When Milton Washington first created what would grow to become Rokmill Fitness, a dance movement and fitness program, he was only looking to find an alternative to physical therapy at home. In the last eight years, it has become a premier Harlem destination of fitness for people of all shapes, sizes, and ages.
Washington, 55, describes the exercise as “indigenous fitness,” as it is both centered around a Bamileke stool, which derives from the largest ethnic group of Cameroon, and also includes dancing to the beat and rhythm of the music. He later named the stools used for the exercise as “Roks.” The stool is primarily used for support and balance for upper and lower-body exercises.
“It’s a system of movements that we do to the beat on and around an African stool, and that system of movement is true strength, true cardio, and true flexibility, and a whole lot of fun, and it transforms your body immediately,” said Washington.
The program is housed at his studio on Lenox Ave in Harlem. Providing support and community is central to the experience for his 200 active members. The other aspect that differentiates Rokmil is that it is not only cannabis-friendly but even incorporated into the session for members if they choose.
Washington says he wasn’t thinking of traditional fitness when creating the program, but instead as an artist, as he is also a published photographer, or as he says, a storyteller.
Born in South Korea, Washington has always had athleticism and art as central to his life. He was raised by his mother, who had been a sex worker, and grew up in a village and then a camp town before she placed him into an orphanage.
Despite challenges of racism and feeling ostracized from other South Korean children, Washington knew he was athletically more gifted than his peers, and recalls his mother often reminding him that other kids were simply jealous.
“I felt like I had this superior body…there was a dramatic aesthetic difference between me and the other kids,” Washington said. “My athleticism and my sense of self were really high even in the face of all the rejection.” He recalls first seeing Black soldiers at the age of six, the first Black people he had seen.
When he was eight years old, he was formally adopted by a Black couple, the Washingtons. By age 10, he was moving around as a “military brat” with his new family between Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana, and California.
He played football as a student and later graduated from Seaside High School in Seaside, California. After being recruited by Northwestern University, he left school for a few years. By his mid-20s, he returned and got a business degree from Indiana University. In 2002, he moved to New York and began a career in sales.
By 2018, Washington had been experiencing sciatica and knee problems and needed to do physical therapy. After taking notice of a Bamileke stool, which had been gifted to him, sitting in his living room instead of where it usually was in the bathroom, he realized that he might be able to use it to help with his low-impact exercises. He incorporated music, letting the rhythm and beat lead his movements, to which he was able to strengthen his quadriceps, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles.
“Not only is it physical therapy, it’s also a workout, because I’m getting conditioning. I’m doing these movements repetitively, switching up as I need to without damaging my joy,” Washington said. After a few songs, he realized his knee pain was gone, and his abs were tight in a way they had never been. He soon lost 30 pounds without changing his diet.
Washington, who had never been a trainer or fitness instructor, began hosting classes in his Harlem apartment for friends. It naturally continued to spread through his network. He later opened his first commercial space on Lenox in 2024.
According to Washington, the program has been able to cultivate a genuine community with “good people” willing to help one another in the space and beyond. One of the key demographics he is proud of having is older members and specifically older Black members, even having one who is 88 years old. He recalls one elderly woman who first came to the class with a cane and, after a few sessions of stretching, no longer needed it and eventually was able to run.
Washington emphasizes that during sessions, participants don’t need to follow whatever movements he does, and that as long as they are moving and using the stool, they are doing Rokmil fitness, going at whatever level they are comfortable with.
“You can stand up and do a two-step for the entire hour, and you can have done Rok, or you can sit down on that stool and stretch for the entire hour. You should never feel pressure to keep up with what we’re doing,” Washington said.
New attendees get a free first session. Unlike other fitness classes, it is not a “no pain, no gain” situation, and one should never experience pain.
“In every other form of exercise…you have to get taught the form, or you’ll hurt yourself,” Washington said. “Rockmill mitigates that issue by just providing you support, so now you can just move about freely and just listen to your body on what feels good.”
Even with Rokmil’s organic growth over time, Washington says the social media is generally not developed, and it has been able to grow through word of mouth, what he calls “analog viral.” Washington intends to expand the business so that people can purchase Rokmil stools, and so that he can run livestreaming sessions, and open up spaces in other cities. Washington foresees it having an impact on millions across the world.
Washington says the experience also improves one’s ability to work out in other ways beyond the Rokmil exercise.
“[Rokmil] makes you stronger at that other thing that you love to do… it also makes you more resistant to injury,” Washington said. “The energy given off when someone’s doing Rokmil, it’s different.”
