Thrive Community Fitness Is More Than a Gym

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lacey gymsIf your list of “can’t do” – can’t run, can’t work in the yard, can’t see your toes – is growing (like your tummy), then Paul MacLurg would like to talk with you.

He’s got a solution to your can’t – Do.

As owner of Thrive Community Fitness, MacLurg believes in the old saying “use it or lose it.” With five personal trainers and a wide assortment of exercise equipment, his fitness center is a preventative, a cure to “can’t.”

The objective is to help people get up and going again. Whether you’re 16 or 96, a sports nut or a couch potato, Thrive can put the go back into your life. That’s going to cost you $19.95 a month for basic membership and some effort. Maybe even some sweat.

“We’re about helping you get up and going again,” MacLurg said.

lacey gymWith its 14,400-square feet of space, Thrive, which opened in 2008, has 50 pieces of cardio equipment, which includes treadmills, Stairmasters, ellipticals, rowers and stationary bikes. It also has lots of weight lifting equipment.

At Thrive, you can go it alone, working to your own schedule. Or you can hire a personal trainer, who will push and encourage you to reach your personal goals. They work with you one-on-one.

“Personal trainers help you get to your goals,” MacLurg said. “You want to lose weight? That’s the focus. Want to gain endurance or strength? They’ll help you.”

Besides the one-on-one training, Thrive has recently added group workouts, or Thrive Team Training. It’s personal training in a small group with a focus on toning, strengthening and cardio. And by working in a group, there’s that added accountability factor. It’s another incentive.

“When you know you’re going to be meeting someone there’s more accountability,” MacLurg said.  If you’re working out by yourself, the only person who knows you didn’t exercise that day is you. With a group, there’s more incentive. Also, when you do workout with a group, there’s a push factor. You’re less likely to quit or slow down when a group is working out with you.

lacey gym“There’s some competition,” MacLurg said.

The team training is a separate membership. That costs $125 a month, which covers everything from team training to tanning booth.

MacLurg has also started a training program for seniors called Balance and Strength for Seniors. It’s the old Stumble Stoppers program that began at Providence St. Peter’s Hospital 18 years ago. The class is all about stability and getting leg strength back to prevent falls.

“It’s about fall prevention for seniors,” MacLurg said. “If you can prevent them from falling you can prevent hospitalization and everything that goes with that.”

MacLurg was excited to start the senior workout program at Thrive.

“When they shut it down at the hospital, the director came to me and asked if she could bring it here,” MacLurg said. “I said absolutely.”

Every Tuesday and Thursday, about 70 seniors now workout. It’s a way for them to get their active lives back and to help assure they stay active and independent.

lacey gymThrive has a special niche, a target audience. It’s for 30- to 60-year-old women. It’s not a women’s facility. But the culture – the setting, sounds and activities – are targeted for that. You won’t find the body builder, the 400-pound-bench-press muscle man, grunting his way through another set. You won’t hear the grunts, the slamming of weights.

“We’re not necessarily going to fit with everybody,” MacLurg said. “We’re not a grunt and grind and throw and toss place.”

That’s not to say you can’t get big and strong working out at Thrive. There’s all the weight-lifting equipment – whether you’re wanting free bar weights or circuit weights – you need to become buff. You just can’t get big and strong with the grunts.

MacLurg is careful not to call Thrive a gym. It’s a community fitness center.

“We didn’t want this to be known as a gym, but a fitness center,” MacLurg said. “As a place where people can get healthy.”

MacLurg’s resume doesn’t follow your typical scenario for a gym owner. He was a pastor for 27 years at a church in Vancouver. When an opportunity to open Thrive came – the franchise came to him – he and his wife, Debbie, took 15 months before making a decision. He misses being a pastor, but he’s embraced his job of helping people get their lives back by exercising. Now, he’s still connecting with people, but just in a different setting.

lacey gym“God cares about the whole of us,” MacLurg said. “This was an opportunity to connect with people in the physical fitness world. People know that life isn’t just about physical stuff. It’s about relationships. It’s about spiritual stuff. Mental stuff. Emotional stuff. So this was an opportunity to connect with people on a broader scope. People come here for help. Or at least a place to get healthier.”

And that’s what Thrive Community Fitness is about.

Thrive Community Fitness

5401 Corporate Center Loop

Lacey, WA 98503

360-350-0151

 

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