Bermuda might still be mired in a recession, but there’s further proof it might not be a bad time to start a business - if it’s in the fitness industry, that is.A second CrossFit facility, or “box” in the company’s lingo, has just opened up on the Island - this one on Dundonald Street, across from Ten Café and the Olympic Club.LifeThyme CrossFit is not affiliated with the other CrossFit on Serpentine Road, but it is the largest one on the island and its classes are quickly filling up.With nearly 2000 square feet of minimalist warehouse-like workout space, LifeThyme Fitness’s mission, the owners say, is to deliver overall wellbeing through functional fitness and nutrition coupled with a philosophy of personal improvement and sense of community.Owners Anne Marshall and Carola Cooper are no strangers to health and wellness. Ms Marshall, who has a degree in psychology, is a therapeutic massage therapist, nutritionist and has taught massage for 20 years. Ms Cooper is a sports and neuromuscular massage therapist with a degree in exercise science.The duo has been in business together as LifeThyme wellness for two years. Based at the Inside Out Wellness Centre on Victoria Street, they’ve been teaching CrossFit’s prescribed method of “functional fitness” for two years. They’re only now able to call it “CrossFit” since they have affiliated with the franchise.“We’ve been doing this for two years. We just were at another facility,” Ms Marshall said. “We were at St John’s Church and playground and decided earlier this year to affiliate with CrossFit and come inside.”“Functional fitness” includes movements people do in everyday life — lifting, squatting, pushing, pulling, twisting — any movement that helps us function in our daily lives. CrossFit’s approach takes it to the next level with its method of “constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement”. The idea is not to specialise in any one thing, but to improve each person’s competency at all physical activities.Ms Marshall and Ms Cooper said more than anything, they were drawn to CrossFit because the company’s philosophy was so close to what they were already offering — no-frills workouts, personalised coaching and palpable camaraderie.“The greatest part about CrossFit that we appreciate and like is the sense of community. We were really creating that within our group anyway,” Ms Marshall said. “We were getting together and doing things on weekends and doing activities and really had just a wonderful group of people that came from all walks of life all ages, all fitness levels. And we wanted to grow that a little more. CrossFit really emphasises that so we decided well, let’s just do it.”That community spirit even got the two through the start-up process - with their clients helping them with renovations.“They helped us paint, they helped us clean, they spent hours on their weekends - it was a labour of love. They’ve been a huge inspiration and support for us to do this,” Ms Marshall said.“And they’ve pushed us too.”“The biggest thing is community,” Ms Cooper said. “You get to work out and have fun with people that you might not ever normally meet on this island. We have all walks of life and different types of people here - and they help you get through the workout.”“There’s lots of group support,” Ms Marshall said. “We had a new person yesterday, for instance, who was last finishing and you know, no one wants to be last and so we all jumped in at the end of his portion and said, let’s just do it with him and everybody does it.”The carefully planned workouts, called ‘Workouts of the Day’ or ‘WODs’ incorporate a variety of equipment like kettleballs, barbells, dumbbells, rings, pull up bars, jumping boxes and rowing machines. Combining weightlifting and carrying unusual objects like kettle balls or medicine balls with bursts of cardio activity like running, rowing or jumping rope - the workouts can be scaled to any fitness level.“We really make everything so that you succeed,” Ms Marshall said. “It is for everyone. We have 60-year-olds, we have 20- year-olds, we have people who are in really good shape, and we have people who are not but really want to get healthy. You know, maybe they’ve turned 50 and they’ve decided this is their year,” she said.“I think it probably could feel intimidating, but we can absolutely scale it for everyone.”The demand for gyms and health clubs worldwide is expected rise over the next five years as the public becomes more health-conscious and the ageing population places a greater emphasis on staying fit.According to a report released last month from research firm, IBISWorld, the fitness industry in the US has grown 2.3 percent a year over the past five years even though disposable income grew by only 0.1 percent annually. Last year 42.8 million Americans had a gym membership and this year spending on fitness, workout attire, DVDs and personal trainers is expected to reach $45.2 billion.The fitness business in Bermuda is no doubt following suit. With 75 active members and 100 on the books already, the owners of LifeThyme CrossFit say they hope to double that at some point, but are fine with growing slowly. And they say even with two CrossFits now on the Island - there’s plenty of business to go around.“There are so many people looking for this type of community workout. They see that it’s effective. We even hope to develop a relationship with the other CrossFit, but there’s definitely room for all of us,” Ms Marshall said. “That’s another thing I really like about CrossFit - it’s more about competition within ourselves in terms of getting better, and less about competition between each other - even between gyms, so that’s really appealing to us.”Classes at the new facility are offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12pm, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 5.30 and 6.15pm and Fridays at 6.30am. The first class is always free and members can schedule online to keep track of their packages and how many classes they have left.Class packages vary in price depending on how many times per week students attend and how long the package lasts before expiring.“The stricter the package, the cheaper it is,” Ms Cooper said.Pay $160 and you’ll get two classes a week for a month, but it expires in 30 days. Or buy 20 sessions that last for six months, and pay $435.Ms Marshall says they recommend two days a week for three months for the best results.“Part of the appeal for CrossFit is that it’s really observable results in how people feel both physically and emotionally. Changes happen quickly for people. We really recommend that you give it a good try,” she said. “We suggest three days, but in the beginning, two’s really enough for people because it’s hard - it’s really intense.“Every class is hard. People will say, ‘is today’s class going to be hard?’ and then they say, ‘oh never mind!’ because every class is hard. Every class is different.”LifeThyme CrossFit’s new facility also has showers, parking and a 600-square-foot yoga room the owners plan to rent out to yoga instructors starting in September. They also have plans to start exercise classes for children and will continue to offer fun group activities on the weekends.Ms Marshall and Ms Cooper say in addition to teaching CrossFit classes, they will continue with their massage practice — staying based at Inside Out Wellness.For more information on their services, prices and class schedules, visit www.lifethymewellness.com