“YOU GOT THIS” my workout partner says, as I try a heavier weight on my second set of shoulder presses. I keep telling myself I can do anything for two minutes. That’s as long as I have to endure each of the 20 performance-related exercises at Legacy, an interval training gym in Little River, Miami.
My workout partner isn’t an NFL athlete, but she had the intensity of one—and Legacy is known for attracting current and former ballers. Nine-time Pro Bowler Julius Peppers. Shutdown cornerback Joe Haden. Former Miami Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon. And—here’s the unique part—on any given day at Legacy you might actually train with one of the many NFL and college football athletes who take the gyms classes.
Yes, the thought is both inspiring and intimidating, but right now, my arms are shaking and my core is tight and I don’t know if I can handle the fact that my much more athletic workout buddy has added ten more pounds to my load. “Amber is a lot stronger than she knows she is,” says my trainer, Miko. “As her partner, it’s your job to push her.”
At Legacy, these Partner Interval Training classes (P.I.T.) classes are an integral part of the “no days off” lifestyle Manning Sumner has created as the owner of the gym, which opened in 2008.
A former Auburn football player, Sumner found himself in Miami as a stunt double for 2002’s Bad Boys II. That’s when he discovered a ton of NFL players would spend the offseason in the Magic City. “All my NFL buddies kept calling asking if we could train together,” says Sumner. “Next thing I know, 29 NFL players are working out with me. I wasn’t necessarily coaching them, but I was always known as the kind of guy you want to work out with, because I was a bit of a workout nut.” Sumner received his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology at Auburn University and went on to work as a personal trainer.
Quickly, Sumner found himself hosting workouts where dozens of people would show up. Since he was just one trainer he would pair people off and watch their dynamics as they would automatically start counting reps, spotting, and motivating each other. When it came to private training sessions, Sumner would often double book clients to save himself from having no shows.
“At the time Marion Barber (who was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys) was in one of my private sessions and another client who was an overweight woman came at the same time,” says Sumner. “So I put them through this partner-style workout where they did the exact same movements—same rep scheme, same rest period, same everything except for weight. At the end of it they were drenched in sweat, high-fiving, laughing, having a good time.” Sumner says that’s when the light bulb went off and Partner Interval Training was officially formed.
You won’t find televisions throughout Legacy, because Sumner purposely set this gym up in a way that encourages people to connect with each other, communicate, and build real community. Which isn’t just a bonus when it comes to, say, pushing a 300-pound sled, then doing battle ropes, followed by an agility ladder, and then a gauntlet of other exercises—it’s essential.
Sumner has set up an easy-to-follow system that has participants at each station for two minutes with their partner doing anywhere from five to eight reps and/or 10 to 20 seconds of each exercise before switching off. The gym features 20 different interval stations, and a typical class might include weight machines, rowers, stationary bikes, a sled, ropes, and an array of bodyweight moves. “Two minutes can seem like a really long time when you’re doing these exercises,” says Sumner.
And he’s right. At one point, I had a resistance band around my thighs and was walking in a squat across the room. It felt like forever, my legs shake, and yet the clock said I still had 90 seconds left. My partner did her best to distract me by chatting about my weekend plans and between that and the super hype music, I made it through. (Though the details were hazy, I’ll admit.)
For years I’ve been intimidated by open format gyms, unsure of what I could handle or how to properly do each exercise. Mix in the presence of gridiron big-timers and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to hang. But there’s something about the atmosphere at Legacy that made me feel like I was part of the team.
Amber Love Bond is a Miami-based food, cocktail, and travel writer.
