AKT, a new dance-cardio fitness concept featuring carefully curated playlists, high-energy music, disco ball bumping and a supportive community, will open in Gilbert on July 13. The new AKT studio, located at 2484 S Santan Village Parkway, will allow Gilbert residents to experience a full body workout that combines cardio dance intervals with strength and toning.
AKT has become increasingly popular because of its effective and fun dance-cardio technique touted by celebrities like Kelly Ripa, Shakira and Alicia Keys. Fueled by positivity, a combination of personal training and dance-cardio technique, each of the four class types – DANCE, BANDS, TONE and CIRCUIT – are kept fresh and entertaining since the choreography changes every three weeks. Each 60-minute, full-body workout class is designed to burn calories and strengthen and tone in an atmosphere that’s fun, exhilarating and results-driven.
AKT Gilbert is owned and operated by Natalie Germaine, who has lived in Gilbert for 15 years with her family and husband, Joe Germaine, who was in the NFL and received a Superbowl ring with the Rams. Once the couple started their family, Natalie stopped working to stay home with her children. While home, she fell in love with fitness and ran marathons to stay in shape. After 20 years of running, Natalie wanted to find a new way to stay fit and discovered AKT on-demand, which she did for two years before franchising. Once AKT announced that it was beginning to franchise, Natalie decided to open her own studio since she believed in the concept so strongly.
“AKT is never mundane and is a great way to get a good sweat in,” said Natalie. “Each class works muscles that you might not always exercise at a gym and results in a more defined figure. AKT also comes with a great community that constantly encourages you to meet your fitness goals.”
The four signature class types at AKT are as follows:
- DANCE alternates between choreographed dance sections and short strength intervals.
- BANDS is a class that alternates between functional cardio and longer strength intervals as members perform sports-based exercises with the stability of a box.
- TONE pairs full-body strength with isometric movements to burn out large and intrinsic muscles on every plane of motion.
- CIRCUIT combines plyometric full body power exercises with medium weight compound strength movements in 30 second and 15 second intervals.
To introduce residents to the new studio, AKT offers weekly complimentary preview classes for beginners to get a chance to try AKT BANDS & DANCE workouts in a special hybrid class.
AKT is a dance-based cardio concept, offering a unique combination of four modalities: DANCE, BANDS, CIRCUIT and TONE. With new original programming created every three weeks and the belief that movement has a powerful, lasting impact, AKT is for all body types and fitness levels. Headquartered in Irvine, California, AKT is backed by Xponential Fitness, the largest curator of the nation’s leading boutique fitness brands.
Founded in 2017 by Anthony Geisler, Xponential Fitness is the curator of the best brands across every vertical in the boutique fitness space – including barre, Pilates, indoor cycling, stretch, rowing, dance and yoga. Currently, Xponential Fitness’ portfolio of brands includes Pure Barre, a total body workout that uses the ballet barre to perform small, isometric movements; Club Pilates, the nation’s largest and fastest growing Pilates franchise; CycleBar, the first and only premium indoor cycling franchise; StretchLab, a concept offering one-on-one assisted stretching services and group stretch services; Row House, a high-energy, low-impact indoor rowing workout; AKT, a dance-based cardio workout combining toning, interval & circuit training; YogaSix, a modern boutique yoga brand; and most recently, STRIDE.
