The Functional Side of Fitness

What use is fitness if you can’t use it in real life?

That’s the philosophy at Form and Fitness, a functional fitness-focused club in Grafton, Wisconsin. Ben Quist owns the facility, plus a Form and Fitness personal training studio in Mequon, with his wife, Gretchen. Quist, with his background in physical therapy, understands the body’s most intricate movements and how to tailor a person’s movements into something that will help them reach their fitness goals.

“All our trainers know how to train functionally,” said Quist. “It’s a thought process that came out of physical therapy and occupational therapy. Insurance companies started to pay for function. They wanted to know how what you were doing was leading people back to function. So we try to stay away from just isolation exercises at the club. If you’re going to build muscle tissue, you need to build muscle tissue that you can use in your life.”

With that philosophy driving the club, Form and Fitness offers functional fitness tools to all members at all times. Kettlebells, sleds and tires are all left out in a certain area of the 20,000-square-foot club. Any member can use these functional tools, even when they are not involved in a small group or personal training session.

“At our club, it’s not like, ‘Let’s work my left bicep today, my right bicep tomorrow, then my left eyebrow,’” joked Quist. “It’s about functionality, so that’s why we leave out all the functional toys that members can use.”

The kind of equipment purchased and offered by Form and Fitness also benefits from Quist’s background as a physical therapist. Since he understands more about how the body works, what equipment can benefit what target audience, etc., Quist is able to pick out which pieces of equipment has potential to last as more than a passing fad in the fitness industry.

“TRX straps, I saw at a personal training conference about 10 years ago,” he said. “I can identify trends that are actually valid versus those that are kind of silly.”

Having an owner that not only understands the human body at a core level, but also revolves his life around his own fitness, has benefited the Wisconsin club.

“I’ve been working out for several decades and I get bored, too,” said Quist. “That’s why we try to bring in a lot of fun, cool exercise classes. We are constantly changing it up and bringing things in. We’ve probably brought five different classes in where we were the first club in the area to do so.”

Form and Fitness’ group training includes workouts such as R.I.P.P.E.D. (resistance and cardio training), WAR! (martial arts and strength training), Piloxing (Pilates and boxing combination class) and Step RX (a traditional step class). Traditional group offerings such as yoga and weight-loss classes are also in place for members to choose.

No matter how many group fitness classes or free kettlebells are offered to members, it’s doing the “little” things that has made Form and Fitness a successful business in Wisconsin, according to Quist. His experiences as a fitness enthusiast and physical therapist have helped him understand what members want from their local health club.

“The longer I’ve been in business, the more important it becomes that we’re doing the very small things correctly, that people may think, ‘oh, that’s common sense,’” said Quist. “It’s something as simple as making sure your front desk answers the phone correctly, keeping the facility clean, keeping all your equipment working. All of those little things, I think we do extremely well.”

By Ashley Scoby

Photos courtesy of Form and Fitness.