ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) – A brand new gym in St. Pete Beach is helping folks get fit, all while decreasing their carbon footprint.
Owner Emma Baiz celebrated Centrifuge Cycling Studio’s grand opening on Friday.
She got the idea for her business as she drove past a windmill farm.
“And I thought, ‘that’s really interesting. There’s so many of them… I wonder how much power they really generate,” Baiz explained.
“I’m involved in spinning classes and I just kept thinking about the wheels turning and the blades turning and I thought, ‘well maybe there’s something we can do there.‘”
She Googled her idea and the company “SportsArt” came up.
The equipment for her idea already existed, so she emailed the company to get started.
Baiz explained to 8 On Your Side how the technology works.
“The conduit systems that are running up each, they’re bolted down into the floor, actually. Each bike plugs into its own circuit and those circuits are all run directly back into my power grid,” she said.
Bikers can see what they’re accomplishing on a screen at the front of the room.
“The screen brings what the riders are doing to a really tangible level. Essentially you’re telling people they’re generating kilowatts. I’ve been on countless ellipticals, where it says, ‘you’ve generated this many watts.’ Well, what does that mean?” Baiz said.
“So what SportsArt has done that’s really unique has sort of brought that down to a very manageable level where people are looking at how many hours of lightbulbs they’ve powered, or how many hours of electric fans.”
The studio is green in many other ways.
The floors are made from recycled rubber. Baiz doesn’t offer any single-use plastic water bottles and there are no paper towels in the restrooms.
Baiz said the studio will offer various memberships for folks traveling to St. Pete Beach who are looking to drop in for a class, to those committed to fitness and going green.
A monthly unlimited membership will cost $120 and a drop-in class will cost $20.
If you’re interested in trying one of the studio’s various classes, including a class involving hula hoops, they are free and unlimited for the rest of December.
