Kalista Diamantopoulos
Dawn Anderson and Paul Roberts of Sand & Steel, a fitness studio and gym in Alexandria.
One of Alexandria’s local gyms is moving -- and expanding -- this fall.
Sand & Steel is moving from its Alfred Street location into a much larger facility in Alexandria’s West End.
Sand & Steel’s new training center will open at 5418 Eisenhower Ave. in October.
The facility will offer a slew of services, including personal training, mobility, yoga (alignment and flow), nutrition, CrossFit, TRX, CoreFit, class-based mobility sessions, power lifting and an open gym. Sand & Steel will also have plenty of parking and its new location near Van Dorn Metro Station will make it a convenient fitness spot for commuters.
The brains and brawn behind this business operation are Paul Roberts and Dawn Anderson. For both Roberts and Anderson, health and fitness has played a unique but crucial role in each of their lives.
“My father died from obesity and I had the opportunity to help him but not the knowledge,” Roberts said.
The passing of his father as well as the obstacles he faced as a result of sports injuries inspired him to learn about health and fitness so he could help others.
Anderson’s interest and dedication to health and fitness began when she met Roberts.
“I wasn't into fitness at all,” Anderson said. “ I didn't do anything before I met Paul, but when I met him I had fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and I was trying to manage those with pills. It wasn't working out all that great, so I decided to take a different route.”
Anderson was able to help her body by changing her nutrition and working out. “I don't take any medicine anymore. Fitness and nutrition are my prescription for managing my condition.”
Between the two of them, the fitness duo has 39 certifications for a wide array of disciplines including but not limited to CrossFit, muscle activation, powerlifting and flexibility.
“Why have multiple ones when you can just have one? Well, given any set of injuries or limitations a person may have, there's usually a better method and if you know multiple ones, you can say, ok this person is a better candidate for muscle activation techniques, this person's better for mobilityWOD, this person may need cupping.” Roberts said. “Same thing for fitness. I teach Olympic lifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, TRX, kettlebell work. Certain kinds of fitness work for certain people at certain times, and then I can pick the better technique to help somebody.”
Although their studio has grown significantly since it opened, their original class selection was initially very limited.
“We started with strength training and high-intensity training, which is what you see a lot of people do, but the more you study and research how to help people, the more you realize that there's all sorts of ways people can get injured, from lack of motion, lack of flexibility and even within techniques,” Roberts explained. “You really need to study all the disciplines so you can recognize if somebody's having trouble.”
In the growing world of boutique fitness studios, it can be a challenge to stand apart from gyms with a lot of national brand power, Roberts and Anderson said. What makes Sand & Steel different is their dedication to data and analysis, so that they are able to create personalized and effective programs for each individual client.
Roberts said, “We keep charts and graphs of everybody's programs, we have statistics, and then every now and then we'll find someone who doesn't sit within the statistics like they're supposed to and nine times out of ten it's because they've had some undiagnosed problem and we've been able to get people to see neurologists and things like that.”
How does Sand & Steel create personalized fitness regimens?
“We start with this detailed questionnaire. It asks you all sorts of questions in all different directions to see what's important to you,” Roberts explained. With this questionnaire, the trainers are able to develop a benchmark and fitness program templates or categories where each client will fall into. Sand & Steel takes everything into account when it comes to designing a personalized fitness program.
“We don't move the same way everyday,” Anderson said. “Maybe you didn't sleep well last night or maybe you have a new injury. The trainer has to be very informed and aware about the client and the program to make the appropriate changes so it works for the next body that day.
According to Roberts and Anderson, people can improve their health faster with fewer injuries through personalized training. They also say it is a great way for senior citizens to stay in shape so they can continue to do the things they love.
Roberts said, “You don't have to lose functionality as much as people think. Is it natural? Yes. You lose range but you can do a lot to slow it down. You can keep much more of it than you would naturally... . There's a lot of knowledge needed, but we kind of do that turn key.”
If you’re motivated and ready to improve your quality of life through improved health and fitness, want to build muscle, or just want a place to relieve stress and tension through exercise, more information is available at Sand & Steel’s website at sandandsteelfitness.com.
