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Jabz Boxing returns to Airpark roots

BY DREW SCHOTT Progress Contributor

abz Boxing has gone back to its

Scottsdale Airpark roots.

Jabz Boxing �irst opened its doors on North Scottsdale Road in 2013.

The boxing-inspired gym with workouts including kickboxing, plyometrics and cardio eventually became its �lagship location for a company with 14 gyms nationwide — including 11 in Arizona. Yet, for a time Jabz’s �irst location was closed.

“I’m sure it was honestly pretty sad for people who had started their journey at Jabz at that �irst location to then drive by it having it be empty,” spokeswoman Erin Seaboyer said.

The pandemic forced the gym to close its doors last year but Stacey Frank, owner of the Jabz location on Via Linda since January 2019, decided to relocate to the original Airpark site.

“It’s where the foundation of Jabz started,” Frank said. “That’s the �lagship store. That’s where the magic happened. If it wasn’t for that �irst Jabz, we wouldn’t be here, so it’s kind of cool that I got to move into that location.”

Frank closed the Via Linda location a few months ago and moved her equipment to Suite 23 at 13610 N. Scottsdale Road. After repainting the vacant location and moving her equipment over, the location was ready for business.

On Aug. 14, she held a grand opening at the Airpark gym with vendors, giveaways, a nutrition booth and a stretch lab.

“It’s where the whole concept began and what it is allowing us to continue to do what we do today,” Seaboyer said. “It’s pretty cool to be able to go back and reintroduce it to the original neighborhood and bring it back to life.”

Before becoming a Jabz client in 2016, Frank worked out at facilities including big box gyms and OrangeTheory Fitness — a studio with over 1,200 locations.

At OrangeTheory, she said she found it hard to consistently participate in a two-and-a-half workout and did not enjoy the repetition of exercises.

Frank then found Jabz, located near her salon, and was drawn by the gym’s incorporation of cardio into workouts and one-hour completion time.

Jabz also prioritizes variability in its training. Each day of the week focuses on a different muscle. For example, classes on Monday, Saturday and Sunday work on the full body, while sessions on Tuesday and Thursday focus on the upper body.

Every class starts with warm-up exercises involving rowers, jump ropes and speed bags among other exercises. Then, two rounds of a circuit with various stations commence.

After spending 45 seconds at a station, one immediately goes into a 25 second cardio blast before moving on to the next station. The workout concludes with a cooldown and light stretching.

“We have a combination of so many different things that nobody else has,” Frank said. “We have something that we offer that you can’t get anywhere else. You’ll never plateau. You’ll never see your body hit a wall. And you’re never bored.”

Community is an important aspect of Jabz’s mission. According to Frank, the gym’s target audience comprises moms and teachers because the Scottsdale Airpark location caters to four education centers: Sequoya Elementary School, Cheyenne Traditional School, Sandpiper Elementary and Desert Springs Preparatory Elementary School.

Frank is still trying to grow the studio, which currently has 70 active members and nine employees. She is planning to send out a marketing mailer soon and relies on clients to refer their friends to Jabz.

Additionally, Frank gave “10-for-10 offers” – 10 days for $10 — to four teachers.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the landscape for various gyms and studios across the United States, Jabz is continually expanding its product across the country, with planned studios in Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland.

Additionally, it has reopened the place that sparked the gym’s popularity.

“The community, the empowerment and everything that goes along with what Jabz is,” Frank said, “is gonna resonate back into that exact location.”

Stacey Frank, owner of Jabz Boxing in Scottsdale Airpark, picked that site because it was the company’s fi rst gym, which subsequently launched 13 others

nationwide. (Special to the Progress) Jabz Boxing offers a variety of workouts so that patrons never tire from monotonous series of exercises.

(Special to the Progress)