First Look: Kic’s First Fitness Studio Invites You To Move As You Please

“Ha!” Squat. “Ha!” Squat. “Ha!” Squat.

I’m one of dozens of women in a dimly lit room, my feet planted firmly on the yoga mat as we move through a rhythm punctuated by cries of “Ha!”

Suddenly the millennial pop gives way to calming, ambient music and we’re invited into stillness. Kic’s head trainer Imogen Sist (previously Sum of Us, The Breath Haus and KX) suggests one hand over our chest and the other over our belly, but that’s only a recommendation – “Do whatever feels good for you”.

This ethos is repeated throughout this Energise class at Kic’s new Cremorne fitness studio: its first ever. I’m here for an advance preview.

It’s been more than a decade since Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw launched an e-book full of healthy eating recipes called Keep It Clean. The Kic fitness and wellbeing empire now includes an app with more than 2.8 million members across 120 countries, books and a podcast, not to mention pop-ups, events and products like a goal-setting journal, Pilates kit and resistance bands.

The pair had numerous opportunities to open a studio in the last few years, but nothing felt quite right. It was a combination of things – the right space, their experience with somatic movement and “divine timing” – that’s led to Kic Studio’s arrival.

“Any time something in our life has made a profound impact on our own wellness, we’ve wanted to bring it to the community,” Smith says. On a trip to New York about 18 months ago, Henshaw tried a class rooted in somatic movement, an approach that puts more mindful emphasis on how you feel internally, rather than the outward expression of an exercise.

After the experience, she and Smith wanted to share the benefits of somatic movement – which are reported to include lower cortisol levels, reduced muscle tension and improved mind-body awareness – with their members, and knew a physical studio was the best way to do that.

“Kic has always been about moving [based on] how you feel and meeting you where you’re at, but when I experience somatic movement and breathwork, they tap into this childlike sensation for me, where it’s less about form and more about moving to feel good and have fun,” Smith says.

All the classes are rooted in these two practices. There’ll be familiar movements like squats and planks, alongside “permission to move and to sway and to tap” however feels best for you. “You get encouraged to be really vocal at points, which can be unusual to first do if you’ve never done that in a class before,” Smith says.

High-intensity interval training meets Pilates in the dynamic class, Energise, which follows rhythms set by the music and adds ankle weights to enhance the workout.  Power is a more strength-based session, using props like dumbbells and resistance bands. The heated Unwind classes are closer to slow-flow yoga and designed to calm your nervous system, and there are also dedicated breathwork sessions.

After class, you’ll exit through a different door to the one you entered through, into a light-filled space with fresh flowers, a potted olive tree, the scent of incense and plush couches. The studio encourages members to stay here a while. Maybe have a cup of one of several bespoke tea blends. Maybe sit and journal, “if emotions have come up”, Smith says, adding that somatic movement may prompt that. 

Smith and Henshaw worked with Matt Martino of Martino Group on the studio’s interior design. The main studio room, with a statement halo skylight, is kept dim, with ambient lighting around the skirts – the colours change depending on the class. So does the scent, with different incense allocated to each class. It’s all supposed to be warm and enveloping – a burnt rose-hued tunnel of sheer, voided drapes along the hallway “makes you feel like you’re already getting hugged as you’re entering”.

There are no mirrors in the studio. “That was very intentional,” Henshaw says. This reminds  “people it's not about what you look like”, Smith adds.

Smith won’t be leading any classes herself, but you might find her on a mat beside you during a session.

“I’m excited to come and experience these classes and get in a routine of having this in my life,” she says. “Very rarely do we have permission to be loud and to move in a way that just feels good, not necessarily [about] looking a certain way.”

KicStudio opens on 93 Cubitt Street, Cremorne, on April 18. Foundational memberships start at $65 per week. 

Additional reporting by Sophie Walter.