A private gym on Bakersfield’s northwest side is offering one-on-one workouts designed to help people of all abilities build strength, improve movement and feel comfortable in a fitness setting.
Fitness Unplugged, located near Calloway and Slikker Drive, is owned by Jason Coontz. Coontz said he opened the gym to create “a safe place to do hard things” for people who may feel uneasy in a traditional gym environment.
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The gym is set up for private sessions with Coontz and other coaches. He emphasize that clients have the space to themselves during their appointment. “So, like when somebody comes in, the gym actually becomes theirs,” Coontz said. “So we don’t have a whole bunch of other people in the gym while you do that. So it takes a lot of stress and anxieties away from your regular gym that you would go to.”
Fitness Unplugged also works with neurodivergent clients, including people who are autistic, by building programs around individual interests and reducing sensory overload.
“We try to take on those individuals and give them a space to where they don’t have any of those sensory overload issues and that stress,” says Coontz “And we build a program around them, so we don’t try to make them come in here and start a specific program. I find find their interests, and we start to build the program off of things that they like to do.”
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Rather than focusing on lifting heavy weights, Coontz said the gym emphasizes movement patterns and life skills, with the goal of improving everyday movement and reducing chronic pain.
The gym includes traditional equipment such as a leg press, cable machines and dumbbells, along with specialized training options.
One piece of equipment highlighted during a workout demonstration was an extended cable machine used for controlled pulling movements, including sled-pull-style exercises. Coontz said the goal is to “recode some of those movements and build a new pattern,” helping clients avoid poor movement habits that can lead to pain or injury.
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Fitness Unplugged also uses a “tidal tank,” a water-filled training tool similar to a sandbag. Shifting water makes it harder to stabilize, forcing the body to control movement throughout an exercise.
To receive more information on how to join Fitness Unplugged, you can give Jason a call at 661-808-1674. You can also visit their website.