work it out
Row, row, row for fitness: Flywheel Fitness lets you experience rowing from thesafety of land
Sara-Mai Conway,Owner of "Flywheel Fitness"Photo by Sara-Mai Conway
Rowing class, "Flywheel Fitness"Photo by Sara-Mai Conway
Sara-Mai Conway coaching clients Kelly Davis-Burns and Sara Strandtman.Photo by Kathleen Jennings
Close your eyes. Imagine, you're in a boat, your arms and legs working together as you glide across the Lady Bird Lake, the wind on your face...
Rowing a total body workout, but you don’t necessarily have to be on the water to experience it — just step into Flywheel Fitness. Flywheel offers rowing classes, boot camp-style courses which combine fitness and rowing and combination classes of rowing and spinning.
Founder Sara-Mai Conway knew she wanted to share her passion for rowing in Austin, long before she ever lived here. She certainly has the experience: She started rowing at age 12 and was part of the rowing team at Tufts University in Boston, going on to coach the women's team at Loloya Marymount for nine years. She is currently the Master's Champion in the women’s single-A division (competing against rowers from across the country for the title in 2011).
Basically: She knows her stuff.
While working in Los Angeles several years ago, Conway had the idea to move to Austin. After getting her footing at the Austin Rowing Club, in 2009 she finally opened her own training center, Flywheel Fitness.
“I wanted to bring rowing to those who don’t want to get on the water,” she explains; and, of course, “Austin is a great place to start a business.”
Rowing tests your endurance, strength, heart and lungs. The key is to have good form — the better the technique, the more power you will get in each stroke. “To row, you need to be fit and strong, but you also need to know how to do it well,” says Conway.
“I was the Carol Burnett of rowing,” jokes client Kelly Davis-Burns. She picked up rowing a year ago because she was tired of her same workout. She says she wanted a challenge — and that is exactly what she got. The first month, she was just happy to stay on the machine, but a year into it she has amazing strength and there’s a quickness in her stroke. Kelly says it's like nothing she has ever done before, and you’ll find her at Flywheel at least three or four times a week.
Sara Strandtman started rowing at Flywheel in January. An outdoor rower for six years, the changing weather brought her off the lake, and she says indoor rowing has given her a chance to focus on her form. She’s already seen a difference in her technique. “It helps me maintain fitness, it’s convenient and it gives my workout structure,” says Sara. “It’s a sport that engages mind and body.”
Conway is delighted to be able to share her passion and knowledge of rowing with her clients. Her teaching is benefitting her, too, as she trains for the Head of the Charles Regatta, a race that will take her back to her hometown of Boston. Who knows — come October, she may have another title to add to her name.
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Flywheel Fitness is located at 2525 South Lamar. You can check it out and sign up online at www.flywheelfit.comYour first class is free!
