Brentwood Feels the Entrepreneurial Burn

Most people who want a better workout usually just try to find another gym or trainer. Janet Crown created her own fitness company.

"I just wanted a great workout and I found one and I thought it would be fun," she said about how she started her Brentwood fitness studio Burn 60. "I've always been very entrepreneurial."

She said that she used to go to a facility (which she did not want to name) that had a very similar program to Burn 60's interval training program and a trainer named Bob.

"I loved Bob, loved the workout, hated the facility," she said. "And I said I think I can do this, but make it better."

Her good friend, Drew Gerstein, a tennis coach, agreed with her and helped her find her current Barrington Court location.

Today, the Burn 60 approach features a full workout, including a variety of strength training and toning exercises, combined with time on a treadmill for cardio-vascular training. Classes are limited to 24 persons and all of the trainers are certified in Burn 60's unique approach.

"It just maximizes their workout," explained Burn 60 Fitness Director Anna Renderer.

The facility runs about 10 classes per day, some of which emphasize upper body or lower body. The routines are generally mixed up, so that no one gets bored doing the same thing. Crown said that most of her clients come one to two times a week, with a few who will come in five days a week, but that's not something Crown encourages.

"We don't want them there every day," she said. "And we don't encourage them because they'll be injured."

The company recently installed a MyZone cardio tracking system to help clients guage how hard they're working. Renderer said that instructors are trained to help clients modify routines so that newbies don't feel intimidated and more advanced clients still get an intense workout. Not only that, Renderer said, the idea is for the trainers to build relationships with the clients so that they can help them and so that the clients are eager to come back and work out.

"So you're looking forward to coming and seeing Mia, for example," Renderer said. "You come once and your experience is so positive that it makes you want to come again."

Crown said that one thing that has dampened business a little is the traffic problem caused by the 405 reconstruction and even said that one of the motivations for expanding her business is so her clients can get to a studio.

Rendered, on the other hand, proposed a whole different option to the traffic problem: working out at the studio instead of sitting in your car.

"Burn calories, not fuel," she said.