Industry veteran Susan Dyson is one of the visionaries behind Hiitgirl, the studio for women in Highgate Village. She talks to Kath Hudson about creating a concept for women who hate gyms
By Kath Hudson | Published in Health Club Management 2018 issue 5
Susan Dyson, co-founder and creator of the Hiitgirl concept
Created to solve the workout dilemmas of affluent, busy women, Hiitgirl opened its first studio in 2013.
“We didn’t actually set out to create a HIIT concept, but when talking to our target market, we found HIIT-style training happened to be one of the tools which could meet their needs,” says Susan Dyson, who co-founded the club with her partner Stuart Dyson.
The duo used the same retail design agency as sports retailer Sweaty Betty and perfumier Jo Malone to create a studio environment which supports their customer experience map.
They also turned to fragrance partner, NEOM Organics, London, to create a multi-sensory space with smells, textures and visuals. “We were inspired by what retail brands like Lululemon, Nike and Sweaty Betty were doing for women,” says Dyson. “So many of the women we used for our research reported negative experiences with gyms. They suggested that we create the spaces in our new studio to be as unlike a gym as possible!”
Barefoot workout Hiitgirl workouts happen in small groups and are done barefoot and using a wide range of eco-friendly fitness toys – from mini trampolines and medicine balls to things like water-filled kettlebells.
Four to five group sessions are offered each day, six days a week and the rest of the time is taken up with privately booked sessions in the same space.
Different tribes “We have the ‘before work’ crew, followed by the ‘school run mums’,” says Dyson. “In the daytime we have 121 sessions for women who have flexible working schedules, such as freelancers and celebrities/media people. Evenings are then taken up with the after-work crew of professionals, often in high pressure roles who are working long hours.”
Because Hiitgirl clients are so busy, a special drop-in concept is on offer, so even if people get delayed, they can still join in and get their full workout time. It’s proven to be very popular.
In term-time, the studio partners with a local school to offer a School of Sweat course for pupils aged 15-16 which comprises structured HIIT sessions, along with supporting information around body confidence and related mental wellness issues.
This school exercise programme is growing in popularity as this age group come on stream as consumers and adopt a wellness lifestyle.
Dyson says the entire programme at Hiitgirl is also constantly being refined and extended: “We’re currently developing a wider range of experiences to enhance our core offer,” she explains, “Including things such as mobility and recovery workouts, and complementary activities around nutrition and behaviour change.
“We’re also looking at how we can monetise the concept outside of our studio, with videos, apps and content licensing being a natural progression.”
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
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IndigoFitness
At IndigoFitness, we create intelligent training spaces that elevate fitness facilities across indus [more...]
Industry veteran Susan Dyson is one of the visionaries behind Hiitgirl, the studio for women in Highgate Village. She talks to Kath Hudson about creating a concept for women who hate gyms
By Kath Hudson | Published in Health Club Management 2018 issue 5
Susan Dyson, co-founder and creator of the Hiitgirl concept
Created to solve the workout dilemmas of affluent, busy women, Hiitgirl opened its first studio in 2013.
“We didn’t actually set out to create a HIIT concept, but when talking to our target market, we found HIIT-style training happened to be one of the tools which could meet their needs,” says Susan Dyson, who co-founded the club with her partner Stuart Dyson.
The duo used the same retail design agency as sports retailer Sweaty Betty and perfumier Jo Malone to create a studio environment which supports their customer experience map.
They also turned to fragrance partner, NEOM Organics, London, to create a multi-sensory space with smells, textures and visuals. “We were inspired by what retail brands like Lululemon, Nike and Sweaty Betty were doing for women,” says Dyson. “So many of the women we used for our research reported negative experiences with gyms. They suggested that we create the spaces in our new studio to be as unlike a gym as possible!”
Barefoot workout Hiitgirl workouts happen in small groups and are done barefoot and using a wide range of eco-friendly fitness toys – from mini trampolines and medicine balls to things like water-filled kettlebells.
Four to five group sessions are offered each day, six days a week and the rest of the time is taken up with privately booked sessions in the same space.
Different tribes “We have the ‘before work’ crew, followed by the ‘school run mums’,” says Dyson. “In the daytime we have 121 sessions for women who have flexible working schedules, such as freelancers and celebrities/media people. Evenings are then taken up with the after-work crew of professionals, often in high pressure roles who are working long hours.”
Because Hiitgirl clients are so busy, a special drop-in concept is on offer, so even if people get delayed, they can still join in and get their full workout time. It’s proven to be very popular.
In term-time, the studio partners with a local school to offer a School of Sweat course for pupils aged 15-16 which comprises structured HIIT sessions, along with supporting information around body confidence and related mental wellness issues.
This school exercise programme is growing in popularity as this age group come on stream as consumers and adopt a wellness lifestyle.
Dyson says the entire programme at Hiitgirl is also constantly being refined and extended: “We’re currently developing a wider range of experiences to enhance our core offer,” she explains, “Including things such as mobility and recovery workouts, and complementary activities around nutrition and behaviour change.
“We’re also looking at how we can monetise the concept outside of our studio, with videos, apps and content licensing being a natural progression.”
According to research which tracked more than 147,000 people for 30 years, 90-120 minutes
of strength training a week may deliver some of the biggest long-term health rewards.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
IndigoFitness At IndigoFitness, we create intelligent training spaces that elevate fitness facilities across indus [more...]
