Many people find going to the gym, especially for the first time, intimidating. But, it doesn’t have to be. “Being afraid is normal, but it's okay to come in and start where you are; there’s no judgment,” says Robyn Bruggeman, founder and lead coach at Vital Fitness in St. Louis Park. “Think of it as a process, as a fitness journey.”
Robyn’s own journey started when she was young; however, it wasn’t until she started boxing in college that she became really serious about getting in shape. “Boxing was the first sport I was really good at, and I realized that I had to train to be a better boxer. Running was a great way to build endurance, and weightlifting became a way of getting stronger.”
The last gym she worked at was a great combination of fitness and community. “The owners knew everybody, their kids all went to school together, and I wanted that for myself,” she says. In May of 2024, she opened Vital Fitness.
Another reason Robyn wanted to open her own gym was to provide herself and others with efficient workouts that incorporate both heavy lifting and cardio interval training. “I like to be busy at the gym,” she says. “If I'm resting my chest muscles after a bench press, I can do pull-ups or work on a rowing machine.”
Today, she holds an NSCA Certified Personal Training (CPT) certification and a CrossFit L1. She’s also a certified Precision Nutrition Coach (PN-1) and a Menopause Health and Fitness Specialist, and has a Functional Movement System Level 1 certification.
While Vital Fitness welcomes both men and women, she loves working with women who are going through menopause. “When I was going through it and experiencing all of these changes and different feelings about fitness, I found that nobody really knew much about it or was talking about it.” This was in 2020. “So, I started educating myself, and it became a passion of mine.”
Robyn’s other focus is functional training, which reinforces natural movement patterns. “Functional training basically uses movements that you do every day. For example, when we talk about back squatting, we squat every day when we sit on a chair or sit down on the floor and play with our kids. Each time we squat in the gym, we’re building muscle and we’re developing balance and core strength because we’re using all of these other muscles to stabilize our bodies at the same time.”
She believes it’s critical to improve and maintain balance, agility, and mobility. Falls often lead to serious consequences, especially as we age. “This is why the tagline for my gym is ‘Train for Life.’”
A lot of planning and thought go into each fitness class, which is led by either her or Kristen Regnier, whom she calls fantastic. “We do a workout of the day for the most part, so every group class does the same workout,” says Robyn. “But we provide different tracks.”
New people can do fewer reps or fewer sets, while more experienced people can do a more intense workout. “It’s essentially the same workout, so if we're working on shoulders that day, you're working your shoulders just as much as everybody else, but nobody sees that you're doing something just slightly different and more in line with where you are fitness-wise.”
The programming is progressive, and it’s essential for participants to attend regularly to move forward. “I try to get people to come in at least twice a week for strength training, because if they don’t, they’re not adapting and they’re setting themselves up to be sore all the time,” she says.
Vital Fitness offers a variety of memberships and nutrition coaching. “We have an InBody®, which is a scale that measures weight, water content, muscle mass, and fat mass, and gives us a baseline calorie need level. I also have people do a food journal for a couple of days, and then we'll talk about their nutritional needs.”
Instead of dieting, Robyn suggests people get rid of one thing at a time that may be sabotaging their goals. “I think starting small is a more manageable way to be a better eater for life.”
Youth and team training, which are specialized and geared toward a particular sport, are also offered.
The feedback she receives is extremely positive. “No one is going to laugh at you or mock you here,” says Robyn. “We're all doing our own thing at our own levels, and it’s super supportive. People are very nice, and we always cheer each other on. It's just really fun.”
To learn more, go to VitalFitnessMN.com.