You know you're thinking about it. The department stores have been reminding us since March. There's no avoiding it. Swimming suit season is upon us.
Shudder.
BJ Gaddour and Naomi Nazario feel your pain. Well, not really -- as professional fitness trainers, they're both in great shape. But, as founders of Milwaukee's Get Sexy Boot Camps -- 30-minute express workouts for busy professionals -- they've worked with plenty of people who need that extra little boost to achieve the body image they desire.
The Get Sexy Boot Camps have been wildly successful and have been praised on an international level. Now, the partners are expanding into a new venture. Gaddour and Nazario recently launched what they're calling an "anti-gym" in Bay View's Hide House. It's called the Fitness Asylum and it officially opened May 19.
So, what exactly is an anti-gym?
"We created this gym for people who really like to get after it when it comes to working out," says Gaddour, who is a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
"This is not the place for you if you are a cardio queen, don't like to sweat, spend 45 minutes working on your biceps and triceps, like to read magazines during training, roll your eyes at people who are actually exerting themselves at the gym, or if you consider walking to be a real workout. However, if you're serious about your fitness, this truly is the place for you."
According to Nazario, a certified personal trainer, "Most gyms and health clubs feature overpriced machines and bulky equipment in expensive storefront locations that leave little or no space for people to actually workout."
The Fitness Asylum, she says, features cost-effective fitness classes and space-efficient functional training tools in a unique, rustic environment that "spits in the proverbial face of the unnecessary frills endemic to most health clubs."
The fitness center features 2,400 square feet of open space and padded flooring utilizing cutting-edge, boot camp-style fitness equipment like kettlebells, dumbbells, stability balls, med balls, training ropes, resistance bands, airdyne bikes and slideboards.
"These training tools allow for killer 30-minute express metabolic workouts that combine the muscle-building benefits of strength training with the fat-burning benefits of cardiovascular exercise to allow you to get the biggest bang-for-your-fitness-buck," says Gaddour.
Of course, you can get your Get Sexy Boot Camps here (in addition to regularly scheduled classes at Vita Fitness and Physical Therapy in the Third Ward), but the Asylum offers other courses, such as semi-private training, yoga, pilates, zumba (a Latin dance fitness program), kettlebell, and suspension training.
"Our goal is to provide something for everyone and create this tight-knit, hardcore community of fitness fanatics," says Gaddour. "We believe in the potential of Bay View and couldn't be more excited about being a part of its bright future."
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
