BETTER • HEALTH Eat the Frog Fitness uses heart rate-based workouts that include flexibility, strength and cardio. (Photo courtesy
Eat the Frog Fitness)
Eat the Frog New fitness spot inspired by science-based training By Annika Tomlin
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ounded by Olympic medalist Bryan Clay and Joe Culver, Eat the Frog Fitness was born from decades of elite, science-based athletic training and expert knowledge of the fitness industry. The company’s name is inspired by Mark Twain’s quote, “Eat a live frog first thing every morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” This 24-hour-accessible facility opened a new location at Desert Ridge Marketplace with owners Connie and Garrett Lee. “We actually worked out at the North Scottsdale location,” Connie says. “We were members there and just fell in love with the concept.” Garrett also owns a moving company, but the couple had aspirations to be a part of the fitness industry. The parents of four wanted a place close to home and that matched their values. “We always wanted to do something in the fitness industry, but we didn’t want to start from the ground zero,” Connie says. “We wanted something that would be already created for us that we could just open. Once we started working out there, we fell in love and decided that this is something that we wanted to do.” A short commute from home, the Lees
Connie and Garrett Lee own Desert Ridge Marketplace’s Eat the Frog Fitness.
opened the Desert Ridge location two months shy from the start of the pandemic but were ready to tackle the new challenge head on. “When the first shutdown happened, we actually started doing Zoom classes,” she says. “They were live Zoom, coach-led classes for our members. “Corporate had actually created a workout for our members so that if they didn’t do the live classes they could do those workouts classes at home.” Nestled between The Joint and Amazing Lashes, Eat the Frog Fitness was a welcome addition to Desert Ridge along with Reformed Pilates, which will open later this fall. Emilie Andrews, regional marketing director at Vestar, Desert Ridge Marketplace’s parent company, says being able to safely open new businesses in the center “is critical.” “We had had other fitness concepts that had been within the center, but Eat the Frog is so unique, and I think, for us, it means offering a completely different, absolutely convenient way for people to be able to workout,” Andrews says. “It is definitely different than any other fitness company
(Photo courtesy Eat the Frog Fitness)
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