Business Profile

URBAN EVOLUTION:

Get A New Perspective On Life

Going into the New Year, I believe we all need to focus on changing up some of our dayto-day routines. With the unstable situation with the ongoing pandemic, we need to remain diligent in taking care of ourselves so we can continue to take care of others. A bit of change is always good for the mind, body and soul. It’s time to step out of your workout routine box.

Urban Evolution (UE) is just the place to start. Located in a nondescript commercial/industrial type building in the western part of Alexandria just off of 395 and Edsall Road, this place is amazing inside. It has to be one of the most eclectic exercise based business in the DMV. Instead of weights, treadmills and stationary bikes, there is a full blown Parkour course, an aerial silks room and space dedicated to adult gymnastics, doing yoga and hip hop dance routines.

Owner Bill Wotowiec told me that UE is a fitness “facility” NOT a “gym”. They don’t compete with the Gold’s and Planet’s in the area. UE focuses on movement in a structured environment. This is evident in the programs that are offered. Each of them involve training you to use your mind as much as your body as you navigate through your environment.

Most everyone I know understands the basics of gymnastics and yoga as well as the concept of Hip Hop dancing, but I’m not so sure you all may know what Parkour and Aerial Silks entail.

PARKOUR – A training discipline where practitioners move from one place to another in a complex environment without assisting equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible.-Wikipedia

Bill tells me that Parkour is a “philosophy” as much as it is a workout. It is an exercise that is designed to get your body to tune in to what is around it and what you have to do to navigate it from point A to point B. The course that they have at UE is challenging and they plan to do some renovating this winter to expand the course by adding new levels.

AERIAL SILKS – A type of performance in which one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a fabric.-Wikipedia

If I were younger, I would give this a shot. I would fantasize that I was part of a Circe de Soleil performance for sure! I am looking forward to going back to UE to watch some of their clients working out on the silks. The room they have reserved for it is very inviting.

The gymnastics at UE are geared for adults and families, not as training for competitions. The Hip Hop dance classes sound like fun. Bill says it is much different than Zumba and that the yoga classes are a little looser than most. All of the classes are meant to be fun as well as providing a vigorous workout. The motto at UE is “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”

All classes are offered to kids (9-14 years) and adults (15+ years) and they offer a 401PK Parkour course to those 35 and older.

Check out the photos accompanying this column and get yourself psyched up for another kind of workout that revolves around having some fun instead of upping your bicep reps or pace on the treadmill!

URBAN EVOLUTION

5505 Cherokee Avenue 855-646-5271 Urbanevo.com

Publishers Note: 2022 will be the second year that Wotowiec has been at the helm at Urban Evolution. He retired from a 30 year career with the Department of State and jumped right in to the entrepreneur pool. While his main focus is making UE a successful enterprise, he is looking to getting involved with the community and those local entities that benefit the less fortunate. His team is currently coordinating a couple of events with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Boys and Girls Club in the area. Not only do they have the capacity to host events at their facility, they can bring the event to other locales. They are looking at partnering with businesses who also want to make a contribution to the community. With the monetary help of a sponsor, they will provide memberships to the children involved in the clubs giving them the opportunity to expand their lives. If you know a business or you own a business in the area that would have an interest in partnering with UE, call 855-646-5271 or email info@urbanevo.com.