Exercises at POD can be customized by
participants choosing their own weights.[/caption]

Luke and Nadia Wiler love fitness. Luke has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine. Nadia is also certified by ACSM and has participated in fitness competitions. The two even met in a gym.

So it was fitting for the couple to open a gym together, but the approach to the gym was different than anything in the Frisco area.

POD Exercise opened in February 2014 with a no-excuses, minimal-time-commitment concept. As Luke and Nadia designed the gym, they thought about the most common excuses people use to avoid exercising.

“There’s all these excuses we came up with, and we said, ‘Let’s create something that eliminates those excuses,’” Nadia said.

POD workouts include cardio exercises, free weights and plyometrics.[/caption]

The top excuse Luke and Nadia have heard is someone doesn’t have time to work out. To address this issue, the couple kept the workouts short. Each class at POD is 30 minutes long, which accounts for about 2 percent of a day, Luke said.

POD workouts are designed around high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, and are changed daily. HIIT combines bursts of high-energy activity with periods of low-energy activity.

POD workouts include cardio exercises, free weights and plyometrics.

“You’re not paying for a treadmill; you’re not paying for an elliptical,” Luke said. “You’re paying for the knowledge, and you’re paying for the energy, the atmosphere and how the workouts change out daily.”

For each class, participants choose their own pod, or a designated rectangular space on the floor, as well as a set of weights based on their fitness level.

“Right now, you go to a group class at your local gym, and it’s just a big room where you’re kind of spread out,” Nadia said. “We realized that people want to have a sense of space, their own space, and not that uncomfortable person that stands next to you.”

Each member at POD can choose his or her own pod in which to work out.[/caption]

Everyone in the class can do the exercises at his or her own pace with the help of a trainer to show proper technique. Participants work toward a goal that is set before the class, such as completing 10 or 20 rounds of the daily workout. The trainers will log each person’s results at the end of the class so gym members can track their progress month to month.

“If people aren’t getting results, we’re not doing our jobs,” Nadia said. “We want people to get results. That way, we’re the most effective and we are the No. 1 gym in Frisco.”

Luke said he and Nadia view POD as a hidden gem among gyms in Frisco.

“We’ve had so many people cancel their memberships at [other gyms] and come to us,” he said. “If you can get a workout [in 30 minutes] as good as a workout you could do in an hour and 30 minutes, why wouldn’t you?”