Photo by Leslee Bassman[/caption]

During the six days following its Jan. 10 opening, Lagree Studio owner and instructor Valentina Gaylord greeted more than 160 area residents looking to fulfill their 2015 fitness goals, Gaylord said. She is married to studio instructor and Olympian Mitch Gaylord.

The contemporary-styled, 3,300-square-foot studio is stocked with 14 M3S Megaformers—300-pound resistance machines that use postures and springs to sculpt bodies, Valentina said.

"Lagree Fitness is a high-intensity, low-impact workout," she said. "It's not Pilates. It has the therapeutic elements of Pilates [because] it is no impact. [Lagree] strengthens the body [with a] 45 minute full-body workout focusing on cardiovascular [exercise], flexibility and endurance.

"With over 200 postures and 1,000 ways to do them, Lagree is [about] slow and controlled movements."

Valentina said the Lagree fitness format has been around since 2001 and is popular in California, where she and Mitch lived.

"With a gymnastics background, [the workout] reminds me so much of that [same] type of body awareness and strength because everything you do as a gymnast comes from your core, from your center," Mitch said. "When [your core] is strong, your whole body tends to be strong."

After relocating to Austin in 2014, the couple decided to start their own studio in the expanding Bee Cave area, she said.

Valentina said she worked with staff at Bella Dimora, Hill Country Gallerias furniture and interior design business, to create the Lagree Studios custom furnishings. She then orchestrated the staining of the studios concrete floors to match the furnitures color tones and hung local art on the walls, she said.

"I wanted a very chic look that would appeal to both men and women," she said. "I wanted a lounge area to be a place where [our clients] could feel at home."

The Gaylords said their goal is to open two to four Lagree Studios in the Austin area.

 

Lagree Studio
4005 Market St., Ste. 110, Bee Cave
844-226-6111
www.thelagreestudio.com