Definition Fitness Offers Affordable Personal Training Experience

Don't think you can afford to exercise with a personal trainer? Try Winnetka's Definition Fitness, where you can spend an hour getting a serious workout with the help of a trainer for $25.

The studio, which opened in December 2011, proved so popular that the business moved to a bigger space at 552 Lincoln Ave. last summer.

“I just wanted a more economical way for people who don’t want to spend an arm and a leg and will see the benefits they would at another studio,” said owner Dan Dietch.

Clients sign up for small group sessions where one trainer works with two or three people at a time, setting each person to do a series of exercises depending on their own capabilities and goals and moving between them to keep the exercisers trying new things throughout the hour.

“You get the same type of training you get in other gyms," said Dietch, a Winnetka resident. "We’re on the sidelines making sure they’re safe and effective. It’s a model that’s more economical for people who want to save money but want to get the benefits of working out.”

Dietch, a Deerfield native, spent 10 years working as a trainer for big gyms after graduating from San Diego State with a degree in sports medicine, but said he got disenchanted with their policies.

“It’s not about training, it’s about selling," he said. "I was just done with that. I wanted to get away from the big conglomerates.”

Now he uses his experience to design workouts for the studio's 42 members, who come from Winnetka, Wilmette and Evanston to work out twice a week. His routines often test exercisers coordination by having them do multiple things to work out different parts of their body at once, like lunging while shaking heavy ropes. Dietch employs two other trainers and each has their own area of expertise.

The studio attracts everyone from teens to seniors looking to build stronger bones and muscles and relieve stress. Many clients like to work out at the same time each week, getting to know their classmates.

“We try to make the workouts fun,” Dietch said.