As soon as you walk into Punch King Fitness, you know this isn’t an ordinary gym.
The neon lights that line the walls and the hexagonal lights overhead draw you into a one-of-a-kind atmosphere that combines fitness, martial arts, boxing and a little of the glitter of pro wrestling.
“We are building this for everyone,” said owner Shane Chojnacki, known as Victor Benjamin or the Savage Gentleman in the wrestling world.
“As a professional athlete, I train at the highest caliber. But as a personal trainer, I've worked with people who have just begun their fitness journey — some of them being in their sixties, some of them being preteens,” he said.
Chojnacki, a Brashear High School graduate, has competed in just about every form of combat sports. He holds an undefeated 3-0 record as a pro in mixed martial arts. He has trained in boxing, kickboxing and jiujitsu. In wrestling, he has reached the national stage with Ring of Honor and All Elite Wrestling.
His wife, Brittany Steding, who is also heavily involved in the Franklin Park gym, is a regular on AEW, known there as Lady Frost.
“We take on everything as a team,” she said. “So, the triumphs and the heartaches we go through regardless of what's on paper or whose idea, our struggles are together and the triumphs are together.
“But I think seeing how much effort it's taken and time and patience, that made it that much more worth it when the doors finally, finally, opened.”
Punch King Fitness held its grand opening June 29 at 2620 Brandt School Road in Franklin Park.
There were delays involving inspections and marks to meet. Things were built and then rebuilt throughout the process. But Chojnacki never wavered, always finding a new solution and doing much of the work with his own two hands.
Over 100 people attended the grand opening, and Chojnacki’s first class completely sold out.
“We wanted to build something, but we wanted to build it right,” he said. “We didn't want to take any shortcuts. We want everyone to be wowed when they walk through our doors. We aimed to build something different here in the Pittsburgh fitness community.”
The gym features custom ergonomic heavy bags, accelerometers that track metrics in real time, a full-size boxing ring, a 40-foot turf track, state-of-the-art cardio equipment and custom hybrid fitness racks.
After a workout, the recovery room offers massages, a cold plunge and a sauna.
The heavy bags are prominent upon entry into the facility. They are designed to minimize impact on the body, allowing for heavy workouts with less wear and tear or risk of injury.
In addition to Chojnacki and Steding, Punch King offers classes with two other trainers, Madison Scanlon and Matt Moon, all of whom offer one-on-one personal training sessions. There are also boxing and kickboxing classes available along with a variety of boot camps.
One thing that makes Punch King stand out from other gyms is the chance for parents and children to participate. While parents may be in one class, the children partake in a group class too.
“Coach Madison taught her kids class at the grand opening, and she had like 12 kids,” Chojnacki said.
“She put them through a boot camp-style program, and they loved it. They were getting to crawl on the turf. You're getting to climb on things, you're getting to slam the balls. Like that's everything kids wanna do. They don't even realize they're working out.”
This isn’t Freddie Roach’s dingy gym that formed Manny Pacquiao or the fictional Donovan’s Fite Club from the TV show “Ray Donovan.”
“We want to shed that stigma,” Chojnacki said. “Listen, I love a good grunge gym, but that's not what we're building.… As soon as you walk in the door, it feels like, ‘Oh I'm here to work out. Oh, this place is freaking cool!’”
Saul Berrios-Thomas: sthomas@post-gazette.com
First Published: July 24, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: July 25, 2024, 1:59 a.m.
