Opened in 2011 by founder Francis Wisniewski, the Chicago-based gym caters to the obese. Not just the marginally overweight — the mom returning after a pregnancy and the dad carrying some sympathy weight — but rather, the people who need transformations. They didn’t simply miss an exit somewhere; they’re speeding in the wrong direction. Downsize Fitness members need help relearning how to live healthy, and the gym’s owners say the best way to get there is through community.
“Anyone who goes through a transformation like that,” says Downsize CEO Kishan Shah, “it is so vast that it changes your entire outlook and makes you want to help others.”
Shah was heavy once — 400 lbs. to be exact. He’s since cut that number in half and has spent the last nine-and-a-half years devoting his life to fitness and personal health. He has visited 100 different gyms in 30 countries strictly to enrich Downsize’s vision — only after he had lost the weight, he says; before, it was impossible to ride a plane without buying two seats.
Since November of 2011, the gym’s members have lost a total of 5,500 lbs., Shah says. “They’re literally living before and after pictures.” One man used to receive insulin injections before losing 100 lbs. Now he runs marathons. Similar success stories abound.
But the stories are anything if record-breaking. Shah emphasizes that new members aren’t joining in the hopes of climbing mountains or competing in the Ironman. Sure, they may get there eventually, but first they’re focusing on fitting into roller coaster seats, or walking a block without getting winded. The ultra-tough gymnastic-weightlifting hybrid, CrossFit, is based on functional movement performed at high intensity. Downsize Fitness says, “Let’s just focus on the movement part for now.”
“What we do at Downsize is focus on functional fitness – broadly defined as anything that helps you live and meet a healthy life,” Shah told the Daily Beast. “The primary consideration people have when joining is not because they’re interested in looking better. It’s generally that they want to be able to get up off the floor, or keep up with their kids, or live to see their grandchildren.”