New Fitness Studios — Including a Mega Gym Loved by JLo and A-Rod — Shake Up Dallas’ Exercise Scene

Dallas’ fitness scene is constantly growing. We’ve got boutique studios just for cycling, barre, yoga, pilates and bootcamps. This past month, two new kinds of workouts have hit the city: sculpting and stretching.

Then, there is the enormous Las-Vegas based gym lauded by Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez that plans to open in Dallas early this summer.

This is everything new you need to know about the Dallas fitness scene.

SculptHouse

5550 W. Lovers Lane, Suite 146

Recently opened at Inwood Village, SculptHouse touts itself as the first fitness studio in the world to combine the Megaformer and treadmill. In a 50 minute class, you do 25 minutes of cardio on the Woodway Curve treadmill and 25 minutes of strength on the Megaformer.

The Atlanta-based company’s first Texas location is in Dallas. It was founded by Katherine Mason in 2016. It later expanded to Nashville in 2018, and now to Dallas this year.

I gave the “low-impact, high-intensity workout” a try and it was definitely intense. I started out on the Curve treadmill for the CardioSculptUp class, that focuses on upper body. Other class options include CardioSculpt 360 (full body), CardioSculptDown (lower), and StrengthSculpt.

I was a little nervous about hopping on the self-powered treadmill, but once I got the hang of it, it was a lot of fun. The instructor told me that this is what NFL players use. The ride is much smoother than a regular treadmill, but you definitely feel the burn.

Once I was effectively worn out from running intervals at different speeds, all powered by me, the class got a two minute break to recover and switch to the next machine. I put on my sticky socks, which are required for the Megaformer so you don’t slide all over the place, and got ready to not know how to do anything on this thing.

There were a lot of small movements, which work on slow-twitch muscles. It was a bit hard to keep up with all of the different moves, but if you go a couple of times it should get easier. Plus, the instructor could see my constant confusion so she helped out a lot.

Overall, it was a good workout. Two days later, I’m still sore, but I’d definitely go back and try it again. Doing the same kinds of classes or just going to the gym can get monotonous and SculptHouse completely mixes it up.

Kika Stretch Studios

3090 Olive Street (3rd floor of WeWork)

Kika Stretch is an assisted stretching fitness studio from New Jersey. It just opened up its first Texas location in Victory Park on the third floor of WeWork. Sessions last 25, 45, or 60 minutes.

When I heard about the new fitness spot, I immediately decided to go try it out. I absolutely hate stretching, but I work out and play a lot of tennis so I need to do it. If I had a “stretch coach” to guide me and make me stretch, I would get it done.

I got to the third floor of the brand new Victory Park WeWork location. I was met by my coach for my 45 minute stretching appointment and we walked to a tiny room facing Victory Plaza. The view was nice, but I was surprised that we were surrounded by windows, for all to see. The mat that we would stretch on took up most of the little room.

Whitney Youngblood, owner of the Dallas franchise, says that they’ll be looking for a new location very soon due to this reason.

First, I was asked a series of basic questions about my fitness. The coach then determined my initial Kika Stretch Age. I sat on the floor and stretched my arms as far in front of my feet as I could. We would measure again after the session to see how much I improved. My stretch coach then went on to help me stretch all parts of my body: neck, back, legs, shoulders, etc.

I felt a bit like a rag-doll being pulled and pushed in different ways that my body doesn’t usually want to go.

Overall, the session was like a hybrid of stretching and a massage. There’s a relaxing aspect to it.  At the end of the appointment, we measured my stretch age again. I improved! Instead of average, I was now slightly above average. I call that a win.

TruFusion

9100 N. Central Expressway

This giant fitness studio from Las Vegas won’t open until early summer, but it will house five studios in one building at Caruth Plaza. The 12,000 square foot studio will have yoga, barre, Pilates, boot camp, and cycling classes. There will be more than 65 class styles with around 240 classes taking place a week.

Founded by Dallas-native Martin Hinton in 2013, TruFusion has been expanding across the nation and is finally coming to Hinton’s hometown. MLB star Alex Rodriguez is also an equity partner in the company, and trains with fiancee Jennifer Lopez.

To cool down after workouts, the studio will have a health bar with juice and smoothies. For first time members, the studio is offering 30 days for $30. TruFusion is membership-based with unlimited access to all classes.

Until the grand opening, TruFusion Dallas is hosting events around town. Check out the options on TrueFusion’s Facebook page.