There’s no question that sorting, folding and toting loads of laundry can be an exhausting task.
Now there’s a way to turn the chore into a full-blown aerobic workout. At the Clean and Lean Laundry and Fitness Center in Austin, Texas, customers pop their clothes into washers. Then, while their clothes are sudsing and spinning, they’re stepping, stretching, lifting weights or jogging around the adjacent gym with a personal trainer.
The washing workout is a boon for busy people like Kathy Bolstorf, 35, a physical therapist.
“Doing my laundry used to be such a time-wasting thing, but I had to do it,” says Bolstorf. “Now, I’m in here once a week for my heavy laundry and probably one or two extra times, where I throw in a small load and get in a workout. It’s great. Sometimes I come even if I don’t have laundry.”
She’s one of 600 club members who pay $1 per wash, 75 cents for drying, plus $149 a year (or $24 a month) for use of the physical fitness facilities. One-on-one attention from a personal trainer is included in the fee.
The 1,500-square-foot facility is half Laundromat, half fitness center. There are stationary bicycles, a Stairmaster, weights and space for step-aerobics and other workout classes taught by the trainer.
“We figured, what could be more boring than doing laundry?” says Mark Ramirez, fitness trainer and club manager. “But everybody’s got to do it and they also want to exercise. So. . .why not combine the two?”
For more information, call Clean and Lean at 512-458-5326.
