Joshua Hibbitt and Jeremy Stevens are best friends who grew up in Indianapolis playing sports. Hibbitt ran track; Stevens played baseball; and they both were Lawrence Central High School football athletes.
Hibbitt went on to run track for Tennessee State University, and Stevens played football at Buter University.
“Athletics and working out has always been a thing. Over time, though, I gained all this weight through poor eating habits. I gained about 300 pounds,” said Stevens.
Stevens’ experience as an athlete and his exercise science degree gave him an understanding of the science behind weight loss.
He said his workouts never stopped, but what he ate and how he ate is what changed his body weight.
Stevens eventually posted his physical transformation online and was surprised by the feedback, which brought him to confide in his friend.
“I was like, ‘Hey man, all these people keep asking me how I lost all this weight, and I’m just giving them this free information.’ I was telling them what I was eating, how I was working out and different exercises to do,” said Stevens.
He created an original 10-page Word document of useful tips for clients, like which restaurants to eat at, how much water to drink and how much protein you should have in a day.
He sent this document to Hibbitt, and DYC Fitness was born.
DYC, which stands for Disturb Your Comfort Fitness, was founded in 2017 as an online training company. The duo focused on nutritional health and offered different weight-loss plans.
They also sold athletic gear for people to work out in and offered training sessions.
“Similar to Jeremy, I always knew the fundamentals of fitness, but I didn’t always apply it. What helps is having that discipline and actually disturbing your comfort. If we’re comfortable, we can let ourselves go,” said Hibbitt.
In 2021, they opened a brick-and-mortar gym location at 1703 E. Michigan St., offering workout equipment for trainers and their clients to utilize.
They eventually decided that they needed a place for their own clients to train at and opened a second location at 1480 W. 86th St., where they have approximately 70 clients and six trainers.
“They’re training only, meaning it’s by appointment only, and it just felt like something I would actually follow through with. I’m paying for it in advance, and I have a specific time that someone’s waiting for me,” said Kristen Abbott, longtime DYC Fitness client.
“It felt like something consistent that would help me continue working out. I used to run a lot, and then because of some old sports injuries, I had developed knee issues.”
Abbott consulted with several different orthopedic surgeons to inquire about avoiding knee surgery, and one suggested she avoid running; another suggested that she even stop walking for exercise.
However, she did not want to be deterred from working out.
“I had to find something different that would keep me exercising and healthy, and the unintended benefit which I didn’t expect from being with DYC is I’m actually able to run a little bit now,” said Abbott.
“Not as much as I was before I was running, but now, I’m able to run two to three miles a few times a week. That was because I was able to build up certain leg muscles with them.”
She said DYC Fitness is welcoming and encouraging and that she has seen clients of all fitness levels; the environment is a space of journeying together with no judgments.
“It’s fulfilling to see people transform under their own disturbing comfort meal plans and training places. We’ve seen people lose 50 to 100 pounds. It means something to watch people follow the plan that you created that changes the trajectory of their lives,” said Stevens.
“It’s also meaningful to start the brand here in Indianapolis because that’s where we’re from. It’s very cool to start a business and grow a business in your own backyard.”
DYC Fitness hopes to eventually expand across the state and beyond.
