X marks the healthy spot

Fitness entrepreneur Dan Van Dine does not care if his customers can dead lift 300 pounds or run a marathon.

“What I do care about is they can grab three bags of groceries and go up two flights of stairs and set them down,” said Van Dine, who co-owns X30 Fit Bootcamp in Lakewood Ranch with his wife, Victoria. “My goal is functional fitness.”

The Van Dines opened X30 Fit Bootcamp, a group personal training studio, in January at 4136 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. The concept is one that combines group fitness classes with  a personal trainer. Individuals attend a 30-minute high-intensity interval group fitness class

led by a trainer.

Dan Van Dine said the classes work for all ages and fitness levels because trainers ask participants to do 20 seconds of pushups, not 20 pushups, for example.

“That’s why you can have different levels working out together,” Dan Van Dine said.

Victoria Van Dine said the fitness model helps customers stay motivated and is more fun, too. It also helps them save money compared to using a personal trainer on an individual basis.

The Van Dines believe in the model based on personal experience. They tried a similar gym in 2015 in their Michigan hometown after realizing they needed to make lifestyle changes, both physically and nutritionally. In less than two years, Dan Van Dine lost 50 pounds and Victoria Van Dine lost 30 pounds.

“We loved the concept of helping people, helping in fitness and nutrition,” Victoria Van Dine said.

The Van Dines said the X30 Fit concept also pairs fitness classes with nutrition. They use a whole-food-based nutritional program to aid customers in learning about healthy food choices, portion control and other nutrition basics. More tailored nutrition programs are available through “challenges” conducted four to six times per year, they said.

“You can get much better results. We’re telling you what to eat, how to eat and when to eat,” Victoria Van Dine said of the challenges. “It’s going to rev your metabolism.”

The pair, who moved full time to Englewood in 2016 but still own tanning salon businesses in Michigan, began looking for locations for their X30 Fit concept after seeing their own results.

They opened their first X30 Fit location in July 2017 off Clarke Road but had been looking for a spot in Lakewood Ranch simultaneously. They signed a lease for their Lakewood Ranch location a year ago and then waited for the space to be built, Dan Van Dine said.