Robb Report Luxury Home: Body of Work
January 1, 2008
Q: What trends are you seeing in home gym design?
A: The line has become blurred between spa and gym. Lately I have been customizing a lot of mineral soaking tubs out of brass, copper or stainless steel. If you have one with hot water and one with cold water and alternate soaking in each, it helps with circulation and burning body fat. We also do tubs designed for mud baths. We fill them with volcanic mud, which is great for your skin. The tubs are designed to keep the mud at a certain temperature and constantly circulate it so that it doesn’t dry out.
His and her fitness rooms are becoming popular. The husband may want one for boxing and karate, and the wife will want a space for cardio and Pilates.
Q: What piece of equipment has not been created yet that you would like to see?
A: There’s actually one I’ve been working on for the back. A lot of my clients have the white-collar disease—they’ve spent 30 years driving to work and sitting at their desks all day. They’re always reaching forward. My machine may not sound glamorous but it helps strengthen the back and compensates for the constant forward-reaching motion.
Q: How can you incorporate equipment/activities for kids?
A: I see a lot of kids who don’t want to get exercise—they’re in worse shape than their parents. But you can’t exactly put an 8-year-old in a gym. So I’ll do things like create an obstacle course in the backyard. Sometimes it’s as simple as elevating the clubhouse so they have to go over a rock wall to get to it.
Q: Describe some of your more unusual home gyms.
A: I like to take everything to the next level. I’m not just building a gym—I’m creating a total workout environment. I recently did a 2,000-square-foot space where a waterfall flowed down one of the walls to a pool, which we filled with koi and covered with Plexiglas so that you could walk over it. The lights that illuminate the water change color, which has an impact on your energy flow.
I also did a modern gym for a modern house—if your home is very minimal, your
gym should reflect that. All the equipment was mounted on the walls and all the
weight stacks were hidden behind the walls. There was no part of the equipment
that touched the floor. The machines were like art—you only saw the metal
frames.
Harigian Fitness, 818.243.5132,
www.harigianfitness.com
advertisement
