Meredith Shumway Teaches How To Sweat Hard, Without Injury

Meredith Shumway officially has a following — and she can only describe it as “surreal.”

Over the past 12 months, it hasn’t been uncommon for the lifelong dancer to see a wait list for many of her classes. Her client list has grown to nearly 700.

And it’s all because of her newest creation, The Formula X Meredith, a fitness program that is zero impact yet high intensity, and formulated to keep injuries at bay.

“I started this because I just felt that there was really a lack in the fitness industry for something that was really, really challenging,” she said, “but, at the same time, not going to cause physical issues regarding injuries.”

Shumway, who lives in Southampton, first understood the relationship between the two as a teenager, while training under the legendary ballet master Maggie Black. Famously dubbed “Black Magic” by George Balanchine, she helped rehabilitate and retrain injured New York City Ballet dancers, bringing them back to life.

With that foundation, Shumway trained with The Kirov Academy of Ballet and The American Ballet Theater. But at age 17, she found herself at the crossroads of choosing college or a dance career — the latter her first love, starting at age 3.

“That was it for me. I knew right then and there, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she said of dance, adding, “But my heart wasn’t 1,000 percent into it, so I decided to go the college route.”

Shumway studied broadcast journalism at the University of Mississippi and pivoted into fitness with Physique 57 in New York City, she said, where she worked for seven years before Tracy Anderson poached her.

She rose to top trainer for the Tracy Anderson Method and became the Hamptons studio manger, paying close attention to her own dance- and workout-related injuries that she’d acquired over the years while she continued her education.

No matter what she studied — barre method, yoga, Pilates, weight training and HIIT, or high-intensity interval training — she saw one common theme among herself, her fellow students and her own clients.

“Going through the past 15 years, everyone would come to me, ‘Oh, I have this shoulder injury, I have this back injury, I have this knee injury,’” she said. “All of these group fitness classes were really challenging for anyone who had an injury, because classes were packed out here.

“Teachers couldn’t give people the attention that they needed,” she continued. “So it was, like, How can I make a workout where people are going to be supported physically and not further aggravate any injuries that they have, but still keep it challenging?”

The idea for The Formula was born while training a professional golfer who struggled with his knees and back, limiting his range of motion. He needed a workout regimen that didn’t add to his pain — and, to both of their delights, it worked. His pain lessened. His mobility improved. And his golf game only got better.

“It was a lot of trial-and-error, mainly on myself and clientele,” Shumway said. “If it doesn't feel right on my body as a dancer, it’s 100 percent not going to feel right on someone who’s not a trained dancer and knows their body.”

The Formula officially launched last May and, for that first class, six students came, Shumway said. The next class, there were 10. The next one after that, there were 20, she said.

“And the next thing I know, I couldn't keep up with the demand,” she said. “So it has just been so beyond my wildest dreams this past year.”

Each one-hour class is held at Studio 3’s Bridgehampton studio, heated to between 88 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit — “It’s not I-can’t-breathe hot,” Shumway said — and works the body from top to bottom, the instructor explained. It begins with arms, and including weights and band exercises, working out the biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and pectorals.

Then, she focuses on HITT exercises, like planks and mountain climbers, but without the bounce.

“If you see people running and jogging in a mountain climber, that’s another potential for injury if they’re not strong enough,” she said. “So we’re keeping everything extremely controlled and core focused, so there’s no impact.”

Next come “barre-based thighs,” without the bar, Shumway said — think wide ballet second positions, lunges and curtsies, and pulsing in each — before moving to Pilates-based abs.

“Basically, it’s a mash-up of everything that I love in a workout,” she said.

The finale is glute exercises, she said, ending with a stretch — which is “vital, vital, vital.”

“So many workouts lately I see are cutting the classes shorter and shorter,” she said. “Classes went from 55 minutes to 50 minutes to 45 minutes, and what they’re doing is eliminating the recovery. Your heart rate’s high, your body is warm, you’ve just worked every single muscle, and then by running out, not releasing that lactic acid and not cooling your body down, is another opportunity for injury.”

Instead, when her students leave class, she hopes they feel energized and happy, stronger and leaner, and more balanced overall — mentally, physically, and emotionally, she said.

“For me, it’s the pumping music and the community and the beats that really motivate people, and we’re all doing it together,” she said. “So it’s a community here.”

The Formula community has grown well beyond the East End, though, explained Shumway, who occasionally teaches classes in New York City and streams live. And for those who cannot attend any version of the class in person, each session is posted online and is available for rent or purchase, she said.

But there are no plans to franchise or expand, she said.

“We don’t have anything out here that stays on the local level,” she said. “A lot of businesses cater to the summer crowd, which, of course, I love them with all my heart and soul. It’s more that I want to stay true to the local community and constantly offer them effective classes every single day that they can count on and depend on.”

For more information about The Formula X Meredith, visit theformulaxmeredith.com.