The “prettiest gym in Bermuda” is celebrating its one-year anniversary with the return of a well-known fitness trainer.

Flatts Fitness Studio, which opened in the Spring of last year, will now be run by Lori Rye, an exercise and nutritional specialist, who returned to Bermuda after a three-year stint in the Cayman Islands.

Ms Rye, who worked in Bermuda for ten years prior to leaving, has a loyal client base who has happily welcomed her back and is quickly booking up her schedule.

Owned by Tripp West, Flatts Fitness Studio is located on 7 North Shore Road opposite the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo. Mr West and his father Stephen run Westport Architecture, the company that designed and developed the Westcoast property, which also houses its architectural and design team downstairs.

The space offers a light and spacious environment complete with a bay window, a dock and a terrace balcony overlooking one of Bermuda’s most picturesque seascapes.

“It’s such a great studio — it’s all about location, location, location,” said Ms Rye, who has a BA in kinesiology and is certified by the American Council of Exercise (ACE) and the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). “It’s the prettiest gym in Bermuda. You look out over the water, watch boats come in, see fish jump — everyday I come up here and say ‘wow’.”

While the studio has two yoga instructors — Kyria Evans and Elaine White — Ms Rye is the sole personal trainer, though, she is looking to change that.

Her vision for the studio is to build the business, hire more trainers and offer a variety of new classes for the community, including baby boot camps for mothers and courses for children and families on the weekends.

She’s already adding more yoga classes to their June schedule, released yesterday.

As a certified teacher, Ms Rye, who is Canadian, also hopes to bring the hottest global fitness craze — CrossFit — to Flatts Fitness. A varied strength and conditioning programme, CrossFit is high in intensity and short in duration.

“Fitness has changed so much from the ‘90s and 2000s, which was all about circuit training on machines,” she said. “Now it’s about functional movement exercises — back to basics, high intensity, short bouts — that’s how you get results.”

Having only started work on May 1, Ms Rye’s schedule has already filled quickly — with her mornings and evenings booked solid.

“I’ve had such a warm welcome back — and have been seeing many of my old clients — some of them who haven’t worked out since I left,” she said.

According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, the global fitness industry has largely managed to stave off the worst of the recession — Ms Rye hasn’t seen a dip in her business either.

“My business hasn’t suffered really — everyone now sees exercise as a lifestyle and not a fad,” she said. “Everyone understands the health benefits and some people need the structure of a personal trainer.”

We wish her every success in Bermuda and hope she will return one day back here in the Cayman Islands