After an incredible retreat in Costa Rica, I was back in Raleigh and prepared and inspired to continue with regular movement and clean, healthy eating when one of my retreat-goers invited me to attend a class at AKT in Brier Creek. If you don’t know me well, here’s your invitation. I will absolutely attend a class with you if you invite me.
While I wasn’t exactly familiar with AKT, I most certainly knew who Anna Kaiser is. If you don’t know, Anna Kaiser is a Canadian-born fitness guru and celebrity trainer. She has most notably trained both Shakira and Kelly Ripa. In fact, when she trainer Shakira for the 2020 Super Bowl, that’s where I really started to pay attention to her. She is incredibly talented, energetic as hell, and cute as a button!
While Anna no longer owns AKT, you can still sense her presence and inspiration in the brand. The studios are currently under the umbrella of Xponential Fitness much like Cyclebar, Stretch Lab, Row House, and Club Pilates. I have always had tremendous respect for fitness instructors who can lead choreography. While I have been in the fitness industry for over 12 years, dance-based fitness classes that require me to cue choreography has always been way outside of my comfort zone. That being said, I absolutely LOVE it! It’s one of my favorite forms of cardiovascular exercise and you can find me doing it on my own regularly.
So I was absolutely thrilled when my friend, Brandi invited me and it was a Dance class! When I arrived 15 minutes early, I was greeted with a smile by the studio manager, Ashley. She gave me a brief tour around the studio and made me feel comfortable and extremely welcome. Then she introduced me to the instructor, Amanda who was an absolute gem. Amanda was energetic, funny, and motivating and she had me smiling throughout the 60 minute class.
The class consisted of long segments of dance based choreography and smaller segments of strength training using small dumbbells, stability ball, and a mat. It was fantastic. The 60 minutes FLEW by and I would have been perfectly happy staying another hour! The other pleasant surprise was that the studio was incredibly welcoming and size and age inclusive. I only wish I lived closer to take advantage of this studio. If you are looking for a great dance-based fitness program, I definitely suggest checking them out!
