With the busy and intensive lifestyle that Amsterdam could sometimes offer, it is vital to find some time in your schedule to regenerate your body through physical activity. Saints-Stars, the luxurious boutique studio in Helmersbuurt, could be some fresh air among the typical boutique classes.
Image source: Urban Runners NL. (2018, March 2). Saints & Stars | Brand new premium gym in Amsterdam [Photograph]. http://www.urbanrunners.nl/saints-stars-brand-new-premium-gym-in-amsterdam
So how is it different from other studios offering popular HIIT-type workouts? The first feature that stands out is the focus on the atmosphere and the element of the show that the studio attempts to recreate. As a person who interacts with the studio regularly through my friends and colleagues, I can confirm that the studio indeed provides what it claims: 1. The unique show makes a remarkable workout experience entertaining you while sweating hard on your body 2. Outstanding service 3. Company of ambitious and inspiring people training with you. 4. Wide variety of workout classes, from boxing to intensive lightning cycling sessions.
How does this relate to gentrification?
Consumption spaces, according to some researchers like Zukin (1998), are one of the essential elements that represent the lifestyle of us-young urban professionals. Cities compete to get this population group's attention and, as a result, facilitate the creation of standardised consumption space. You probably noticed that regardless of whether you are in New York, London or Amsterdam, you will always be able to find the coffee bars and fitness studios that recreate the feeling of being known, comfortable and like you belong there. Though positioning it more like a luxurious club, Saints Stars could also fall under this category. Relation to gentrification, though, comes to the studio located in Helmersbuurt. The area that working-class people historically occupied is now fastly transforming to meet the needs and wants of young urban professionals, displacing the previous group as Saints Stars, and other new consumption spaces there position themselves quite dashingly for the specific like people.
In case you want to learn more on the topic of consumption space, check out these:
Zukin, S. (1998) Urban Lifestyles: Diversity and Standardization in Spaces of Consumption. Urban Studies, 35 (5-6), 825-839. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/0042098984574