With a focus on healing and a welcoming atmosphere, Sweats & the South is settling into its first weeks in Owensboro with sold-out founder memberships and what owner Ashton Roark described as a strong response from the community.
The new wellness studio on Sweeney Street officially opened last month, bringing hot Pilates, reformer training, and Power Plate workouts to Owensboro.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our team,” Roark said. “Dashing into three distinct formats is no easy task, but these ladies dived right in.”
Roark said Sweats & the South was designed with a different approach to fitness in mind.
“I wanted to bring something across the country that felt less like a gym and more like a home for your mind and body,” she said.
The studio includes three workout formats: reformer Pilates, Power Plate training, and the “Red Room,” a heated, mirror-free space designed to help reduce stress and anxiety.
“We focus on feeling, not just looking,” Roark said.
Roark said the Power Plate technology is one of the studio’s biggest differences from traditional fitness classes. She described the machines as medical-grade vibration platforms that activate muscles through three-dimensional movement.
According to Roark, the technology also carries personal meaning. She said she turned to Power Plate training after suffering injuries from a wreck years ago.
“It was the Power Plate that finally healed me on a cellular level,” Roark said. “Eight years later, I haven’t had a single fracture.”
After spending years in California, Roark said she wanted to bring wellness concepts she experienced on the West Coast back to Owensboro.
“These aren’t just random workouts I picked,” she said. “These are my three favorite formats that brought genuine healing to my mind and my body.”
Roark said the studio is designed for everyone, from experienced athletes to people trying fitness classes for the first time.
“We are a space built to break that stigma,” she said. “To be new is to be learning, not to be ‘bad.’”
Roark said she ultimately hopes the studio becomes a place where people can focus on themselves and their health.
“We all need one hour a day carved out just for us,” she said. “You cannot pour from an empty cup.”
Sweats & the South is located at 1734 Sweeney St. Administrative hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and class schedules can be viewed on the studio’s website.
