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STAY STRONG St. Louisans are figuring out how to adapt their workouts to keep themselves sane and healthy in the era of social distancing STAY STRONG
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TITLE Boxing Club trainer Sam Smith teaches one of the gym’s online fitness classes. TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
Punching Through BY JENNA JONES
When COVID-19 forced TITLE Boxing Club (14944 Manchester Rd., Ballwin) to close, owner Ken Cox knew going online with his classes was the only option. Yet, he decided not to charge for his class. For Cox, boxing was never about the money.
“I didn’t go into the boxing industry to get rich,” Cox says. “I’ve always said that ‘I love this so much, I’d do it for free,’ so I am.”
Cox hosts an Instagram and Facebook live stream every night for his followers, leading the workouts with his co-owner and trainers. On March 23, St. Louis County’s stay-at-home order closed down operations for a wide swath of businesses considered “non-essential,” and that included gyms. That’s left people like Cox scramElinJ to fiJure out how to continue to connect to a customer base they can no longer see in person.
Cox said his gym has no real means to generate revenue during the shutdown, so the live streams were the best option to keep members active.
“It was the obvious choice,” Cox says. “To the government, we’re not a necessity, but to our guests we are. We have to keep our members engaged during this.”
Cox brainstormed with his team in order to keep his staff Continued on pg 14
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A free livestream helps engage TITLE Boxing Club’s members. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
e Detox Yoga crew before social distancing was a thing. | COURTESY APRIL ELLIOTT
Trainers at TITLE Boxing Club uses phones to stream workouts. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
STAY STRONG Continued from pg 11
employed during the shutdown. Federal loans are helping pay the staff, but they can only make that money last for so long. The owner also credits his landlord for allowing him to not pay rent while the club is shut down.
“As long as the doors are all back open by the end of May, we will Ee fine,ȋ &o[ says. “$fter -une 1, we’d have to re-look at that. So, unfortunately, the answer is time will tell.ȋ
The team came up with the live streams they would offer at no charge. Trainers like manager 6am 6mith, &o[, and his wife and coowner 6arah &o[ all haYe taken on the challenge of streaming their workouts to the members of the gym.
“We’re JoinJ to keeS fiJhtinJ together; that’s the only way through this,ȋ 6mith says.
Normally, the rounds that Smith and &o[ conduct would last three minutes each. In order to keep the live stream interesting, they switched up the routine. The streams offer a variety of workouts, each lasting 30 seconds with a 15-second rest in between rounds. The trainers alternate as the rounds Jo on, mi[inJ uS workouts and encouraging the watchers just as energetically as they would in person. $t first, the Srocess was not as seamless as it is now.
“We don’t have a huge budget, no full camera crew or anything like that,ȋ &o[ Mokes. “6o, eYerything is run off the few phones, in a single shot running for 30 minutes, so keeping that entertaining and creatiYe was the challenJe.ȋ
During the live stream, the club Sractices shadow Eo[inJ, a way to
test the viewers’ imaginations since some may not have a full punching bag at home to practice on. 2ther e[ercises include reJular workouts, such as bicycle crunches and MumSinJ Macks. The Eo[- ing gym even works a bit of yoga into their e[ercises, as one trainer drops into a downward dog and then further into a pushup.
Across the river in Wentzville, local yoga studio owner April Elliott has moved her classes online as well. 'eto[ <oJa 1155 Wentzville Pkwy. #107-109, Wentzville) offers reduced-cost online yoga practices through Zoom, a videoconferencing app. She closed her studio on March 18, and her classes and trainers went completely virtual two days later.
“The idea of my clients losing their practice during this time was horrific,ȋ (lliott says. “, had to act fast. I fought really hard to push it out as fast as possible so that all the clients did not skip a beat with their practice. They need it now more than eYer.ȋ (lliott, like &o[, has had her own struggles moving her operation online. Trainers have had a hard time findinJ a quiet sSace, as have their students. With children knocking on doors or pets barging in, the fiJht to keeS Sractice calm and rela[inJ has SroYen difficult.
“However, given the situation we are in, there is no other choice,ȋ Elliott says. “I believe that after this pandemic is over and we are back at the studio we will all be better and stronJer and definitely more thankful for our space. “
Many of her trainers have been able to compromise with their neighbors, friends and spouses to help control the noise level. The yogis have also noticed the higher volume of instruction that is possible with the online classes. With no physical limits due to the space of the studio, the teachers can reach more people and have larger class sizes. &lasses usually last for aEout an hour and range from gentle, restoratiYe yoJa to their “;)/2ȋ classes which are more challenging. Elliott notes that yoga helps its Sractitioners control an[iety they may feel about the virus and helSs rela[ minds.
“With keeping steady with your practice you are able to handle the fiJhtorfliJht feelinJ that we are all dealinJ with,ȋ (lliott said. “If you are more at ease, you are able to comfort those that are not more effectiYely.ȋ %oth &o[ and (lliott Yiew their businesses as a way to serve their community in a time of need. Where most people have found themselves struggling to maintain a routine, &o[ and (lliott hoSe to provide some structure to their clients’ days.
“We just want to help people out as much as possible during this time,ȋ &o[ says. “We’re Must tryinJ to keep people motivated to stay on their current fitness Mourney.ȋ
T,T/( %o[inJ &luE Joes liYe Monday through Friday at 6:30 p.m on its Facebook and Instagram pages. No signup or payment is required. 'eto[ <oJa offers their classes seven days a week, and you can sign up through Mindbody. The cost of virtual classes is $8 per class — or there is an offer for $30 for 30 days of unlimited classes. n
Nick Dondzila jumps rope in an empty parking lot. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
Weights borrowed from a local gym round out the mobile training center. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
soloing
BY TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
For a split second, the bright midday sun flashes off the inner ring of the stack of ten-kilogram weights in the trunk of a blue 2013 Honda CRV, illuminating a young man’s face and blond hair. The broad-shouldered athlete leans the weights against the parking chocks of an empty AT&T lot near his home in the Southampton neighborhood. He removes his Red Panda Strength hoodie revealing a teal tank top with a pouncing, crazy-eyed kitten and grabs a few more ten-kilogram and fifteen-kilogram plates, setting them next to the barbell and rubber mats on the pavement. Sitting on a small stool, the competitive lifter slips out of his tennis shoes and exposes his blue-eyed kitty socks. He laces up his white Nike Romaleos 2 weightlifting shoes and turns on a pump-up metal song.
Nick Dondzila, 27, planned to compete in the pinnacle of USA Weightlifting’s competitions, the Nike 2020 National Championships this May in Lombard, Illinois. However, it has been postponed until December due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dondzila still wants to train.
He has made himself a mobile weighttraining facility to continue lifting amidst the gym closures, including his team’s, the Lab Gym. A blanket stretches across the CRV’s trunk, and the middle row is folded up to fit all the plates, mats, clamps, shoes, a jump rope and barbell. He borrowed the mats and Rogue weights from another local gym, Output Performance.
“I don’t need a masculine car. I need something I can put everything into,” Dondzila says.
For the most part, the ten-year lifting veteran keeps it close to home, driving to the parking lot across the street, but he has gone to some parks with his gear as well.
At the lot, the music shifts to something more alternative. It is 67 degrees, and there is little shade to be found on the blacktop. A dogwood tree along Eichelberger Street buds its white flowers in the background. After three sets of 90-kilogram snatches and three sets of 100-kilogram power clean and jerks, Dondzila adds twenty more kilograms to the bar. He removes his tank top and slings it over the side mirror of the car. He twists his back muscles, looks at his hands and takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the next rep. He sets up his phone to videotape and walks over to the bar. A little boy and his dad in matching sunglasses eye the shirtless athlete as they walk their corgi.
Dondzila clenches his hands around the bar and heaves the bar to his shoulders. Holds. Then thrusts it above his head. Holds. His face turns red as he grimaces. The weight crashes back to the earth. Dondzila turns around. A “Stay Awake” tattoo referencing a song by the alternative band All Time Low stretches across his wide back. He walks over to
Dondzila’s CRV doubles as a clothing rack and mobile gym. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS
grab his chair and sits down.
It is not too long before he does the set again.
“I guess because it’s warm out, and it’s less comfortable to sit down and relax. I’m just like, ‘All right, let’s do it,’” he says later.
Dondzila wrestled while at St. John Vianney High School, graduating in 2011. When he went to Loyola University, he lost the competitive outlet that wrestling offered. Dondzila tried CrossFit for a bit. He eventually transitioned into Olympicstyle weightlifting. The past few years he has been competing nationally. He medaled at the Chicago nationals in 2017, won the university championships in that same year at 77 kilograms, earned a silver medal at the 2017 American Open Finals, won the American Open Series 1 in 2018 and captured bronze at the senior nationals in 2018 for the Lab Gym.
In the first week of March, just prior to the stay-at-home mandates, the athlete, coaching himself, placed third overall in the 2020 American Open Series 1 in Columbus, Ohio. He has one of the best clean and jerks in the nation. In Columbus, he finished second in the clean and jerk, lifting 175 kg (385 lbs) in the 77-kilogram (170-pound) class.
In the parking lot, he does the best he can with what he has.
“Theoretically, I don’t have enough weight to push certain strength portions. So, I am slowing what I do down a lot, making it harder because I can’t get as high of weight as I want,” he says.
Along with adjusting the program due to the limits of his makeshift gym, Dondzila has looked up blueprints online to build a wooden squat rack to supplement his mobile training regimen.
“With what’s happening in the world right now, it’s demoralizing because I don’t even know the next time I will compete is but ... today is day one: I wrote it out. I have a plan, and I’m going to try to progress things. … What else am I going to do? Get some sun. Burn. I might just wear a swimsuit tomorrow,” he jokes.
Besides weightlifting, Dondzila works on software-developing projects, searches for a developing job and hangs out with his father during the stay-at-home mandate.
His father plays pool competitively in local pool halls. “He’s young, only 52, but still gets a little nervous,” Dondzila says about his dad and the pandemic. Since they cannot go play pool together, they watch movies and build puzzles.
Weightlifting has been something that Dondzila has used to stay competitive, be fit, overcome his girlfriend driving away in an RV and, now, as a way to keep busy during the pandemic.
“Yeah the gravity has turned on today,” he says sarcastically between reps, sweat dripping on his forehead. n
