SoulCycle’s high-energy, candlelit, spiritual workouts have grown into a national phenomenon.
Started over 10 years ago by young mums Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler as a single makeshift studio in New York’s Upper West Side, SoulCycle has journeyed long and far to becoming a national phenomenon in the United States.
Having expanded coast to coast in cool urban neighbourhoods and affluent suburbs, SoulCycle currently has 74 studios, including 18 in New York City plus 1 studio in Toronto, Canada and will offer well over 160,000 classes in 2017.
Motivational shouts are trumpeted from the instructor as the class whoops and grinds its way through 45 minutes of simulated hill climbs, furious, high-tempo sprints with moves designed to work each rider’s core and an arm-toning sequence of dumbbell exercises all performed with synchronised precision.
With almost every member of the tribe sport a SoulCycle logo or a skull-and-crossbone on at least one item of clothing, there’s a real feeling of purpose and belonging and community.
SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan says it doesn’t compete against other fitness companies. “I always say that our real competition is Netflix,” she says, meaning anything that might keep you at home and not out in the world. “SoulCycle isn’t about fitness,” she reiterates, “It’s about a very powerful breakthrough for people, which can be physical, but can also be emotional or about community, about connection. Once people connect to it, it becomes part of their life”.
Your passion. Your drive. Your crew. Your power. Your journey. Your breakthrough. Your SOUL. What are you looking for…FIND IT!
Check out the new (and inspiring) SoulCycle “Find It” video – part of the ad campaign created by Laird+Partners.
It has had it’s critics over the years, but there is so much more to the SoulCycle story – to find out more about the success, goals, ethos, and SoulCycle community, visit their website www.soul-cycle.com.