Chris Travis remembers working 80 hours a week after starting a new job at Amazon’s Kindle division back in 2010. Not surprisingly, it took a toll on his health. He was eating poorly. He had developed a bad back, and wasn’t exercising. He wasn’t really even moving at all. He spent all of his time in front of his computer.

In 2013, his wife became pregnant with their first child. He knew something had to change. His health was declining, and he was only 30 years old. He joined a gym, and his health improved considerably even as his career at Amazon took him around the world to launch new products. By 2019, though, he had had enough. He left the company and opened his own gym.

Today, Travis now owns three Seattle Strength & Performance (SSP) centers — in Queen Anne, Phinney Ridge and, most recently, West Seattle — that emphasize strength training as the key to physical fitness.

“I saw so many other people who were similar to me when I first started at Amazon who were really struggling with their health,” Travis recalls. “I just kind of got this little bug in my ear that I couldn’t get rid of. I was getting a little geeky about this.”

Almost half of Americans (46.9%) don’t meet recommended guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities, according to the Centers For Disease Control. Only about 25% do.

Seattle Strength & Performance differs from the multitude of gyms scattered across the city in that it’s coach-based — meaning it’s a training gym with personal trainers and no open gym time.

Travis, a certified personal trainer who holds numerous certificates, has also earned a master’s in exercise science and health promotion. He says Seattle Strength & Performance differs from the multitude of gyms scattered across the city in that it’s coach-based — meaning it’s a training gym with personal trainers and no open gym time. Classes are conducted in a small-group setting.

Travis admits he fights common perceptions of gyms as intimidating, often noisy places unfriendly to women or newcomers. He says SSP’s small gyms strive to create inclusivity, accessibility, and community. Another misperception? The need for long workouts.

“A lot of people think they have to be working out for a full hour in order for it to matter. And that’s not true at all,” Travis says. “If you only have 20 or 25 minutes, we’re going to help you out as much as we can.”

Future plans include more gyms in “little neighborhood pockets” across Seattle. The Queen Anne location, for instance — SSP’s first — is nestled in a small commercial district across the street from a microbrewery, a tiny Mexican restaurant, and a Ken’s Market.

“I don’t know that there’s really another type of SSP-style gym in Seattle. I haven’t found it at least,” Travis says. “But certainly, on the East Coast, there’s a number of them. I don’t think there’s anything revolutionary about what we do. We just focus on trying to be as good as possible, and execute as well as we can.”