Blaze Body Fitness, the new health club in West Concord will open this week. They’ll be hosting an Open house during Survival Days on Thursday and Friday July 25th and 26th from 3 to 7pm each day.
Blaze Body Fitness is the brainchild of Theresa French of West Concord. Theresa grew up in northern California and moved to Iowa in 1989 and then Minnesota twenty-five years ago. She is a business owner and entrepreneur at heart. Having owned and operated a full-service photography studio to running a fully remote, online coaching and consulting business helping small businesses with their marketing and sales for the past 15 years. Theresa and her husband Terry have lived in West Concord since 2008 and they have two daughters, five grandchildren and many furbabies.
As a full-figure woman herself, Theresa was tired of the traditional fitness options. In 2017, while working at an online nutrition and fitness company here in Minnesota, coaching hundreds of clients on their nutrition and fitness, she realized most of them struggled in the same way as she had with consistency and sticking with it. It was then she decided to create something less traditional with a different approach to fat loss and fitness by focusing on function and fun. It was then BlazeBody Fitness was born.
With less focus on conforming and performing, BlazeBody fitness promises to be less focused on routine and less regimented. Instead, members will be given the freedom to dance at their own pace, at their own fitness ability and have fun while getting fit. The main focus will be on mindset, making sensible food choices and allowing yourself to step out of the usual routine by freestyling your dance fitness workouts. Theresa believes that if you focus on the fun, the weight loss will come.
The buildout on the vacant building on Main Street started in 2019. Construction was halted during COVID and it once again became a labor of love for Terry and Theresa when they picked their hammers back up in late 2021. The completed remodel features a very upscale lobby, 2 changing rooms and a 900 square foot dance floor with mirrors and D.J. “club like” sound and light system.
The keystone offering of this new dance fitness studio will be routine free dance sessions of 30-45 minutes with varying music genres and themes to keep members dancing to their favorite songs. From the 50’s and 60’s to hip hop and country, to 80’s & 90’s to Latin Salsa beats, these dance sessions are designed to serve every age range and fitness level. Theresa says, “It’s like dancing all night long at the best wedding reception ever or going “clubbing,” just without alcohol. From the 50’s and 60’s to hip hop and country, to 80’s & 90’s to Latin Salsa beats, these dance sessions are designed to serve every age range and fitness level.
Members can use a heart monitor which will display your heartrate on a monitor inside the dance space so you can keep your workout within the prescribed heart rate zones to meet your fitness training goals. Circuit Strength Training and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) will also be offered 2-3 days a week using small equipment such as kettle bells, battle ropes, tension bands and medicine balls for full body strength training and agility.
Later this fall, Theresa will be hosting special dance clinics taught by local choreographers in swing, ballroom, hip hop as well as line dancing. In the future look for special community events such as a movie on the big screen during the winter and holiday inspired formal dinner and dance events.
Be sure to stop by for the Open House during Survival Days or check out the website blazebodyfitness.com for a full calendar of events and class offerings or follow us on Facebook @facebook.com/blazebod. You can also reach her by phone at 507-969-5708. Theresa and Blaze Body Fitness is excited to help you ignite the fire for what you desire in your fitness and in your life.
