This Male-Founded Gym Is Making Waves With Women. Here's Why

If you've ever Googled workout classes in NY, chances are that minutes later your Instagram feed has become a minefield of sponsored fitness posts, for workout leggings, apps and classes. And while sometimes annoying, if that's the realm you're looking into right now, it's simply smart advertising from brands.

One such ad that pops up on occasion is for popular high-end boxing gym, Rumble, which began making waves in late 2016 as the boxing alternative to celebrity haunts like Barry's Bootcamp. Subsequent to the glowing online reviews and word of mouth, the gym has amassed a cult following amongst women, and for varying reasons. Primarily, the gym normalizes this full-body workout for all sexes, in a stylish way: the gyms come jam-packed with every product known to man (including the necessary spritz of dry shampoo), and are also a far cry from the grubby boxing gyms of Rocky or Million Dollar Baby.

If indeed, like us, you are in need of some motivation, the ton of lady-trainers on the programme are also there for some serious bod envy, and a quick look at the Rumble Instagram will show you how very ripped consistent boxing gets you. We spoke with one of the co-founders of the gym, Noah Neiman below about all-things Rumble, and why the ladies are so obsessed with it.

We never started Rumble to be different. So when asked what makes us unique; I talk about how we execute an incredible concept, incredibly well. When we were sitting in SoHo house for the very first Rumble concept meetings, we wanted to provide the most fun and curated experience we could provide with some pretty incredible resources in terms of team, talent, vision, and capital. We always discussed being authentic to our unique collection of personalities and visions from the lens of a customer. As discerning fitness aficionados; what did WE want to see? We knew that if we stayed true to that vision, we would inherently be unique. The four founders have an obsession with detail and in providing our customers with the most seamless and fun experience on the market. We found confidence in knowing the workout was going to be effective. We utilize the sweet science of boxing and strength training to provide an incredibly efficient workout. Couple that with the beautiful aesthetics, the cleanliness, the artwork that dons the walls, the low hue of the lights that dance on your skin while the club level sound system pumps inspiring beats straight to your bones!! The attention to making the experience incredibly easy, welcoming, fun, and addictive for the client is the foundation that makes Rumble great. What makes it truly special however, is the execution and constant elevation driven by all of the people of Rumble; our clients sand community.

Outside the studio, Rumble looks more like a Soho art loft than a gym. We offer a beautifully designed studio chalk full of high end amenities. Spacious locker rooms with plenty of showers; DRYBAR blow drying stations and all the bathroom products a guy or gal needs to stay fresh before and after class!

In studio is where the magic really happens though. We offer 45 minute full body strength and conditioning experience throughout the day starting at 5am and running through 8:30 PM; with most classes selling out. Our Chelsea and Noho locations have recently surpassed every other boutique gym in the country to become the most trafficked studios nationally. Its an incredible honor to know how much fun people are having at Rumble and it shows in the attendance, and the countless instagram posts with big groups of people throwing their fists up and smiling in front of one of our commissioned “Instagrammable moment” art pieces.

Rumble first opened the doors in Chelsea January 9th 2017. Quickly become NYC’s favorite gym destination with attendance skyrocketing to 600 plus people a day relatively quickly. NoHo, our second location, opened doors in August. We have around 60K customers signed up with around 71% being female.

2 locations at the moment. With Upper east side and Los Angeles opening in Summer. San Francisco, D.C, Philly opening in Fall. We’re going to open 8-10 Rumbles in the next 20 months

The founders of Rumble have incredibly diverse backgrounds. From Anthony DiMarco who was one of the original employees of Google who retired to run 17 Ironman, Andy Stenzler who founded Cosi sandwiches and has an amazing entrepreneurial track record, to Eugene Remm the founder of CATCH restaurants and the iconic club TENJUNE, who is one of the best experience makers in the nightlife and hospitality industry, to myself who rose to the top of the NYC fitness scene to become the most highly sought after group fitness trainer in the country. We all had such strong backgrounds and unique contributions to make. I’m so honored to get to work with these visionaries and our bond is something not often seen in business; and that really resonates culturally at Rumble.

We have an incredibly robust and diverse group of investors. It’s “fun money” meaning we had such a strong reputation and plan going into this thing, we had the ability to choose backers that would help contribute to the culture of Rumble and not just simply write a check. From Sylvester Stallone to some incredibly reputable funds. When you open a boxing gym, and have ROCKY himself believing in your vision, you know you have something special.

We wanted to make boxing more accessible. Polish the experience up. We have a message of inclusivity, equality, and empowerment that resonates with the messaging, aesthetics, and execution of the Rumble brand. Couple that with the unique and welcoming design, and I think you have a recipe that tastes delicious to our female customer. I am incredibly proud of how welcomed women feel at Rumble, and how they are using Rumble to hone their skills. Using a Rumble class to find an endlessly flowing well of positivity, support, and their own self confidence.

Here, you spend half the class on the bags and half on the floor

Boxing can be intimidating and male dominated, so it was important for us to keep the authenticity of a boxing inspired studio, but be cognizant that we wanted everyone to feel like they could let loose and throw punches without fear of judgement.

We have an experience that people love to share, so a lot of our social media marketing comes from our rapidly expanding customer base sharing their experiences to their engaged following authentically. That authenticity and home grown marketing is the strongest form of promotion. Provide a great time, and let people share it with their spheres of influence. We also make sure to keep our own marketing material and content incredibly fresh and engaging. We constantly have shoots to keep promoting our brand on social media in a fresh way. We don’t do stale or normal at Rumble. We have to stay fresh to death!

Be true to your vision. To touch back to your first question, everyone sets out to be DIFFERENT. We set out to be authentic. Building a brand is a job that you can’t clock out of. We’re so fortunate to absolutely love what we do, so you might catch all of the founders of Rumble taking a class at 830 pm on a Thursday night supporting a new trainer on schedule. We are heavily involved. Being an entrepreneur is a lot like boxing. It's not about not getting hit, it's about rolling with those punches, taking it on the chin sometimes, and knowing you have the dedication, training, team support and work ethic to persevere.

The glam behind the success, Rumble doesn't look like a typical gym

Of course. You can be when you have so many options. At the end of the day though, people want fun and convenience. People will pay a premium for fitness if they feel like they are getting their moneys worth. So for us, it was important to provide the most premium experience ever so that we could warrant our price and a discerning fitness enthusiasts time.

The talent of the Rumble trainers is undeniable. We were so fortunate to naturally have connections to our founding team and everything came together very serendipitously. Joe Ferraro, Rob Sulaver, Andy Stern, Erika Hammond, Dani Burrell, and Ashley Guarrassi. When you know, you know. Confidence is never a problem with us founders and we trust our gut. When we were meeting with potential trainers to launch this brand, we knew without a doubt the star power of this group of individuals.

Their passion and dedication to the craft is unrelenting, and it shows with every class they teach. Same with all of the trainers at Rumble; they bleed their love, passion, and care for the people in their class. Sweat pouring off their bodies as the drive the arch of the class. I may be a little biased but simply put, its just special. A special place, filled with special people, and an incredibly special culture. I couldn’t be more proud and humbled that Rumble has had such a profound affect on New York City in such a short amount of time.