La Jolla’s newest fitness studio, Bank Olympic Club, will change the way you look at the average gym. Located in the same building as Scott White Contemporary Art, the artfully decorated club features ram heads mounted on a grass wall and a Warhol print hanging on exposed brick.
“People spend an hour of their day at the gym—it doesn’t need to look like a locker room,” says co-owner Shawn Donohoe, who designed Bank with her husband and business partner, Nick. “We wanted to honor that hour and make it amazing.”
Even more eye-pleasing: There are no workout machines. (It’s their policy!) During 60-minute classes, the Donohoes demand big movements at high intensity, using 15-pound “technique” barbells (loadable up to 200 pounds), TRX Suspension Trainers, sandbags, agility ladders, hurdles, and more.
The goal is to spike each client’s natural human growth hormone, which increases energy, builds muscle, and torches fat. Gym-goers will perform strength and conditioning exercises including “no-nonsense Olympic lifts” under the direction of the couple, who are both USA Weightlifting Coach-certified. Class sizes are limited to 20, to mimic the feel of personal training but with the motivation of a group setting.
And as for that unusual name? Shawn says, “A bank is a place where people come to make an investment, and our bank is no different.”
$23 per class (first time is $10); 7655 Girard Avenue, La Jolla
Now Open: Bank Olympic Club
