Kickboxing Fitness Franchise Coming to Whitefish Bay

A national kickboxing fitness franchise plans to open on Silver Spring Drive by late March.

Village officials granted permission Monday night for 9Round Whitefish Bay to open at 318 E. Silver Spring Dr., in the storefront formerly occupied by Simon Oliver Menswear.

According to the company's website, 9Round offers traditional boxing and kickboxing fitness programs that incorporate functional, interval, cardiovascular, and circuit training regimens. The personal training sessions lead you around nine different workout stations over the course of 30 minutes. 

"It’s basically a 30-minute, total-body kickboxing workout," said Ryan Thomson, the owner of the Whitefish Bay franchise. "We have nine workout stations that bring strength, resistance and cardio into the same workout. It's a new workout every day."

There are no set class times. Clients spend two minutes and 30 seconds on each workout station, then take a 30-second "active break" before moving onto the next workout station. That means you can walk into the gym and start your own personal training program at the start of a new round, which happens every three minutes.

"It's not like you have to base your schedule around a 6 o'clock class," Thomson said. "It’s a really unique concept, which is what drew me to it. I’ve been personal training for five years now, and I've never seen anything like it."

Although there are a number of fitness places within a one-mile radius, Thompson said the unique format of 9Round will be enough to draw clients through the door.

"Some people use 9Round as a supplement to those other gyms," he said. "Other people come in four or five times a week, and 9Round is the only thing they do."

9Round Whitefish Bay will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on the weekends. Thomson said he is willing to adjust his hours to meet the needs of his clientele.

9Round has three metro Milwaukee locations: Waukesha, Oak Creek and Brookfield. Since opening its first gym in early 2010, 9Round has opened another 40 gyms and hopes to double the size of the company in 2013, according to the company's website.