By Rubin E. Grant
Usually the start of a new year brings more clients to the Three15 cycling studio in Homewood, with folks looking to honor their resolutions of shedding a few pounds and improving their fitness.
But this year is different. Because the COVID-19 pandemic continues to linger, there haven’t been as many people signing up for classes this month, especially at the downtown Birmingham Three15 studio.
“At the start of the year, we usually see a big jump in members,” said Mandy Moseley, owner and creator of Three15. “As far as I can tell, our classes in Homewood are still busy, but our downtown studio has been affected the most. A lot our clientele downtown haven’t returned to their offices where they work. We can definitely tell it’s different.”
Moseley opened the Homewood Three15 studio in July 2017 on Oxmoor Road in Edgewood. Since then, she has added two more studios, the one in Birmingham and another in Tuscaloosa, which hasn’t seen a COVID-related slowdown in membership.
Another studio was scheduled to open Monday in Huntsville after a lengthy delay.
“We were going to open it in the spring of last year but didn’t because of COVID,” Moseley said. “It’s affected workers and it’s trickled down to everybody. It’s kind of put us in a pinch, but everybody has some issues.”
COVID also has changed the dynamics of how people spend their money for fitness training.
“What I’ve seen the past two years is people have bought their own exercise equipment for working out at home, and others have seen their financial situations change, so they cannot afford exercise classes,” Moseley said. “Others still fear being in an exercise studio. I think we’ll be dealing with all of those issues for the foreseeable future.”
Unique Workout
Moseley understands the time and energy required to maintain fitness and not just because of her studio. She is the mother of four athletes. Her sons Harvey Ray, a senior tight end, and Woods Ray, a junior quarterback, played football for Homewood last fall. Harvey will play in college at Jacksonville State. Her daughter, Annie Ray, plays basketball for Homewood Middle School, and her older son, Alex Ray, also played football with the Patriots before graduating in 2020.
Three15 began as Moseley’s brainchild to combine three of her favorite workouts into one unique class. The concept features 15 minutes of cycling, 15 minutes of barre exercise and 15 minutes of strength training in a high-energy fitness studio.
Moseley also has initiated a franchise option for the public.
“I used to be in pharmaceutical sales and that taught me so much about business, so I combined that with my love for fitness,” Moseley said. “My degree is in nutrition from Alabama and I taught exercise classes in college. I’ve always had a love for fitness, but there wasn’t any exercise programs that combined cycling and barre. You either had one or the other, but we combine several different things.
“My husband, Chad, inspired me to go ahead because I love barre and I love spinning. At the studio, you get cardio and strength work and toning. You need time for that type of workout.”
Moseley’s challenging workout classes and the other instructors’ classes last for 55 minutes. Moseley teaches four or five times a week, encouraging her clients to push themselves.
“I actually tell my instructors that when they’re up there on that platform to not see themselves as someone special,” Moseley said. “We just have a louder voice, motivating and inspiring and pushing our clients to get the most out of their workout.
“A lot of our clients didn’t play sports in high school or college and are not athletes, so they have not worked this hard exercising before. We have a few men, but it’s primarily women. We want them to work around being uncomfortable and challenge them. I think it helps them mentally as well as physically.”
For more information about Three15, visit www.three15studio.com
