Mario Garcia thought his love of technology would lead him to a degree in computer engineering, but the 23-year-old is instead using it to open a gym that brings the science used by professional athletes to the masses.
“I was good at coding. I was good at fixing computer software and anything on the engineering side of things,” Garcia said.
But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Garcia began taking fitness more seriously and found herself “just typing all day” while studying.
“I saw how health and fitness really impacted me, so I thought maybe I could do the same thing with other people during COVID,” Garcia said.
So he took action and moved from San Diego to Fort Collins to study health and exercise science at Colorado State University.
After graduation, he will join the Los Angeles Dodgers’ strength and conditioning staff for the 2023 season, working one-on-one with players.
Now Garcia is in the process of opening a 24-hour gym that will combine his love of technology and fitness.
Sigma Performance Center, 3201 E. Mulberry St., Unit K, is expected to open by the end of this month. The facility will feature weight and cable machines, a yoga and pilates studio, sauna and pre-workout bar, as well as technology to help the public train like a pro.
Garcia said individual memberships start at $50 per month, and Sigma offers group and family pricing, with additional fees for classes (such as yoga, pilates and group exercise) and personal training.
“The definition of hard work”
Garcia was born and raised in Colorado Springs, but his family is from Guadalajara, Mexico.
When his parents first came to the United States, they worked picking grapes in the fields of Fresno, California, before moving to Colorado and starting their own company, “a great construction company,” Garcia said.
“When I look up to someone or think about the definition of hard work, I think of that person,” Garcia said.
This is what ultimately inspired him to start his own business.
So Garcia is taking inspiration from the various facilities he’s visited to put his own spin on Sigma Performance Center Fitness.
For example, there is a room dedicated to equipment equipped with specialized sensors to collect data on a person’s various metrics of force, speed and acceleration, something Garcia said is commonly used among professional athletes.
If you’re deadlifting and you have an imbalance where one leg is putting more force into it than the other, you can find that and adjust your training to target that.
“One of my passions is technology and the other is fitness, and as a result I’m able to help people and that’s exactly what I wanted. What more could I ask for?” Garcia said.
A sense of community
In addition to the gym’s technology and other amenities, Garcia wants to create a welcoming atmosphere at the Sigma Performance Center.
This includes performing music in Spanish to improve representation for the Hispanic community and paying attention to feedback and acting accordingly.
“We actually left some space on the open gym floor so we could actually ask the community what they wanted,” Garcia said.
