A boutique fitness studio downtown by the name of fLEX Fitness will celebrate its six-month anniversary this month.

Wendy Orrison, Holly Snyder and Fran Elrod opened fLEX to create a place where people can enjoy exercising at their own speed. Orrison, the former Washington and Lee head field hockey coach and owner of Center of Gravity Yoga and Pilates, said they wanted to bring members from the larger community together at the studio gym.

“I think a lot of the county thinks, oh, that gym is for the city and the students. And we don’t want that to be the only situation,” Orrison said.

Orrison pitched the idea for fLEX at the Launch Lex Pitch Competition last April at Virginia Military Institute’s Center for Leadership and Ethics. Main Street Lexington hosted the competition for new business ideas.

fLEX did not win the $60,000 award for the most promising business plan but decided to pursue the idea anyway. Jenny Davies & Erik Jones were awarded $20,000 for Heliotrope Brewery, a craft brewery and pizza restaurant on Main Street.

“We’re really into physical education and fitness,” Orrison said. “Our greatest reward would be if people came in that didn’t move and left feeling better about themselves and more aware of exercise.”

fLEX Fitness, located at 314 S Main St., offers a wide variety of classes for people of all fitness levels. Kathryn Young, ’19, joined the fLEX staff this winter.

“When I first started trying to incorporate cardio into my fitness routine, I dreaded doing it,” Young said. “I started going to spin classes and it’s been so much more fun because it’s more dynamic.”

Young said she thinks the gym is a good drawing point for meeting new people.

“It’s bringing together law students, undergrads, professors and community members,” she said. “I like helping people enjoy exercising and sharing that with other people.”