Manchester, MO Health and Fitness

St. Louis Fitness Boot Camp's creator and head trainer, Johnny King, knows how hard it can be to start working out. Enormous corporate gyms seem designed to intimidate the new exerciser, and the workout genies trapped inside at-home DVDs can only offer motivation after they’ve been put in the player. That’s why he made it his mission to design an exercise program geared toward beginners, providing a low-stakes introduction to training and plenty of positive motivation.

He constructs easy-to-follow circuit training routines that alternate between working the lower body, core, and upper body, relying on the combination of exercises over time to whip bodies into peak shape. His small groups of trainees often encourage one another and help keep one other accountable to exerting their maximum effort during routines. Within the climate-controlled facility, exercisers shed sweat and pounds on spring-loaded floors that ease impact on joints. To supplement the workouts, he and the trainers provide nutritional counseling and even emotional counseling, gently reminding each student why they chose to start working out.:m]]

Though they are all licensed to lead group workouts, the instructors at ZPower Fitness feel more like party hosts. That's because their Zumba classes evoke the club rather then the gym—they combine modern, energetic music with dance moves that anyone can learn. Guests shimmy along to the beat during regular Zumba classes and incorporate maraca-like hand-weights into the choreography during Zumba Toning classes. For those who aren't in the dancing mood, the teachers offer R.I.P.P.E.D. classes that focus on building muscle. Owner Emily Cook-Willis, a certified personal trainer, can also schedule one-on-one sessions that target specific goals.

Tom Kavanaugh draws from his personal-training experience to craft a varied workout regimen to push patrons of all skill levels to strengthen and tone their entire bodies. Up to 30 boot campers band together to burn fat and tone physiques outdoors with Tom, moving indoors in the event of inclement weather. Joining in on the calorie burning, Tom throws himself into the high-intensity workouts, performing the strength training, plyometrics, core work, and high-intensity cardio exercises alongside his students rather than barking instructions from the sidelines. After blasting through routines of pushups, sit-ups, and jumping, each Saturday class culminates in up to 15–20 minutes of play time, challenging students to games of dodge ball, kickball, or full-contact checkers.