About bbb

A health boutique for every woman

Have you ever been to bbb? bbb is for every woman, for every stage of life and for every age. You are welcome to come and have a look. You can schedule a trial lesson online for free here. bbb has boutiques in Amsterdam (Jordaan & Amstel), Delft, The Hague, Haarlem, Tilburg, Utrecht, Den Bosch and Rotterdam!

Why is bbb a health boutique?
Boutique fitness is recognisable through the personal approach and it being smaller than a regular sport school. At bbb there is plenty of space for personal attention and guidance. Due to our holistic approach we will enable you to look after yourself better, eat healthier and allow more time for yourself. So, whether you want to train more specifically, are in the menopause, want to lose weight, suffer from physical complaints or just want to feel fitter: we coach you to a healthy(er) version. .

Founders

bbb health boutique has 3 founders: Esther, Inge and Alain. Let's introduce them. 

 
Esther, during her study of psychology, knew that for a change in lifestyle a new approach was necessary in the areas of body, food and mind. After completeion of her next study, cognitive behavioural therapy, she found herself in the business field. Her heart, however, was in sustainable lifestyle change. She wanted to be able to offer this to women in a safe and comfortable enviroment in which they could work on their health step by step and where her other passions, sport and healthy nutrition could also play an important role. Through her studies and her experiences she realised that change starts with a healthy mindset and a holistic approach. Slowly a dream formed to start a holistic gym based on the perceptions of women. The dream became reality with the opening of the studios in2008 in Amsterdam and Utrecht. The past years Esther has followed various mindfulness and meditation courses and a yin yoga course. She loves yoga and power exercises but the hot cabin remains her favourite.

Inge (Esther's sister) completed her study in economy and werked for a short period by one of the 'Big Five' offices in The Netherlands. She realised quickly that an office job was not going to make her happy. She followed a postdoc study in journalism and werked as a freelance journalist by various press offices and newspapers. She interviewed many CEO's from various businesses and her own plan to start up an enterprise began to develop. When, at the age of 30, she unexpectedly fell into a depression, she decided not to take her prescribed anti-depressants and wanted to solve her depression in another way. She took up jogging, meditating and started to eat differently. This worked extremely well for her. Shortly after this difficult period her sister informed her of her dream and she immediately wanted to hop on board. Through her own experiences she had also realised that a step by step, holistic approach was necessary to realise a lasting lifestyle change. She also wanted to develop a responsible business and realised how important a comfortable enviroment was for women so that they could develop themselves in the areas of body, food & mind. After they had opened a few studios of their own, Inge focused on making the concept accessible for other entrepreneurs and ensure the personal approach that is essential to bbb.

Alain, after completeing his study in physiotherapy, worked as a manager by various large sport school chains. He had a great love for the fitness world but found the sport schools at the time too massive. As a physiotherapist he was aware of the importance of functional and specific training. For many people personal trainers were too expensive and the sport schools too big and impersonal. he decided to write a business plan for a smaller, more specific sport school including a physiotherapy branch. Esther and Inge trained at the sport school which Alain managed.They were talking and realised that they shared a lot of similarities in their ideas. The click was there and in the evenings they would sit and see how they could bring their ideas together. The plans accelerated when, at the end of 2007, 2 studios became available due to a bankruptcy.  Alain is the contact person for the bbb entrepeneurs. He works on developing the transparency of the quality and results of the boutiques. He also follows new developments and decides if these are applicable within the organisation. At this moment he is involved in the development of a vegetarian supplement line. Alain believes in the combination of tailor-made training with healthy nutrition and supplements. He loves team sports and sporty challenges and is at this moment preparing for the Iron-man challenge.

How it all started
The sisters grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. For the past 30 years they were familiar with training in heat. Their mother, Charlotte, was the owner of two heated cabin studios. For years they had worked as coaches in the studios and had seen the benefits of training in heat. Not only did women achieve their weight goals, physical complaints also lessened and the sauna-effect resulted in deep relaxment. Due to their broad experience they have discovered that health is a holistic concept. It starts with the correct mindset and body, food & mind are intrinsically connected with each other. This is why bbb is a sport school where you are continuously coached.

Vision
Together with Alain they believed that a real lifestyle change is only possible when attention is paid to body, food & mind. They developed a concept with five core values; holistic, sustainable, innovative, personal and safe. Based on these values, they created an enviroment in which women could continue to easily and comfortably work on their lifestyle goals with the most important starting point being that motivation can be erratic and change occurs step by step. At bbb you can train and work on your health independantly but if you are finding it difficult at any time then a coach is always there for you to discuss your nutrition plan, sport plan or help motivate you. They have also developed different programmes for the different phases of a womens life, such as pregnancy and meopause

The background of bbb health boutique
bbb health boutique was founded in 2008. The 3 b's refer to the 3 pillars: body, food & mind. Literally bbb stands for inner beauty, body workouts, lifestyle balance. The 3 pillars are intertwined in all 3 b's. Such as body, food & mind are intertwined.

The first b - inner beauty - is the starting point as every woman is beautiful! Through healthy nutrition (eat yourself beautiful), training in an enjoyable fashion and working on your lifestyle through, for example, meditation, yoga and mindfulness, you are also working on your inner beauty. The middle b - body workouts - is the hub of bbb. It refers to the training of your body and the location where you train. A comfortable enviroment with professional coaches who also coach your nutrition and lifestyle. The last b - lifestyle balance - completes the circle. A lifestyle in balance is a lifestyle with the correct mindset. Healthy for the planet and human. Through coaching, this lifestyle is attainable and sustainable. In this way you get the most beautiful out of yourself!

bbb is also a nod to the feminine muscle groups: stomach (belly), bottom and legs. At bbb you can shape these in a beautiful fashion.The most popular class is the bbb 30 in which the belly, bottom and legs are trained.

Training in the hot cabin
Exercising in heated cabins was developed in the 80's in Zwitserland. Swiss therapists developed this specific method (known as the Thermo Fysische method) in which women could train and lose weight. It was actually an answer to the masculine muscle building gyms that existed. This Swiss method was more directed towards women and shaping. The warmth encourages an increase in the burning of energy and stimulates the fat burning process.

The last years have seen an increase in the sorts of sport on offer that can be performed in warmth such as Bikram/hot yoga and hot pilates. bbb has also developed special 30 minute workouts that can be practised in the hot cabin such as: yoga, pilates and HIIT. We also have our own bbb classes: bbb30 and balance. You can also follow your own stretch, strength, pilates, HIIT or bbb programme in the cabins. 

bbb is women only. Training in a hot cabin was originally developed for women and bbb has developed this concept further. The work-outs in the cabin are especially geared towards women and there are special programmes for women who are pregnant, have just given birth or are going through menopause. Above all, many women find it enjoyable and comfortable to train in a studio that has been developed from a womens peception. Curious? You are more than welcome to come and have a look. You can book a free trial class here.