Peoria Gyms and Fitness

At Ape Index Rock Climbing, instructors lovingly referred to as "apes" assist climbers of all fitness levels as they scale walls that stand at more than 32 feet tall. Owner and instructor Amos Cox designed the gym to include more than 75 top ropes, a bouldering tunnel, and a 3-D globe that challenges climbers with its rounded façade and active volcanoes. Climbing paths range in difficulty to accommodate guests of various ages and experience levels, which makes the gym an ideal place for family bonding, birthday parties, or other group activities.

After having a baby, Balanced Body Bootcamp founder Kristen Poczulp was in a quandary. She wanted to lose her baby weight and regain energy and confidence, but as a working mother, she didn't want to sacrifice time with her newborn to spend hours at the gym. As she circled on lunchtime walks, frustrated by her lack of progress, she realized many other women must face the same problem. Inspired and intrigued, she switched careers and took on the dilemma herself.

Now a certified personal trainer, she leads a team of fitness buffs at two locations. Eschewing the issues that frustrated her at conventional gyms, Kristen and her trainers rely on group motivation and accountability to motivate women to keep their commitments to exercise and end unhealthy relationships with the snooze button. The one-hour boot-camp workouts blend intervals, circuits, and strength training that can be tailored to fit ladies of all ages and fitness levels.

Polar Ice Peoria's sparkling ice rink attracts athletes of all ages and skill levels, giving them a chance to carve their names in ice using the blades on their feet. The rink hosts basic skating, figure skating, and hockey lessons taught by skilled instructors and ranging from Learn to Skate to Power Skating, which strengthens legs for hockey matches. Staff members also captain summer camps for kids, weaving ice skating into a jam-packed schedule of activities such as arts and crafts and bounce-house sessions. Both students and campers graciously step aside to make room for the masses during public skate sessions.

Like the opposite of eyelids, the curtains at Scandalesque open to a dream world of garish costumes, pyrotechnics, circus arts, and sensuality. This nexus of fantasy and real life is produced in-house and performed by Scandalesque’s troupe of professional burlesque artists. Leading them, cofounders Lady Fontayne and Pyrrha Sutra, as they're known on stage, strive to curate an atmosphere where outlandishness flashes atop proper technique and artistry. When the troupe isn’t pushing the envelope and toppling mailmen, they’re teaching burlesque, adult-dance, and pole classes throughout the week.

Inside Arcadia Sports & Fitness, athletes and fitness enthusiasts find what they need to replenish their stock of equipment and apparel. Baseball and softball gloves, bats, bags, and cleats equip players for practice or games, and the store's outdoor batting cages help keep them in prime shape for homerun hitting or window breaking. Slider shorts protect rumps from abrasion during base-sliding, and youth jersey shirts protect skin from moisture with Bio-Dri technology. The robust stock also includes equipment for other sports, such as boxing, lacrosse, volleyball, and football. Exercise enthusiasts can peruse kettlebells, free weights, and cardio machines for tools to help build muscle at home.

After earning a degree in kinesiology in 1991, Jill Dailey McIntosh gravitated toward Pilates. She began training other teachers and helped run a personal-training and Pilates business, but she wasn't completely satisfied. She wanted her clients to be able to shape their bodies more aggressively without losing the proper alignment and form in a classroom-like setting. After visiting New York several times and training under Lotte Berk instructors, Jill was inspired to create her own fitness modality. Combining her background in kinesiology, personal training, and dance, she developed The Dailey Method. Today, her method has spread to more than 40 locations throughout the United States, Canada, and France.

A blend of Pilates, ballet, and yoga, The Dailey Method helps students strengthen and stretch the body's major muscle groups. Jill designed the low-impact classes to challenge bodies, minds, and spirit animals alike as students build their cores, align their spines, and tone lean muscles. Instructors help students master the proper form for each motion, whether they're swinging dumbbells or bellying up to the barre to work their quadriceps.