Trainers and gyms are always asking for endorsements, but I’ve been in the fitness industries for over 25 years, and it’s really hard to impress me.
Forward Fitness did.
Not only is this new Maplewood facility immaculate, with shiny new equipment, but the staff has solid credentials, and they design routines to keep thing fun, challenging, and safe.
Forward Fitness isn't spending a lot of time, energy or funds on its website, advertising or social media. Instead, owner and trainer Mike Klaus is putting all his resources into researching, studying, and perfecting their fitness assessment process.
He, trainer Nick Lape, and dietitian Suzanne Doerries are all certified in Functional Movement Systems. It’s a way of thinking about the body’s movement patterns, but it’s also a screening tool that identifies limitations and asymmetries. There are seven basic movement patterns we all use every day, and an expert can watch those movements and see where you’re tight, constrained, weak, unstable, or off-kilter.
Every member of Forward Fitness gets screened before a trainer creates a workout program for them, then monitored to make sure they’re moving correctly, then re-screened three months later. “We watch how you move, learn how you move, and keep watching,” Klaus says on the website. “That may sound creepy, but it’s not.” Clients shouldn’t want a random workout—they should want one based on the way they move. And Forward Fitness doesn’t want any injuries.
Good Trainers
The Forward Fitness team’s happy to share what they’re researching and studying, especially the latest information on the ever-changing fitness assessment process. And they definitely know their stuff.
Lape has a bachelor’s in exercise and movement science and is a certified Restorative Breathing Coach and is a certified Youth Fitness and Speed and Agility Specialist. Klaus has certification from the International Sports Science Association and specializes in weight loss, strength training, and kettlebell coaching. Doerries has a bachelor’s in medical dietetics and is certified in weight management. (She’s not there to tell you what not to eat, they hasten to assure me. Just to assess your motivation and help you set goals you can meet and maintain.)
The academic background of these trainers impresses me, because I’m well aware that the fitness certification/accreditation industry can be dysfunctional. It’s expensive, not cost-effective for the trainers, and hyperfocused on marketing and profit margins, not injury-free lifestyle changes for the clients.
“There are training programs around that just get people into the gym,” agrees Klaus, “but they are not thinking about long-term safety.”
Facilities
One of the best things about this gym is the way trainers custom-design programs for individual clients and for classes. They write the daily routines up on a huge chalkboard the way a restaurant posts its dinner specials. That chalkboard’s instant motivation. And the carefully chosen equipment, clean facilities, nice shower accommodations, and registered dietition on site help you realize how serious this place is about fitness.
Personal Experiences
“When I started at Fitness Forward, I was afraid to do everything!” client Amber Geiger tells me. “But they teach you how to do things right.”
“Nick knows so much about the body, and I trust him,” says Jenna Laudry, a kindergarten teacher.
Don’t let Lape’s size and power intimidate you—he’s a big teddy bear. I took a class at Forward Fitness, and Nick would cue me to make centimeter changes in my posture or alignment that made a world of difference. He’s a good athlete, a baseball player, but he also sings in an a capella group—which explains why he understands the importance of breath work (oxygen deprivation).
I left class happy, only disappointed that I didn’t get to here him sing.
But I wouldn’t mind going back.
