My Biz: Biking, but indoors, at Cedar Rapids fitness studio

CEDAR RAPIDS — Michelle Horak and Stacie Shannon were living in different cities when the sisters discovered boutique spin studios on the East and West Coasts. They soon realized they shared a passion for that type of exercise.

Then in 2014 when they both found themselves back in Cedar Rapids and didn't find a spin studio, they decided it was time to open their own.

That became Burst Cycle.

'...

These boutique studios were really gaining traction on the East and West Coasts. We visited as many as we could and tried to incorporate what appealed to us in each of the studios we visited when we opened Burst,' Shannon said.

Both sisters have full-time jobs outside of running Burst Cycle and said working together creates a great balance.

'We have a divide-and-conquer approach,' Shannon said. 'Michelle and I both have a presence here every day. We share front-desk duties, and I handle all marketing and communications while Michelle handles the books. She's more behind the scenes.'

They work with a team of 12 instructors to carry out the classes throughout the week.

'We have a nice range of instructors, but we all use the same spinning methodology,' Shannon explained. 'While we are instructing the same, we all have our own personality and our own style of music. We each create our own playlist and clients often want to come for a certain instructor.'

Shannon also explained that their high-intensity workouts produce results: 'You can burn 500 calories in a 60-minute class here depending on what you put into it. It's an entirely different experience than riding outdoors.'

Burst Cycle's core demographic is 25 to 65 year olds and predominantly female, Shannon said, 'although we do have some men come spin with us,' Shannon said.

The studio itself is not large. It features a front reception area, men's and women's locker rooms and a spin room that holds 26 individual stationery spin bikes.

'We ask clients to come in 15 minutes early to their first class so we can spend time one-on-one with them to help them become familiar with the bike, the different hand positions we use and how to increase the RPM on the bike,' Shannon said.

Classes are 45 minutes long during the week and one hour long on the weekends. Shannon noted that there is no membership fee for the studio and that clients pay per class or buy punch cards.

Shannon explained that Burst Cycle uses a digital performance IQ system.

'Our clients register online, which allows them to schedule a class online, even picking out which bike they'd like to ride. Then within minutes of leaving class, a report is emailed to them showing their performance data for that workout. Over time that is a very good indicator of how they are growing.'

The studio's offerings are growing as well, including now offering yoga classes.

'The spinning and yoga combo is a great one,' Shannon said. 'Spinning provides the cardio and yoga provides the core work and stretching.'

[naviga:h3 style="padding-left: 30px;"]AT A GLANCE

Co-owners: Michelle Horak and Stacie Shannon

Business: Burst Cycle

Address: 5300 Fountains Dr. NE, Suite 112, Cedar Rapids

Phone: (319) 346-7649

Website: http://burstcycle.com

Know a business in operation for more than a year that would make a good 'My Biz' feature? Contact michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com