Meet The Member - Bodystreet St. Albans
We caught up with Chris and Dina and the team at Bodystreet St Albans, proud members of the We Are St Albans community, to learn about their journey from corporate life to launching a smart fitness studio designed for time-poor, health-conscious locals. Using innovative EMS technology, Bodystreet delivers personalised, trainer-led 20-minute workouts that help members achieve real results without the need for traditional gym routines, all within a supportive and community-focused environment.
We are happy to have Bodystreet St. Albans as part of the We Are St Albans community! Could you share a bit about how Bodystreet St. Albans was founded, what you did before this and what the journey was to bring the studio here and why this concept appealed to St Albans?
Dina and I have always tried to look after ourselves. Working in the corporate world for many years, this meant multiple gym sessions and various classes each week. But as we got older, we found time was shorter and we needed to work harder to achieve fitness results.
When we heard about EMS training, the technology behind Bodystreet, we thought we’d give it a go. So impressed were we by the results, we decided to open a studio in St Albans since none existed anywhere nearby. It felt like a great place to open, a city full of health conscious and time poor people, people we felt we could help with this brilliant workout we’d discovered.
Bodystreet offers a unique “smart fitness” solution: a 20-minute, EMS-powered session once a week. What do you feel are the biggest benefits of this time-efficient method for people with busy lives or limited time?
This is a very efficient way to train for anyone who is time poor. It’s not magic, but if you follow our guidance on lifestyle, nutritional habits and hydration, and do one session a week, it does deliver results. So, it’s perfect for anyone who doesn’t have time to do the gym 3 times a week. It’s also great for people who don’t like exercise, or going to the gym. This allows them to come in for 20-mins and just get it done, so to speak.
What aspects of running Bodystreet in St Albans are most rewarding, and how does the local community shape or support what you do here?
Our belief is that everyone should have the time to get fit and stay fit. So, if we can help anyone who walks through the door, then we’re in a very happy place. The rewarding part is seeing their faces when we tell them they’ve lost fat or gained muscle, both of which we measure every 6 weeks with our body scanner. And when those people feel so good they start telling their friends, we really do feel like part of the community and people’s journey to a fitter life.
What values and philosophy guide the way Bodystreet St. Albans delivers training, supports members, and ensures everyone gets the most out of their sessions?
We use a personal approach to our training sessions, which when combined with our smart technology, means we can tailor a member’s session each time. Everyone’s goals are personal and it’s important to remember that. So, there’s always a trainer there to guide and encourage, to add extra challenges in or to mix things up a bit and keep the exercises fresh. This way our members can always give their sessions 100%, after all, you get out what you put in.
The studio welcomes people with different goals: losing weight, building muscle, improving posture or joint strength, or even rehabilitation. How do you tailor sessions to meet such a broad range of needs?
The Bodystreet suits and the exercises we do give the trainer great flexibility to work with. We can isolate areas of the body with the EMS, we can vary the intensity across different muscle groups, we can use specific exercises to achieve certain goals. When used together this gives us plenty to work with to achieve goals for a range of needs.
Looking ahead, are there any new services, programmes, or enhancements planned for Bodystreet St. Albans that you’re particularly excited about?
The answer is yes absolutely and I can tell you we’re very excited about them. But you’ll have to wait to see what they are
For people who are new to fitness, or those who feel traditional gyms aren’t for them, what would you say to encourage them to give EMS-based training at Bodystreet a try?
The main thing I’d say is we’re not a gym. As a smart fitness studio, this is a much more personal space where we invest the time in our members to help them achieve their fitness goals individually. We have members who are very fit already and enjoy the new challenges we set them. But we have members who have come to us because gyms make them uncomfortable and feel impersonal. At Bodystreet we never let people train on their own, trying to figure out what exercises to do next.
when not delivering training or managing the studio, where are some local St Albans spots you enjoy visiting to unwind or recharge?
You’ll find us in and around Heartwood most weekends with the dog!
Finally, please tell us a fun fact about yourself.
Our fun fact. Hmm… we’ve both been featured in several movies, including Mission Impossible and Star Wars. I’d definitely count that as fun.