A new studio focused on a solo fitness experience just opened in downtown Chattanooga. 

You may have heard of Hot Yoga and Birkam classes which are performed in rooms with temperatures of over one-hundred degrees, but hot sauna's are now a new angle to the local fitness scene. 

"Hot yoga has been around forever. Bikram, vinyassa, whatever it may be but working out in a suana is something that hasn't been thought of. With an infrared sauna it's different heat source rather than a hot yoga studio to where hot yoga studios use heaters to heat the air rather than an infrared sauna uses different waves lengths to actually heat the internal core temperature," Joshua Snyder, the Owner of Hotworx Chattanooga said.

He and his wife opened up the Hotworx franchise studio in August. He said there is a niche market for this kind of fitness. 

"Me and my wife both love health and wellness she is actually a nutrition major, I studied physical therapy um, and we just knew we wanted to do something different that's not a gym but that can be a complement to the other gyms," He said. 

The classes are in different formats. 15 Minute high intensity interval training, HIIT, or 30 minute isometric sessions. Four saunas are designated for each. TVs display the instructors and programming for each session.

You can book a class to workout alone or have up to three people in a sauna. 

"Some people love doing the workouts love hearing the instructors it motivates them and some people just go in the 40 minute sessions and lay out for 40 minutes and a decompression...mediation," He said. 

He said the studio offers convenience, small group training, and sometimes just complete peace.

"Our concept is such a cool use case because you can do it however you like. A lot of people come before work whether it's 5 AM or 6 AM some people solely go in there to work out some people solely go in there to relax," He said. 

There are more than three-hundred and sixty active locations in the Southeast and now right here in Chattanooga, residents can get a feel of the heat at the new studio. 

Alyse Zwick joined the Local 3 News in November of 2021, and serves as the Morning Anchor for Local 3 News Early Today.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.