Judd Hawkins, owner and manager of Kosama, isn’t your average personal trainer, and your first impression of his gym likely will be much different from what you’ve seen at other workout hotspots in the Kyrene Corridor.
No bulky machines, no mirrors on the walls. Best of all, no agonizing learning curve.
“It’s a very well thought out process, but there are really not a lot of complicated machines to learn,” Hawkins said.
“There’s not a lot of equipment that you have to be intimidated by.” Before taking on this southTempefranchise, Hawkins was most recently the strength and conditioning coordinator for theOaklandA’s major league baseball team.
Hawkins received a graduate degree as a certified and trained conditioning specialist, and has worked in the industry ever since. “I stayed down here, because (the A’s) spring training was here and we had a lot of our bigger players live here in the off-season, even more so thanOakland,” he said.
Originally fromIowa, Hawkins was contacted by his former colleague, Matt Braet, who lives inDes Moines, kicking arolind the idea of opening a Kosama location in southTempe. “He did the first session of the original Kosama inDes Moines, and in fact, was a member,” Hawkins said. “He went through it, loved it, had great results and was noticing how excited and how much energy the people there had for it.” Braet helped to open the first Kosama facility, along with other business partners. Hawkins said he considered the idea, but not seriously until he and his wife had their first child. “In the meantime, my son was born, and 11 days after I had to go on the road with the team,” he said.
“I was gone for two weeks, and I was miserable. I knew (the travel schedule) wasn’t going to be easy, but it was a thousand times worse.” Though he admits he loved his job with theOaklandA’s, he didn’t want to miss those special moments in his son’s life. “I didn’t miss the first steps, or the word ‘daddy’ for the first time, so that was cool,” he said. Now, after being open for eight months and having a staff of seven trainers, Hawkins said business is picking up, and on top of that he gets to go home to his family every night. “I went back toIowa, went through a week of the program, talked with some people who were regular members and made a choice,” he said. “I don’t regret it for a second -life is defined by a series of choices.” Kosama’s open area is surrounded only by rows of kettle bells used for various exercises. For Hawkins, that’s what makes this place unique, he said.
“We use all the kettle bells for our strength training, and yet when you put them away we have this open space for kickboxing, or Plyometrics, and Saturday mornings we do our yoga classes,” Hawkins said. Plyometrics is a form of exercise training involving fast, powerful movements designed for athletes. And, with no mirrors, participants don’t need to be intimidated when working out in groups. You also won’t find a pool or Jacuzzis in Hawkins’ gym, but the price is low compared to other large fitness facilities. . “We try to present ourselves as a reasonably priced option, but still a really good program in a nice facility,” he said. “It’s not technically personal training, but we like to tell our clients we’re going to give you personal attention. It’s occurring in a group, and that’s how we keep the cost low.” Prices for classes are $25 per week, and members can come six days a week. “It’s unlimited classes, so if you break that down, that’s less than $5 per day,” Hawkins said.
“People don’t realize how nice a place we have; it’s very clean and we have nice locker room facilities.”
Information: 602-618-4040 or http://tempe.kosama.com/
