‘Hot yoga’ has invaded Tracy thanks to a recent TAHS graduate and her cohorts
Marin Knott isn’t much for sitting around and doing nothing. In fact, she can’t stand it. And as the owner of the 507 Fit Fitness Center in downtown Tracy, chilling isn’t on her agenda.
Sweating is.
And there has been a lot of sweating going on downtown since 507 Fit opened on June 6 to a very excited group.
“It was crazy,” Knott said about opening day. “We had a lot of people here.”
The day started at 5:30 a.m. and included a full body lift, mat pilates, sculpt, lower body lift, full body lift and cardio and core. While the classes are multiple, 507 Fit’s mission is simple: to create a welcoming environment where everyone can move their bodies confidently and comfortably. Comfortable is a relative term in this case, as one of the points of “hot yoga” is to sweat.
“We have a room in the back with insulated walls, insulated ceiling and turn up the furnace to 90 degrees and work out in there,” Knott said.
“We maximize calorie burn through sweating, and it strengthens your lungs and heart.”
The large workout room in the back of the building is painted black from top to bottom as most new studios are today, and there is special lighting as well. That room in particular is the result of a lot of work. Reid Kimball was hired to help, and Marin and her father, Jeff, did a lot of work as well.
“I helped blow insulation in the ceiling; I was here all day one day helping with that,” said Marin. “Painting literally everything.”
Knott has always been an active person. She ran track and cross country in high school, but admitted she got somewhat burned out by running all the time. It was at college where she really dove into the fitness world — minus the running.
“After I got to college, I was like, ‘I need a break,’” she said. “I started doing the hot sculpt classes, hot lifting. I just really liked that I could go to class and I didn’t have to plan any of it. They told me what I needed. They showed me what I needed to do and I got a workout out of it.”
Knott said group fitness is a very big trend right now, and she doesn’t see the trend fading away.
“A lot of people come in and say, ‘I didn’t have to plan a workout, I just had to show up,’” she said. “That’s what people like about it.”
Knott became a certified yoga instructor and eventually asked herself since she loves it so much, why not get paid, too?
“I’m here all the time, I might as well,” she said. “My parents told me this building was for sale and were like, ‘You could just open your own.’ I thought that seemed like a lot of work, but it would be fun. Construction wasn’t fun, but the classes are fun.”
If you’re not familiar with the aforementioned classes, that’s OK. All you need to know is there is something for everyone. Knott, a sophomore nursing student at Augusta University, is joined by fellow instructors Anna Johansen, Alecia Dolan, Katie Medford, Abbi Eitzen and Jenna Hook. The instructors each have their niche, giving students a wide workout variety.
Different yoga classes also include things like weights, pilates balls, resistant bands and yoga blocks. The spacious building might seem too large for Marin’s studio, but that space comes in handy during the cool-down period.
“After a class, you’re literally dripping sweat and you don’t want to be rubbing up against other girls,” she said. “I love all the space we have.”
