If you hate dragging yourself to the gym or find yourself lost in the weight room, on June 8 a new workout is coming to Denver to switch things up. Owners Brian and Libby Anglin teamed up with the creators of the Tough Mudder race series to open up Tough Mudder Bootcamp — a gym based on the popular and notoriously difficult race.
The journey originally started with Brian, who after receiving a slew of certifications, found it difficult to open his own place. “I got certified pretty quick to be a personal trainer and I got corrective exercise specialization and my nutrition specialization, my weight loss specialization, my group training specialization really quick, but it became really clear that starting up my own thing was not going to be a smart idea,” he said. After hearing that Tough Mudder had an opportunity to bring a new gym to Denver — he was intrigued. However, the brand wasn’t what finally sold him. “You have this name recognition, that’s all great. But the workout is really what’s awesome about it.”
The concept of the gym heavily focuses on community building and creating a support team for its members. With a group exercise format, they make sure everyone has a partner and is a part of a team. This accountability system is important to the Tough Mudder creators because when they analyzed individuals who were signing up for the races – they found that not everyone who signed up actually participated.
“They decided to research more to see why that was. And they were finding that it was because a lot of people didn’t have someone to run it with. So they were like okay, how do we get the community out there so people can get involved [and] get teammates to run it with?” said Brian.
The creators then took this information and ran with it to start up the Tough Mudder Bootcamp Gym.
The gym presents a 45-minute High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT workouts that change every single time you visit. The workouts are set up in group-style sessions to keep everyone accountable and the coaches are there during each session to cheer your on throughout your workout. However, while the workouts have elements found in the races, don’t expect there to be mud pits, electricity or elaborate obstacles. Instead, the focus is on getting everyone who walks in the gym to find and give their best effort.
Brain stated, “We’re trying to get across to people that it’s your workout. So if we have 20 burpees on the list for today’s workout and you can’t do it, that’s fine. I just want to see the effort. If you’re, struggling to get five, as long as I see you trying to get that fifth one, that’s awesome to me. One thing that the [creators] of Tough Mudder have always said, and I want to bring into the gym, is I want your 100%, not my 100% and not his 100%.”
The Denver Tough Mudder Bootcamp gym is one of four in the nation, making it a new experience for Denver gym goers. Tough Mudder has more planned in the future, but in the meantime, Brian and Libby hope to also add more morning classes for parents who drop off their children for school and add a stretch and mobility class later on in the future. “We really want to present fitness for your entire body,” said Libby
If you love trying new types of fitness, take a crack at the new gym and explore the grand opening on June 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will offer discounts on memberships during the opening and will have other fun deals. You can check out the space, meet Brian and Libby and even have a test work out to try out all of the equipment.
The Tough Mudder Bootcamp is located at 3805 E Colfax Avenue, Denver. It opens on June 8.
All photography by Karson Hallaway.
