Industry veteran Susan Dyson is one of the visionaries behind Hiitgirl, the studio for women in Highgate Village. She talks to Kath Hudson about creating a concept for women who hate gyms

Created to solve the workout dilemmas of affluent, busy women, Hiitgirl opened its first studio in 2013.

“We didn’t actually set out to create a HIIT concept, but when talking to our target market, we found HIIT-style training happened to be one of the tools which could meet their needs,” says Susan Dyson, who co-founded the club with her partner Stuart Dyson.

The duo used the same retail design agency as sports retailer Sweaty Betty and perfumier Jo Malone to create a studio environment which supports their customer experience map.

They also turned to fragrance partner, NEOM Organics, London, to create a multi-sensory space with smells, textures and visuals. “We were inspired by what retail brands like Lululemon, Nike and Sweaty Betty were doing for women,” says Dyson. “So many of the women we used for our research reported negative experiences with gyms. They suggested that we create the spaces in our new studio to be as unlike a gym as possible!”

Barefoot workout
Hiitgirl workouts happen in small groups and are done barefoot and using a wide range of eco-friendly fitness toys – from mini trampolines and medicine balls to things like water-filled kettlebells.

Four to five group sessions are offered each day, six days a week and the rest of the time is taken up with privately booked sessions in the same space.

Different tribes
“We have the ‘before work’ crew, followed by the ‘school run mums’,” says Dyson. “In the daytime we have 121 sessions for women who have flexible working schedules, such as freelancers and celebrities/media people. Evenings are then taken up with the after-work crew of professionals, often in high pressure roles who are working long hours.”

Because Hiitgirl clients are so busy, a special drop-in concept is on offer, so even if people get delayed, they can still join in and get their full workout time. It’s proven to be very popular.

In term-time, the studio partners with a local school to offer a School of Sweat course for pupils aged 15-16 which comprises structured HIIT sessions, along with supporting information around body confidence and related mental wellness issues.

This school exercise programme is growing in popularity as this age group come on stream as consumers and adopt a wellness lifestyle.

Dyson says the entire programme at Hiitgirl is also constantly being refined and extended: “We’re currently developing a wider range of experiences to enhance our core offer,” she explains, “Including things such as mobility and recovery workouts, and complementary activities around nutrition and behaviour change.

“We’re also looking at how we can monetise the concept outside of our studio, with videos, apps and content licensing being a natural progression.”

Find out more: http://hiitgirl.com