K2 Roots & Vitality Wellness Club Creates ‘One-Stop Health Shop’ in Downtown State College

Happy Valley has something for almost everyone. For a city home to central Pennsylvanians, thousands of students from near and far, world-class athletes and more, a few people thought it lacked a social welfare center focused on rejuvenation and relaxation.

Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members and Olympians David Taylor and Kyle Dake observed the gaps in State College’s healthcare offerings and took matters into their own hands.

Taylor, a two-time Penn State national wrestling champion and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, owns the K2 Roots Juice Factory, formerly located on Fraser Street, which provides downtown State College with healthy food and beverage options for members of the community and the athletes. Today, after nearly seven years of operating K2 Roots while incorporating numerous trips to premier wellness facilities, Taylor and Dake have joined forces to bring Vitality Wellness Club to Happy Valley.

Taylor closed original K2 Roots location on Fraser Street and its new location, in conjunction with the opening of Vitality Wellness Club, held its grand opening to the public last week.

While the new K2 Roots location will feature an expanded menu with favorites including salads, sandwiches, paninis, juices and Rothrock coffee, the Vitality Wellness Club will bring State College health offerings such as saunas, hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy, cold dives and Kaqun water. therapy, red light therapy, compression, lymphatic drainage therapy and cycling shop.

“We’re not trying to replace anything medical, but (Taylor and Dake) are superhuman,” said Amanda Werner, Vitality Wellness Club sales and marketing specialist. “They simply believe in the power of ancient, natural medicine.”

The Vitality Wellness Club concept was inspired by Remedy Place in New York, which aims to improve health and wellness practices through human connections and self-care. While spending time at Remedy Place, Taylor and Dake decided to start their own version of the club a little closer to home.

The K2 Roots and Vitality Wellness Club is located in the former Bar Bleu location on South Garner Street and will serve as a “one-stop shop for health” with all of K2 Roots’ operations upstairs and a relaxation and rejuvenation space in low facilitated by Vitality Wellness. Club.

The wellness club’s personalized sauna allows users to benefit from the benefits for the immune system, the cardiovascular system and mental health of exposure to heat between 170° and 180° in a group or private session as well as immersion in cold water at 50° to relieve stress, inflammation and increase energy levels.

Kaqun Water Therapy, or Cocoon Water Therapy, is a 50-minute bath that intentionally provides oxygen and relaxation to cells while improving mitochondrial production and skin health. Vitality Wellness Club’s Kaqun water therapy device is only the third cocoon bath in the United States, following New York and Las Vegas, while enhancing State College’s health scene.

In addition to other services like hyperbaric chamber therapy and a combination of lymphatic drainage, the Vitality Wellness Club looks for all walks of life to take advantage of its amenities – from Penn Staters to IRONMAN participants.

“Obviously we want students,” Werner said. “You’re already in town, and you’re definitely going to come to K2 Roots. Which other cafe will be open until 9am? We just want it to be a really cool hangout place for (students) and I feel like the college age group has become really healthy and focused on health.

And as the IRONMAN 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley prepares to take over State College this weekend, the wellness club will be offering free cold plunges to those who show their race bib after the event concludes.

The K2 Roots and Vitality Wellness Club will host its grand opening during Arts Fest, July 11-14, while holding temporary hours daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until then. All Vitality Wellness Club services can be used in a single optimized session or as daily and monthly packages. The club’s boutique cycling studio will begin operations after its grand opening as it seeks to become one of the “hippest places in town”.

“(Taylor and Dake’s) whole world is living healthy,” Werner said. “We hope to have a good influence and instead of kids going out all the time and spending $100 at the bar, they’ll come hang out with us here for an afternoon. We want to be really positive and healthy.