Cyndy Short - Co-Owner
Row House- Parkville
On February 15, 2025 my crew, including my ex-husband, my sons, my
daughter and my sister celebrated with our friends and neighbors our journey into the
fitness space at Row House- Parkville. One by one, we introduced our friends and
neighbors to our sleek studio, which features 22 Concept 2 rowers, and five (5)
uniquely trained coaches, who move our community through low impact, high energy
workouts. I found this little gem in early 2024. I was looking for a work out that would
be gentler on my knees, but would also give me a pathway to the cardio and strength
work out I needed to maintain my physical and mental health.
As I have aged, I have finally prioritized staying physically active. I had long
understood how critical exercise was to maintaining my overall health, mobility,
strength and quality of life. But like many women, raising families and building careers,
I lost my connection to my love of fitness. In my youth, I played basketball and
competed in track & field. In law school, I competed in triathlons and long distance
races. In my mid 30’s through my 50’s, I was a soccer mom, a baseball mom and a
cheer mom. My health and fitness took a backseat to the needs and interests of my
children, and my full time legal career. I dabbled in exercise during those years, but in
all honesty, it was a losing battle. In 2018, after the death of my mother and my father,
and faced with an empty nest, I decided it was time to take care of myself, and find my
way back to a healthy mind and body.
My first objective was to lose the weight I had gained due to menopause. I lost
60 pounds and then I looked around the fitness community for workouts which would
allow me to build back my strength and stamina. I found Orange Theory and yoga and
began to train myself to conquer a workout in the morning, mid-day or the evening.
Four (4) years later, I found that I needed to diversify my fitness routine and set out to
find a challenging work out that was less hard on my joints. During this search, I found
Row House - Parkville. I began to go to this sleek studio four (4) times a month. Rowing
was the perfect compliment to my fitness routine, because it incorporates cardio,
strength training, and core work while also being kind to my aging body.
Four (4) months ago, I found myself confronted with an opportunity I did not
have on my vision board. Row House - Parkville was in need of new owners. I thought
about my sons, now young adults, who were both working in the sports and fitness
industry. Kyle got out of University and went to work with a professional soccer team,
and Mitchell left college with a health and fitness degree and was training athletes in a
sports performance setting.
We have always been a sporty family, so I presented the idea to my sons, my
ex-husband and my daughter - should we consider a new adventure? We spent the
next 120 days studying the genre, and ultimately decided to form Five Pillars Fitness
LLC and enter the fitness space that we all love so much. Personally, I admit that the
prospect of working with my adult children was very appealing. It is wonderful to be in
daily contact with my kids. My daughter has joined us in this adventure and is leading
the retail aspect of the studio. Mitchell is our new GM and Kyle is leading the team in
sales. My sister has jumped into the marketing. Mitchell has finished his coursework
and will be a ROW HOUSE coach by March 1, 2025. I will enter Row House University
this month so that I can join the coaching crew. We are now all in SWING, rowing into
this wonderful community. We feel energized and ready to help others who, like me,
find themselves looking for a pathway to a healthier you! Come see us at the studio,
take a free class, and see if this low impact, full body work out can do for you, what it
has done for me.