Photography courtesy FYSIQ
If you told Misha Gutzler 20 years ago that she would be the owner of a bungee fitness business, she would’ve laughed. “When I first saw it,” Gutzler says, “I was like, ‘That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.’” What she didn’t know at the time were all of the health benefits—and fun—this unique fitness regimen offers.
When an opportunity to open a fitness studio presented itself to Gutzler in 2017, she didn’t merely want it to be another personal training facility. She wanted to do something different. Something fun. That’s how FYSIQ was born. With locations in St. Louis (3965 Park) and St Peters (1600 Mid Rivers Mall), Gutzler is sharing these distinctive workouts with the entire region. And thanks to FYSIQ’s recent acceptance into the UMSL Accelerate program, she’ll soon have the opportunity to grow the business even further.
“Being selected as a finalist for the UMSL Accelerate Program is an incredible honor and source of excitement for me,” Gutzler says. “It has ignited a fire inside of me that is driven by a desire to excel at what I do, to offer excellent service, and to improve my clients’ quality of life as a whole.”
Gutzler is one of six local founders to be selected to participate in the latest cohort of UMSL Accelerate, which enrolls underrepresented entrepreneurs in a 10-week business growth program and awards companies a $50,000 grant. It’s a nice boost for her business, which has specialized in gravity-defying workouts for more than five years.
The gym offers a variety of 45-minute classes for people of all fitness levels—and ages. Strapped into a harness attached to a bungee cord, gym goers can do their best Cirque du Soleil impression while taking satisfaction that the exercise isn’t just for fun. It will get you fit, too. Bungee fitness is a low-impact form of cardio training that will help elevate your heart rate and burn calories. “They get a total body workout, all at one time,” Gutzler says. A personal trainer herself, Gutzler developed her own programs and routines that allow people to perform moves ranging from basic to difficult, while working through programs such as yoga and Pilates. Gutzler says the best part is there’s no soreness the next day.
Exercise has always been part of Gutzler’s life, becoming her way of coping with the traumatic stress she experienced after her son survived cancer and her daughter was hit by a car. “I use exercise to be—I call it my drug of choice—a coping mechanism and I kept going with it.” One of her goals for FYSIQ has been to ensure that it’s inclusive. Moms, for example, are able to bring their kids to work out. Another one of her classes is for participants that have multiple sclerosis. Gutzler says it’s emotional to see guests transition from their wheelchairs or crutches into a harness and get a good workout. “You should know how they light up with excitement, whether in the bungee or they’re doing the moves,” Gutzler says. “It’s amazing to see.”
Bungee fitness is also a chance to reconnect with childhood joy, returning to a time when exercise meant having fun. “Once they come in and they do bungee, they find out, ‘Oh! I can do this! I love this!’” Gutzler says. “They return and do it again and they’re happy about it. I have some clients who say, ‘My bungee time is sacred.’”
From a form of bungee soccer to aerial bungee, Gutzler has strived to offer classes for anyone. “What I’m hoping I’m achieving is when you walk through my doors, you feel like you’re at home,” Gutzler says. “You feel like you’re with your friends.”
