It can take time to figure out your own movement style.
But when it does, it can take hold of us and change our lives.
Five years ago, Samantha Kelly never expected to become the new owner of a boutique fitness studio in downtown Colorado Springs. She recently purchased Barre Forte, located at 115 N. Tejon St., Suite 110, and rebranded it as One Body Fitness Studio.
“You only have one body for the rest of your life,” Kelly says. “You can’t do it over, so cherish it. One class where you push yourself hard, one move where you work your core, one move where you work your glutes. One second, one minute, one hour, you can do anything. You can do anything. That’s become my motto through training here.”
Living Life Fully: Eddies, Views, and Revelations – Birthday Pilgrimage to Sedona, Arizona
But exercise didn’t come naturally to Kelly right away. It took years of trying other fitness methods on and off; intense weightlifting and cardio workouts took a toll on her body, and the yoga studios she attended didn’t offer the human connection she was looking for.
“Having a sense of responsibility was really important,” she says. “I had friends, and people missed me and checked in on me. I knew if I didn’t show up, people would ask, ‘Where were you?'”
But after trying out a 30-day promotion at my local barre studio, I was hooked—but there was still one big problem.
“I was there for 30 days and nobody spoke to me,” she said. “It was so strange. I thought that was normal. I didn’t make any friends in 30 days. No one knew my name and I didn’t know anyone else’s name.”
For Kelly, it was simply too much to take. She needed bonding along with ballet. So she tried a new studio, Barre Forte, and eventually started taking classes two times a day, 10 times a week. She loved the space, the exercises, the people, and the changes it made to her body.
Colorado Springs man shuts down nonprofit after providing thousands of free breast cancer screenings
“After three weeks of training with Shiloh Alvis (former owner), my body was in a shape I’d never seen before,” Kelly says. “I told her I felt like a superhero. My shoulders were broad, my waist was tight, and I had these big round hips I never knew I had.”
She became a “real-life influencer,” she says, spreading the benefits of barre, a group fitness class that combines small strength exercises with a ballet barre and ballet-inspired moves. Barre, she told participants, can relieve back, knee and ankle pain and build pelvic floor and core strength.
Alvis noticed Kelly’s passion and directed her to get her teaching qualification, which she did for about four years, before Alvis approached Kelly again, but this time it was time for her to take the next step and asked her to buy a studio.
“It was a no-brainer,” says Kelly, who worked in nonprofits for 15 years before becoming a real estate agent. She also co-owns a construction company with her boyfriend and another partner. “I tell her that every day I cry a little bit with joy. This is mine and I can use it to make people’s lives better. It’s so fulfilling for me to be able to work for myself and love people in this way.”
The 1,200-square-foot studio also offers Pilates and has four reformers and other Pilates equipment, circuit training and yoga classes. The studio is opening a new running club in June and plans to add strength-training classes in the future. Classes are offered daily, about five times a week and two times on Saturdays and Sundays.
There are two types of memberships: one for Pilates and one for barre, circuit training and yoga. Discounts are available for military personnel, emergency personnel, doctors, nurses, those who work in the Downtown Partnership District and those who care for adults or children with special needs. New customers can purchase their first class for $10.
Customer April Rice first took a class in 2019 and continued to come even after the pandemic forced the studio to move classes online. She loves that barre helps develop core strength and other small muscles the exercise works. The low-impact exercise has helped her improve her running and weightlifting.
“Running and other activities can take a toll as you get older,” she says. “I like that it’s a place where I can work through injuries and mental and physical ailments. It’s not just exercise; for me it’s mental health, too.”
Soul Core Classes Combining Prayer and Strengthening in Colorado Springs
The studio has partnered with Special Kids Special Families, a nonprofit organization that supports children and adults with disabilities, to host free community classes for adults with special needs and their caregivers on the first Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. The studio also hosts free ballet classes every other Saturday at 9 a.m. on The Well’s patio during the summer.
Rice appreciates the strong sense of community that Kelly and her instructors foster. “Someone remembers your name, is happy that you’re there, and misses you when you’re not,” she says. “When I’m traveling for weeks at a time, I always feel so welcomed when I come back.”
Kelly said the classes attract customers from all walks of life, including an avid Olympian and a man hoping to hike to the Grand Canyon and back.
“The small muscles, the connective tissue, the flexibility, the core strength, all the things that support the larger muscles, the muscles that you use to swing those weights that look really good in the mirror — you can train those muscles, but that’s not the goal,” Kelly says. “It’s about living a long, happy, healthy life and staying active in retirement.”
Contact the author: 636-0270
