Meet Arad Seyedin and Sandrine Hébert-Pelletier, Vibe Lounge

How did you land on fitness as a career?

We’ve both been into sports our entire lives.

I’ve got a black belt in Hapkido, which is a Korean martial art. I also love basketball and I played soccer to a high level. Unfortunately, I got injured and that meant I started looking at other ways I could stay involved. With Sandrine, her whole family is really athletic, she’s been involved in various competitive sports since she was young, and she loves helping others.

We both wanted to learn more about training, and it led to us taking courses and becoming certified as trainers. Once we started down this path, we both got really into health optimization, covering everything from sleep, to nutrition, to how we can use the latest technologies to make life easier and improve the quality of people’s training.

When we made the decision to open our own fitness studio, we didn’t want it to just be another gym. There are enough of those already. Instead, we wanted a space where we could help our clients find new efficiencies and improvements in their training using technology. Those regular training methods you see at other gyms still have their place, but we believe we can optimize the time our clients are putting into their training while helping them to achieve better results.

What does a typical training session look like at Vibe Lounge?

At Vibe Lounge, we call our process the Vibe Lounge Flow. Before we get started, we want to get to know you and help you set specific goals. Then it starts with your very first session with us: an assessment, which is a session during which we look at how you move, how stable and mobile you are, your body composition, and your fitness level. Using the data gathered during the assessment, which by the way is just as challenging as a regular session, we design a program for you to achieve your goals. Once you’ve gone through the assessment, we can start getting to work. You will be challenged in different ways during every session until you achieve the goals you had set for yourself. Then we can set up new goals and go through the Flow again and again!

Can you tell us more about the technology that you use, and the role it plays with clients?

CAROL is a spin bike powered by artificial intelligence. After only 6 ramp-up rides, she can tailor every workout to your needs. She does that by analyzing your heart rate, power, and how you feel after each session. An 8-minute ride on CAROL is equivalent to 45 minutes of jogging. Our clients enjoy CAROL because of how specific the data is and how it allows them to track their progress.

EMS (electro-muscle stimulation) is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses. What makes it great is the fact that it activates both slow and fast twitch muscle fibres all at once. A 20-minute session is the equivalent of a 90-minute regular gym session.

KAATSU is Japanaese technology that uses blood flow moderation to accelerate muscle growth and increase the production of growth hormone.

Normatec is a full body massage technology that uses air pressure. We often use it at the end of the session to speed up recovery.

Of course each of those can be used in various ways, depending on what we are trying to achieve with every client.

What kind of options do you offer for people to attend Vibe Lounge?

We have various options. We usually recommend starting with our new client special, which is $149 for two private sessions. From there, clients can either sign up for a monthly membership, which includes 10 private sessions, or buy a package of 5, 10, 20, or 50 sessions. Drop-ins are also possible. If clients want to train with their partner of friend, we offer the same option at a lower price per person.

Everyone has different fitness goals. We realize that, and we want to satisfy that demand. Some of our clients like to use our facility to complement their existing training, while others are training exclusively with us, sometimes up to 5 times a week!

What kind of plans do you have for Vibe Lounge post-COVID-19?

You know, one of the most frustrating parts of opening during the pandemic has been the fact we couldn’t throw an opening party! So that’s on the list for sure. We also want to grow the community side of Vibe Lounge and we want to start introducing our clients together through classes, a running club – we have lots of cool ideas.

Opening during COVID has allowed us to really personalize our service. We can only have one or two clients at a time in the space right now, and that person is getting our full attention. We can’t wait for the day we will have a full studio for a class with the music pumping.