Aion Personal Training Eagle Rock, a gym that offers group and solo training sessions for people 40 and older, expanded from Pasadena to a second location in Eagle Rock on West Broadway Street in January. Marcus McDuffie ’19, the owner of Aion, said he opened the company’s first brick-and-mortar location in 2020 in an effort to motivate those over 40 to exercise sustainably in a supportive environment.
“[Aion] became a place where people can put away a lot of the noise that they might get at an Equinox or big box gym and just show up as themselves,” McDuffie said. “Everybody here is around [their] age; they know what life looks like right now.”
McDuffie said he started personal training with a friend during his junior year at Occidental after retiring from college football.
“Going to the gym was my way of having community and being around people,” McDuffie said. “After being there for a while, people eventually [asked], ‘Could you help me out? Could you train me?’ I was like, ‘I would love to share this thing that’s been so helpful for me with somebody else.’”
McDuffie said he and his friend first named their company “Too Fit Athletics,” but couldn’t fathom putting that on a T-shirt, so they reconsidered the name.
“[Aion is] the Greek god of unbound time,” McDuffie said. “My whole philosophy around training was […] how do I try to train and take care of myself from a lens of sustainability? Will I be able to do this 10, 15, 20 years down the line and still feel really good about it?”
According to McDuffie, during his senior year at Occidental, he started working for Copper Moose Fitness, a boutique studio in Pasadena. McDuffie said the owner of Copper Moose mentored him on how to coach and manage a gym, eventually leaving the gym and its clients to McDuffie in 2019. McDuffie said COVID-19 presented serious challenges, but the amount of members more than doubled.
“We were working out during COVID at a church parking lot for six months,” McDuffie said. “It was a crazy time, but it gave me the push to get out there and [decide], ‘Okay, it’s time for me to get my own spot instead of just subleasing.’”
According to Aimee Less, an Aion Eagle Rock member, she began attending training sessions in July to build strength after years of taking a break from exercise due to a foot injury. Less said the staff made an immediate effort to understand her and her injuries.
“[The staff is] very instructive — even if we do the same exercise repeatedly, they always demo it,” Less said. “They always are checking our form and [it] makes me feel really safe. They know who has a back issue and who’s got a problem with their knee.”
Will Cativo, studio director at the Eagle Rock location, said Aion offers new-member discounts and operates its memberships on a month-to-month basis. Cativo said sessions are capped at eight members to ensure staff can adequetly attend to members’ needs.
“We know [members’] history [and] how familiar they are with exercising,” Cativo said. “We’re going in a safe manner. We don’t want to put anybody in danger.”
Less said Aion’s group sessions offer an affordable chance to build community. According to Less, the Aion community has expanded beyond the gym, frequently gathering for social events and making individual connections.
“I also realized I like the part of being around other people and being cheered on and cheering others on,” Less said. “[Aion has] this general feeling of real positivity and that this is something more than just getting fit.”
According to Cativo, the energy of the gym is welcoming and encourages new members to be comfortable.
“When I see a brand new person coming in, immediately my members go up to that person, introduce themselves and start telling them their story,” Cativo said. “The new members, they relax a little bit more. [They] have somebody here who […] went through the same thing.”
Cativo said one of his clients came to him in late winter with a severe back injury, seeking to build strength. Cativo said he has watched the client’s transformation.
“Two weeks ago, [my client] sent me a picture of 15 different boxes that he had to transfer from his car to his garage,” Cativo said. “He [said], ‘A year ago I wouldn’t have been able to do this at all by myself, so I just want to show you what working out with you guys has actually done for me.’”
McDuffie said in addition to his multiple responsibilities as owner of Aion, he still slates one hour a week to train clients. According to McDuffie, witnessing people making active decisions to better themselves every week fulfills the aspiration of his practice.
“‘Just show up,’ the main mantra of Aion, is this whole thing that expands beyond workouts, it’s this whole thing for life,” McDuffie said. “Sometimes the biggest battle is just to walk through that door and to trust the universe […] is going to take care of you and guide you once you do that.”
Contact Lucinda Toft at ltoft@oxy.edu
