New Gym Aims to Shape Bodies, Culture
How Kirkwood's independently owned PEAK Physique is determined to bring one-on-one relationships back to the gym.
A look at MMA fighter and PEAK Physique lead personal trainer Charles Hackmann.
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Three bodybuilders have chosen Kirkwood to launch a gym that they are confident will stand apart from other St. Louis fitness facilities.
PEAK Physique opened Dec. 15 at the prime Downtown Kirkwood location of 200 S. Kirkwood Rd, but buzz about the facility preceded its unveiling. The gym sold more than 100 memberships before opening and has already accrued 520 facebook fans.
The independetnly owned gym is the brainchild of co-owners, business partners and bodybuilders Jamie Speiser, Damien Belgeri and Kenny Reilly.
Speiser says one of the key philosophies behind PEAK Physique is to bring back a personal relationship with clients, which he believes has been lost with the expansion of corporate gyms over the years.
“Our goal is to get back to where employees know customers on a first name basis,” Speiser said. “We offer the size of a corporate gym but get back to a personal touch that I don’t feel is in a lot of the gyms anymore.”
PEAK Physique also hopes to foster relationships between clients.
“We want members to get to know other members,” Speiser said. “I met some of my best friends over 15 years ago in the gym. … Being a part of a gym is a group thing, and I think that’s been taken away with the corporate gym atmosphere.”
Why Kirkwood?
There’s no better community to kick off PEAK Physique’s intimate approach to training than in Kirkwood, according to Speiser.
“(Kirkwood) is a very active community and a tight nit community where local residents support local businesses. There’s just a lot of activity, a lot of runners, triathletes and people into fitness and staying healthy,” Speiser said, noting longstanding health traditions and institutions like the Kirkwood-Webster Turkey Day Run and Farmers’ Market.
Speiser, Belgeri and Reilly intend for the new Kirkwood gym to be the first of more PEAK Physiques in St. Louis. The trio hopes to open five to 10 more gyms in the St. Louis area during the next five years.
PEAK Physique in Kirkwood is open Monday through Saturday, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
See Part 2 of our profile on PEAK Physique: A Closer 'PEAK' Inside Kirkwood's Newest Gym
Madison
7:22 am on Monday, May 7, 2012
The gym sucks! They are in a feud with the residents above them and rightfully so. The people who live their have a right to be upset that a gym was allowed to move in and disturb the peace. Shame on Kirkwood for allowing a business to open below a residential building especially at 5am. I will not join this gym out of respect to the poor owners who live above. Find another location and maybe I'll reconsider.