Our Story
Hi! We’re Slava and Tanja, thanks for stopping by!
When we first met, one of us had quit his studies in business and the other had dropped out of a PhD program she no longer felt was where she belonged. We both didn’t know what was to come next, but as we fell in love with each other, we also discovered that both of us loved to train – so we set out to discover the world and take our training to any place imaginable.
Wherever we trained, people were always thrilled when we shared our knowledge with them – some were surprised we weren’t working as trainers already. At one point it seemed like the only logical step. We said: “Well, we spend almost as much time moving and researching the body as other people spend at work – and we enjoy helping people. Each of us has previously collected teaching experience – we should actually become trainers and build on that!”
Since starting our business we’ve worked with students one on one and in small groups (both offline and online), taught workshops and hosted workshops with international teachers. We’ve already released a few self guided programs (for example the 14 Week Front Split Program) that you can reach via smartphone app, so you can train wherever you are.
We value continuously educating ourselves. In 2020 we completed a coaching-internship at Nirvana Strength in Bali, a wellness and fitness facility that focuses on injury prehabilitation and gymnastics flexibility and strength. Most recently we’ve completed the Master Flexibility Trainer Course by Dan van Zandt, which is full of deep level knowledge about flexibility training from a scientific and practical standpoint.
No other work we have ever done felt as exciting, rewarding and natural and we’re excited to work with you.
Our Values
When we travel, we bring a pair of rings and a few resistance bands with us, keep our eyes open for “handstand floors” and turn every place into our gym. The gym is always open and it’s everywhere, when you train the way we do.
Thanks to fantastic communication technologies, you can access The Open Gymnasium wherever you are. It’s open for everyone. If your needs are not met through any of the current existing offers, don’t hesitate to contact us and ask for a customized offer. We think everyone deserves to discover their body in the way we have discovered ours, a way of never ending fascination and experimentation.
There will be no dogmatism in The Open Gymnasium. There are already way too many “schools” and “systems” claiming they are “the best” or they know “the absolute truth” about training. We are open for different perspectives and training methods, as long as they are proven to be of benefit, both scientifically and practically, because we know that scientific evidence is not always flawless and can lag behind practical knowledge. The Open Gymnasium is the home for everyone who’s enthusiastic and eager to learn new things, cultivating critical thinking and productive discourse.
So many people deal with chronic pain or feeling restricted in their body. We highly value restoring lost range of motion and strength and help you learn how you can use your movement practice as therapy to resolve your musculoskeletal issues. We can provide this service best via individualized coaching methods.
Qualifications
We both value continuous education and self study of the human body and movement, but these are the “hard facts” about our qualifications.
Tanja
Ashtanga yoga practice since 2012
2014-2016 yoga teacher apprenticeship (Ashtanga Yoga Studio Basel), teaching classes from 2015-2018
Calisthenics practice since 2017
2019 Weightlifting Fitness Trainer B License (Akademie für Sport und Gesundheit Freiburg)
April-May 2020 trainer internship (Nirvana Strength Bali)
September 2020-May 2021 Master Flexibility Trainer Course by Dan van Zandt
Slava
Continuous practical training experience since childhood until now in various disciplines (circus, skateboarding, kickboxing, basketball, parcours, calisthenics, gymnastics, climbing, etc.)
2001 J&S Snowboard Teacher Course
April 2019-July 2019 Climbing Teacher (LÖbloc)
2019 Weightlifting Fitness Trainer B License (Akademie für Sport und Gesundheit Freiburg)
April-May 2020 trainer internship (Nirvana Strength Bali)
September 2020-May 2021 Master Flexibility Trainer Course by Dan van Zandt