Retrofit Studio — Local services in Royal Oak

Came here when visiting family because I wanted a good workout. I really enjoyed the 2 classes that I did and found myself wishing I had something like this in my hometown. There is a variety of equipment, plenty of dumbbells to make the workout harder when needed, and space to modify when I needed to do something different due to my ACL injury.

I have a few minor complaints.

1- It was so dark in here! I struggled to locate the weights quickly when changing stations bc I legit just couldn’t see. At some points I missed most of the first 20 second tabata because I was trying to locate weights but couldn’t see them in the dark.

2- I didn’t love some of the dialogue from the instructor. I was there the day after Christmas and the day after that, and both times the instructor made several comments about being there to burn off or make right your holiday indulgences, etc. This just isn’t my style. I don’t move my body for the sole reason of burning fat due to overeating, and it’s not really the message I want to be hearing at an inclusive group exercise establishment.

3- The instructor spent most of the class talking to what seemed to be her favorite clients. I do a lot of group exercise and am used to an instructor coming around, commenting on form, and engaging with people in small ways during the class. I didn’t find that here.

All in all, I enjoyed my time here. When we come back to the area, I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this gym because the classes really were great. I just wanted to point out some things I found to be...

If you are a weight lifter looking to mix things up, I’d check out the classes here.

My wife has been going to classes and personal training here for years. I recently started going with her to some classes and loved it.

I’m a very “old school” lifter. I workout with heavy weights training 2-3 muscle a session and one of my favorite movies is pumping iron. I also enjoy running but never tried a circuit class.

The circuit is really fun. I’d recommend not being afraid to modify things or not do every exercise. You can still get a solid lifting routine in if you tweak things, but the real benefits is it’s like smashing lifting and cardio together, so you get a great calorie burn compared to normal lifting. They also don’t yell or push you in odd ways which I appreciated (Thanks Valerie!). I expected the trainer to yell to go faster, harder, etc but no they just encourage you.

If you are more an old school lifter like me. I’d recommend supplementing your schedule with 1-2 circuit classes a week. I burn about 600-700 calories per class and get a very good workout. Just give yourself 3ish classes to adjust, I’ve been lifting over 20 years and I was shocked at the amount of variety/moves I’ve never done.

They have a 3 class for $15 special for new members. I’d encourage the owner to keep that special, since I think you need a few classes to get the hang of things.

Also the place is super duper clean! Really like Retrofit and I think its great supplement for those into...

I truly can't rate this gym highly enough!! First, it is clean (smells great) and accessible (great parking), and has a fantastic setup. It's bigger than it looks from the outside because of a huge basement area. Pricing is INCREDIBLY reasonable compared to a lot of other (and worse in my opinion) facilities for both group and personal training. The owner is super involved and answers all questions ASAP and really cares that you're having a good experience. The group classes never get boring because they change each time, and they're highly modifiable for beginners. Colton is a fantastic personal trainer to work with; he creates fun (as fun as any workout can be!) workouts tailored to his clients and pays great attention to the level of difficulty and modifies as needed.

As someone who struggled with consistently working out until joining, I 1000/10 recommend this gym to anyone in the area! The only small potential downside if you're someone who just likes to get a quick self-led workout in is that it's not a gym open 24/7 for you to just pop into outside of classes/sessions, but honestly that makes it quieter and roomier and gives it a more private feel, and scheduling is super flexible, so a lot of people including myself...