikes in the mezzanine exercise room and you can look out at a giant ceiling fan and a photo mural of old Lexington on the far wall near tracks for sprinting, walking and running.

And Proof also has a puckish sense of humor: It took pieces of the old pool (there’s no longer a pool at the facility) and made them an art installation on the ceiling of one of the exercise rooms.

The business plan for the fitness space, similar to the Proof in Tates Creek Center, is to combine everything expected in a conventional gym but with the exercise boutique studio offerings such as barre and spinning, and with pricey equipment such as water rowing machines.

The Main Street location offers even more features — like a healthy-living mall housing various boutiques — designed to draw customers in, give them needed services and keep them around longer.

“We’re not just going to do fitness,” said Steve Dawahare, another partner. “We’re going to be unique.”

The layout is flexible, to house popular small-group fitness as well as open spaces for training. Members can receive fitness updates via e-mail or on the Proof app, which also allows them to schedule classes.

Dawahare said the flexibility is available so that the business can adapt quickly to future fitness trends. “Over time, as new things come in, we have the ability to repurpose these things. … The challenge in fitness is that people can’t get bored.”

Prior to opening, Proof surveyed nearby business owners to find out what their employees wanted in a fitness space, Dawahare said. Because area businesses like the racquetball court, Proof is going to keep it.

Caldo cafe — which promotes hot bone broth and the “healing power of whole foods” — will offer salads, sandwiches, wraps and smoothies. And exercisers can send in an order and have it waiting for them post workout. Caldo is moving to the new gym from its current location at Centered on North Ashland Avenue.

A spa, not yet completed, will offer everything from massages and facials to hydrotherapy and chemical peels. Children of customers can spend time in the playroom, with gigantic dolphins swimming on the wall art.

Monthly membership packages range from $69.99 to $149.99, pretty similar to what prices were for the 1986 gym.

Although members are likely to come from downtown businesses and downtown-adjacent residents, Johnson said that a farmer from the north side of Lexington just signed up.

And Proof is looking for opportunities to grow, both locally and in the region, Dawahare and Johnson said.

“It is amped up, taking it all to the next level,” said Proof marketing coordinator Lauren Burton. “This is the model for all locations from here on out.”

The Lexington gym market is crowded with price points and options. You can go to Planet Fitness for $10 a month. Lexington Athletic Club offers monthly plans ranging from $30 to $55 a month. CycleYou, which offers cycling classes as well as other fitness classes, charges $100 a month for unlimited monthly classes. L’Escalade Fitness at 916 North Broadway, which has a climbing emphasis, offers full fitness facility memberships for $80 a month.

Rob Bishop, who co-owns Elevations Health Club in Scotrun, Pa., and writes a column for Athletic Business magazine, said that boutique studios tend to have higher fees because they operate within a particular fitness niche.

He scorns low-cost gyms because he says they don’t provide value to their clients, as most locally owned fitness businesses do, with tailored training and community involvement.

“Most of your local fitness businesses are in it because they enjoy fitness and they want to help people,” Bishop said.

One chain he admires is Life Time Fitness, a 119-gym chain based in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Life Time’s largest facilities offer personal fitness instruction, salons, food courts and indoor/outdoor pools.

“They’re not cheap, but they’re providing the value that goes along with it,” Bishop said. “You don’t get something for nothing. …When you pay more, you’re going to get more — more expertise, more quality instructors.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Proof Fitness opens downtown location that offers Lexington a gym experience like never before."