The citizens of Denver come to Tiffany Coolidge’s no-frills training and conditioning center for the kick-ass workouts and stay for the friendship.
Writer: Carly Terwilliger It’s a cool, breezy evening near downtown Denver, where Blunt Force founder Tiffany Coolidge – “Tiff” to her many loyal fans – is working with a client. She’s wall-to-wall tonight between personal training sessions and teaching the “Blunt Force Elite” class that I’ve come to check out. We chatted during the five minutes of downtime before what Blunt Force’s website calls a “50-minute session [that] will have you eating bullets in your bread.” Gulp. Coolidge (pictured below), who left a career in politics and a position as a board member for the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University to pursue the founding of Blunt Force, is immediately likable. It’s easy to see why the vast majority of her devotees followed her from Blunt Force’s old location to this one. When asked what she thinks is the appeal of her business, she said the workouts are “hardcore but still feminine,” a philosophy underlined by the pink star between “Blunt” and “Force” in her logo. The gym got its name from Coolidge’s boxing days (she won her first match by TKO). “When I boxed, my name was Blunt Force,” she said with a smile. With the garage doors open, you can see downtown Denver from the gym, and as I’m about to find out, some of the classes involve running outside on the city streets. One wall has been made into a giant chalkboard with a “Happy Hour” workout detailed in bright colors. Against the other wall is a boxing ring with a quote from “Rocky” painted above it: “It ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take, and keep moving forward.”
“At least 70 percent” of Coolidge’s clientele is female, so I asked her what about punching your way to fitness appeals to women. “I think it’s a good outlet,” she explained. There’s an empowering element, too. “I’m strong, I’m capable, let’s go kick ass.” Apparently it’s a message that’s catching on in the city, as Coolidge estimates that about 90 percent of her members find Blunt Force through referrals and word of mouth.