Dublin Gyms and Fitness

Pursuing their life-long passion for sports and athletic training, Jeff Turner and Ryan Callahan founded Fit2Play to motivate others to reach their top physical form. The gym fosters a "no excuses" mentality, set within a spartan gym with white cinder-brick walls and no signs of pampering frills such as TVs or hot tubs populated by mermaids singing lullabies. Patrons get raw and drip sweat in steamy fitness arenas while dead-lifting barbells, swinging kettlebells, and hurling tractor tires around the gym's perimeter to fit muscles. Focused on building a community vibe of support and motivation, the professional coaches tend to each client with the personalized attention they need, training neophytes alongside experienced exercisers and professional athletes ready to push their physical abilities to the extreme.

Founder Doug Owens leverages the vigorous fitness aspects of boxing to train clients, and in the past he has whipped into shape a number of pro athletes, including NFL quarterback Brady Quinn and NHL wing Jody Shelley. He translates his personally devised program into group and one-on-one sessions that incorporate weight training, conditioning, flexibility exercises, and a healthy diet. Doug places an emphasis on uniting these facets of physical fitness into a mutually reinforcing symphony, rather than focusing his program on one area, all while imparting the fundamentals of sparring, such as not sparring at the dinner table.

Owner Angie Althoff discovered personal fulfillment, camaraderie, and a greater level of fitness when she first attended a Les Mills class in 2006 at the behest of a friend. That day planted the seed of her passion, which grew into an instructor certification in 2011 and, eventually, Flow Studio. With the help of her husband, she's acquired the services of 21 other instructors, all certified to teach various Les Mills or Zumba exercises.

Flow Studio's bright yellow and orange exercise rooms reverberate with the sounds of upbeat tunes and top 40 hits as students punch, kick, dance, and cycle. The gym schedules classes each day of the week, providing plenty of opportunity to attend and re-attend sessions throughout the week.

Murals of forests and beaches greet students as they enter Oreste Dance & Fitness Studio, inspiring them to move their limbs like soaring branches and majestic ocean waves. Ballroom classes invite singles and couples to hone waltzes and rumbas, and Zumba cardio workouts pair Latin-inspired dance steps with rhythmic world music. Non-dance options such as Vinyasa yoga cultivate strength and flexibility with flowing stretches and poses.

A carefully curated collection of fitness equipment furthers toning outside of class with a treadmill, spin bike, elliptical machine, and strength-building equipment. Cable TV, WiFi, and cushy leather furniture help weary bodies and rhythm-addled brains recharge after class in the lounge—which, like the rest of the facilities, is open 24/7.

When Carrie Rezabek Dorr launched her first Pure Barre studio in 2001, she didn't have a sign or a single client. Today, she rules a fitness empire with her scepter of choice: a wooden ballet barre. Informed by Carrie's background as a dancer and Pilates instructor, each workout brims with ballet-inspired stretches and small isometric movements designed to lengthen the limbs and sculpt the abs, thighs, and backside. Many sessions begin with light weightlifting, then progress to mat-bound ab work and barre-based bends. Though straightforward, the exercises are tougher than wrought-iron jerky, which has led a writer from Glamour to exclaim, "Holy nutcracker, I actually didn't know my legs could shake like this." In addition to helming all-level classes, seasoned instructors build low-impact exercise programs for new moms and lead retreats for students seeking fitness-themed getaways. An online boutique helps students tone and tighten at home, using tools such as weighted balls, resistance tubing, and DVDs starring Carrie herself.

After hanging up his gloves and hopping out of the ring, retired professional boxer Danny Campbell and his business partners opened the first TITLE Boxing Club in Kansas in 2008. The club’s boxing and kickboxing classes were such a hit that they opened two more locations, and in 2010, the first franchise location opened in Prairie Village, Kansas. Today, more than 20 nationwide locations house the same fitness classes and personal-training programs that earned the admiration of reporters from The Columbus Dispatch in 2012.

During each sparring session, students tape up their hands and don gloves before aiming jabs, crosses, hooks, or kicks at evenly spaced bags as instructors lead them through a cardio workout designed to burn calories and build muscle. Training sessions also include conditioning with medicine balls, which are more effective at boosting health when lifted than when swallowed.