Virginia Tech coach Chris Marve and wife Lauren open Roanoke fitness studio

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – As football workouts start to heat up in Blacksburg, things are getting even hotter up the road in Roanoke.

Enter Hotworx, the Star City’s newest fitness studio featuring virtual classes that take place inside an infrared sauna.

“They are 30-minute workouts that range from hot stretching, hot yoga, hot pilates, hot bar, hot buns, hot-whatever you can think of,” said co-owner Lauren Marve.

“There’s nowhere in Roanoke where you work out inside of an infrared sauna. So, we’re pretty much your recovery and your exercise at once.”

Lauren Marve co-owns the studio with her husband, Chris, who also serves as the defensive coordinator for the Hokies.

While recruiting in North Carolina, Chris stumbled upon a Hotworx documentary in his hotel room that helped turn an idea into a much larger vision.

“I was really enthralled with the product that they were able to deliver, the level of investment that was very visible in the documentary, and also the growth and positivity that was really permeating from the screen,” said Chris.

The Hotworx method combines exercises you may already know with the added benefits of a sauna, blending activity and recovery into one 30-minute session.

Together since their high school days in Memphis, the Marves had made multiple stops before Chris landed on Brent Pry’s staff at Tech.

Now, as hype grows around the Hokies, Chris and Lauren are planting their roots even deeper into a community that has helped make this new endeavor well worth the sweat.

“The Virginia Tech Hokie community is bar none,” said Lauren. “They are the nicest, the most grounded, humble fans, people, neighbors, community members that I’ve ever met.”

“It’s really surreal how much of a family and a community that’s tethered together in a very positive sense that this has been,” said Chris. “People just care about you. They care about the growth that you’re having and your family’s having, the experience that you’re having and that your family’s having. They care to the extent that they want your experience to be a positive one.”

Hotworx is open for in-person signups at its Towers Shopping Center location beginning this weekend.

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