Kittitas County’s newest fitness center is located right here in Ellensburg. Garage Studio Fitness (GSF), founded by Dalton and Emma Keene, had its grand opening on April 9.

GSF didn’t start like an average gym. Dalton and Emma began to gather gym equipment roughly a year ago and started their gym out of their garage in Auburn, WA, prompting the name Garage Studio Fitness.

“We just converted our garage and made it a little studio,” Emma Keene said.

Eventually, they decided it was time to expand.

“Actually, she brought it up, she was like ‘How about we move to Ellensburg?’ and I was like ‘Uh what,’” Dalton Keene said. “The more we looked into it, the more it just made sense.”

In Auburn, they had hit their max capacity. They looked to hire personal trainers but couldn’t make the logistics work alongside their busy training schedule.

Where they were located in Auburn, there were roughly four other personal training studios within a few square miles, according to Dalton.

“We knew that between both of our skill sets that we could big it much bigger than what he had in the garage,” Dalton Keene said.

Another driving factor in their move from Auburn to Ellensburg is the community aspect.

“Having the support of other local businesses in the community behind us is something that we really love about Ellensburg and just the small-town charm is really nice,” Emma Keene said. “Everybody is so nice here and so welcoming and it’s been a really great experience.” 

Dalton Keene echoed the same message, saying that he appreciates how the city takes care of its businesses.

GSF storefront is located at 413 N. Pine St. When they first saw the storefront, they knew it was the right fit.

“When we came here and saw how big this space was we were like, ‘Well, this is perfect,’ because you can do the group training aspect, you can do personal training and you can still have that social connection,” Dalton Keene said. “It just really made sense for us.”

Dalton and Emma met through their shared passion for fitness.

“The funny story that a lot of people will probably think is cliche is I actually went to Dalton’s exercise classes at the gym and the studio that he worked at,” Emma Keene said.

Dalton and Emma got married on Sept. 12, 2020. Together, they have over 10 years of personal training and fitness industry experience.

They plan on expanding further soon, adding floor mats and machines. They are also looking to potentially make the back of the storefront an open gym.

GSF offers a variety of classes, including ones focused on endurance, strength, power and mobility. They even have senior classes for those 62 and older. Additionally, they offer personal training.