"That's when I met Kate Kendall and I started personal training with her and we found that strength and fitness helped her yoga and her yoga helped my strength and fitness."
Together, Kendall and Lucas created Flow Athletic, which launched six years ago and now has over an annual turnover of US$4 million.
While yoga may be all the rage now, back in 2011 it was still quite an isolated idea and people had not connected yoga to strength, said Lucas.
"It wasn't even a thing in Australia and incorporating the different ideologies under the one roof was quite out there at the time," he said.
Fortunately, by the time the brand launched in 2013 international athletes like LeBron James and Tom Brady had started to promote yoga, which brought it into the mainstream.
"Australians believed yoga was too light or easy and that's why it took so long. We are still trying to win men over and show them the benefits it brings to other fitness aspects," said Mr Lucas.
The brand has clearly been winning people over and has even spawned events like Flow After Dark, Nightclub Spin and Sofa 2 Surf.
Flow After Dark is the studio's successful evening workout which is silent yoga disco that travels around Australia.
Lucas believes that the success has come about because people have opened up to the ideals that yoga promotes. He says now the classes are 60 per cent female and 40 per cent male.
"The male portion is growing as men open up to yoga and group exercise, where previously they would just lift weights or run," he said.
What keeps people coming back, though, isn't just the workout but the staff who drive that, said Lucas.
Quality staff were key to the fitness industry and none more so than when the trainers had personal relationships with their students.
"Hire good people and look after them so they stay long turn," said Lucas.
"At Flow Athletic we want the right people to build relationships with clients and if they do that then the clients stay with us."
Flow Athletic offers its trainers full-time employment with the ability to work flexible hours and with ongoing development options as well.
Lucas says those items are vital to keeping staff and even as the studios grow it was instrumental to the business to keep those values.
The other vital value for Flow Athletic was about giving back and Lucas has helped raise over $300,000 for charity in the last five years.
"It's a huge part of our DNA and we are currently gearing up for out next one at the IVY ballroom to raise funds for bushfire relief," he said.
The Flow After Dark Bushfire Relief event will donate 100 per cent of funds to charity and Lucas expects it will sell out.
"Everyone should give back as much as they can and it's one of our most important values and our clients really buy into it as well," said Mr Lucas.
Despite how successful his studios are Lucas still loves to run and last year completed his fortieth marathon just before his 40th birthday.
