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Fitness boot camp not for sissies
  
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Instructor expects hard work, makes it 'well worth it'
by Kristine Goodrich
Staff Writer
VADNAIS HEIGHTS — On a park field typically traversed by tikes with soccer balls, soccer moms and businesswomen pulled car tires and tossed medicine balls.
“Again?” questioned one of the panting women when she learned one lap towing a tire with a rope across the field wasn’t enough.
“One more minute. You can do it,” responded instructor Kate Klaers of Vadnais Heights.
“Power it up from the hips,” Klaers instructed next to the other half of the women who were doing squats and throwing balls.
Pushups, military presses, sprints up a hill and other exercises followed during the one-hour “boot camp” session.
Afterward, several of the women said they were exhausted, but felt a great sense of accomplishment.
“It’s not a walk in the park, but it’s well worth it,” said one participant.
“She won’t let us slack off ... but she makes you want to come back every time,” said another woman.
Klaers, a former firefighter and YMCA instructor, formed her own company, The Athlete Lab LLC, and started leading fitness boot camps this summer. The camps are six weeks, three days per week. Klaers currently teaches two morning sessions and plans to add an evening session this winter. Sessions are held at Midwest Gymnastics and at Kohler Meadows Park/Community Park during the warmer months.
The boot camps are for all fitness ability levels. But participants must be willing to work harder than they ever have before.
That push comes not through a fearful drill sergeant method, but instead through positive encouragement and quick results.
“I motivate people to reach the next level,” she said. “I love helping people move beyond their perceived potential.”
Klaers started teaching fitness classes at the YMCA during college. After graduation, she “fell into” a career as a full-time firefighter and EMT for the St. Paul Fire Department. She set the women’s record for the fastest completion time on the department’s physical entrance test.
She left the department to pursue a master’s degree in acupuncture, which she completed this spring. In addition to the boot camps, she recently opened her own acupuncture clinic in Shoreview.
Klaers also refers her clients to Therapy with Hope, a massage and nutrition clinic on Centerville Circle in Vadnais Heights owned by Hope Wilkins. Good health, she said, requires much more than exercise.
“I want to help change lifestyle habits,” she said.
Someday she hopes to open her own expanded clinic offering boot camps, acupuncture and nutrition counseling.
“I want to make it the place to come for holistic health,” she said.
Kristine Goodrich can be reached at 651-407-1233 or vadnaisheightsnews @presspubs. com.
“Again?” questioned one of the panting women when she learned one lap towing a tire with a rope across the field wasn’t enough.
“One more minute. You can do it,” responded instructor Kate Klaers of Vadnais Heights.
“Power it up from the hips,” Klaers instructed next to the other half of the women who were doing squats and throwing balls.
Pushups, military presses, sprints up a hill and other exercises followed during the one-hour “boot camp” session.
Afterward, several of the women said they were exhausted, but felt a great sense of accomplishment.
“It’s not a walk in the park, but it’s well worth it,” said one participant.
“She won’t let us slack off ... but she makes you want to come back every time,” said another woman.
Klaers, a former firefighter and YMCA instructor, formed her own company, The Athlete Lab LLC, and started leading fitness boot camps this summer. The camps are six weeks, three days per week. Klaers currently teaches two morning sessions and plans to add an evening session this winter. Sessions are held at Midwest Gymnastics and at Kohler Meadows Park/Community Park during the warmer months.
The boot camps are for all fitness ability levels. But participants must be willing to work harder than they ever have before.
For more info
The next boot camps begin Oct. 20 and are Monday, Wednesday and Fridays through Nov. 28. Sessions are 6 to 7 a.m. at Midwest Gymnastics (currently located in Arden Hills, but soon moving to Little Canada) and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Kohler Meadows and Community Park in Vadnais Heights. Cost is $180. Visit www.theathletelab.com or e-mail kateklaers@theathletelab.com.
Kinetic Acupuncture opened Sept. 9 at 3434 Lexington Ave. N. Suite 800 in Shoreview. Visit www.kineticacupuncture.com or call 612-770-4322.
“I push them further than they think they can go,” Klaers said.The next boot camps begin Oct. 20 and are Monday, Wednesday and Fridays through Nov. 28. Sessions are 6 to 7 a.m. at Midwest Gymnastics (currently located in Arden Hills, but soon moving to Little Canada) and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Kohler Meadows and Community Park in Vadnais Heights. Cost is $180. Visit www.theathletelab.com or e-mail kateklaers@theathletelab.com.
Kinetic Acupuncture opened Sept. 9 at 3434 Lexington Ave. N. Suite 800 in Shoreview. Visit www.kineticacupuncture.com or call 612-770-4322.
That push comes not through a fearful drill sergeant method, but instead through positive encouragement and quick results.
“I motivate people to reach the next level,” she said. “I love helping people move beyond their perceived potential.”
Klaers started teaching fitness classes at the YMCA during college. After graduation, she “fell into” a career as a full-time firefighter and EMT for the St. Paul Fire Department. She set the women’s record for the fastest completion time on the department’s physical entrance test.
She left the department to pursue a master’s degree in acupuncture, which she completed this spring. In addition to the boot camps, she recently opened her own acupuncture clinic in Shoreview.
Klaers also refers her clients to Therapy with Hope, a massage and nutrition clinic on Centerville Circle in Vadnais Heights owned by Hope Wilkins. Good health, she said, requires much more than exercise.
“I want to help change lifestyle habits,” she said.
Someday she hopes to open her own expanded clinic offering boot camps, acupuncture and nutrition counseling.
“I want to make it the place to come for holistic health,” she said.
Kristine Goodrich can be reached at 651-407-1233 or vadnaisheightsnews @presspubs. com.
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