Frank Perez may be a tough drillmaster when he puts his primarly female clients through a 45-minute boxing-fitness workout, but that's why people show up at his gym's door.
Bankers, lawyers, accountants, business owners and homemakers are willing to take some stern direction or enthusiastic encouragement at Frank's Knockout Fitness, where a punching bag and jump rope are the primary objects to relieve stress, get aggressive without hurting anybody and get in shape, fast.
It's not the place to go to show off a buff bod or complete some simple exercises, just to say you did. From the popular fitness boxing workout to intense gym routines, the regimen draws primarily female professionals of all ages from around Grand Rapids.
"It's a really tough workout, but I get a lot of business people and 90 percent of them are women," said Perez, whose center is open six days a week in the Stockbridge business district at 445 Bridge St. NW. The former Golden Gloves contender, professional kick boxer and martial arts expert doesn't mess around with simple routines. Everyone is prepared to be exhausted when they finish a session.
Duking It Out
It wasn't easy for Perez, 55, to promote a boxing fitness workout when he first introduced the concept in 1994. Before that, Perez operated an aerobics/tanning salon called Frank's City Fitness in downtown Grand Rapids, with a number of female employees from the former Butterworth Hospital as his primary clientele. But he wanted to do more after friends from California and New York said he could put his experience in boxing and martial arts to better use.
"I first thought, maybe that works in San Francisco, but here in Grand Rapids? You've got to be kidding," he recalls. "At first I was going to call it executive boxing in order to attract business people who don't normally exercise." Instead, Perez put up a booth at a picnic event for Butterworth Hospital employees, promoting classes with a mixture of martial arts, boxing and aerobics. He started with 12 women and his business built through word of mouth, which required a move in 1998 to a bigger gym.
"In the corporate world, a lot of people didn't understand – and still don't – what fitness boxing means," he adds. "When people first hear the word 'boxing,' they think about a place for punks to hang out, and other stereotypes. My place is like a private club atmosphere and it's not an open gym. I run the whole thing myself and I control what's going on."
Gil and Kindy Segovia joined Knockout Fitness four years ago, but he wasn't an easy sell.
"I figured it was going to be choreographed kick boxing exercises, with everybody dancing and looking like Jane Fonda in leotards," says Gil Segovia, senior vice president for corporate banking at Bank of America. "My wife finally talked me into going and that first class almost killed me, but I loved it."
The Segovias', both 50, workout two to three times a week and every class is different. "It goes from high to low intensity and it works your whole body," he adds. "If you have a bad day at the office, it's a great way to take out your frustrations."
Segovia endured some razzing and "huh?" reactions when he began his fitness boxing classes, especially when he would change his clothes at the bank and leave in shorts, with his hands wrapped in preparation for donning boxing gloves. Now a number of the same people have joined Knockout Fitness, even some of the bank's customers.
Hitting Only the Bag
"People would ask me if I was hitting people, but you don't," he says. "There's all kinds of conditioning routines and I'm sweating profusely when I leave." Segovia still belongs to another gym, where he uses a treadmill, "but Frank's workout has given me increased energy and I can jog longer. My lungs can do more, I'm more flexible, my back issues are gone and my clothes fit better."
Kindy Segovia, an occupational therapist for the Kent Intermediate School District, is a runner who has qualified three times for the Boston Marathon.
"She can tell she's in better shape," says her husband. "Even if you're not in great shape, I would highly recommend Frank's to anyone. He's right on you, keeping you focused."
Attitude is important, Perez says. Some men will dismiss the whole idea if they think they'll be upstaged by a woman at a punching bag, or feel embarrassed if their coordination isn't the best.
"Sometimes they just won't come back and some men just have this attitude about being better than everyone else because they're weight lifters or whatever," he adds. "That's not what this is about, so you better drop the attitude before you come in here."
Mary Beth Kolenda can't imagine ever leaving Perez and Knockout Fitness. Her twice a week workouts at the punching bag and other conditioning exercises has Kolenda in better shape since she started throwing punches more than three years ago.
Kolenda discovered the facility while walking down Bridge Street with a friend, Mary Wieber. They decided to check it out even though they belonged to other gyms. They listened to Perez describe the intensity and discipline necessary for the workout and were convinced it was something they wanted to try.
"Even though we had not done anything like this before, Frank was very upfront about everything," said Kolenda, 29, and a marketing coordinator for Founders Bank and Trust. "He showed us how to throw a punch so you don't get hurt; we tried out and were hooked."
Kolenda said she was in better shape after just two weeks attending Perez's classes, "because there's just no other workout like it. He is definitely tough, but you feel like you have a personal trainer."
Kolenda said you make the workout as hard as you want it to be, but there's no slowing down during the 45-minute session. "You're constantly moving and he works every muscle," she added. "Frank will let you know if he thinks you're slacking off." Her fitness has improved so much, Kolenda also started running, with little effort involved.
Getting Self Into Shape
Perez offers the fitness boxing and conditioning programs for the inexperienced to advanced training levels, private lessons, tanning rooms, exercise equipment and customized personal training, which can include everything from learning boxing skills, jumping rope and self defense techniques.
His typical class holds about 14 people, twice a week for an eight-week period, with about 100 women and men currently enrolled in the sessions, available six days a week. The cost is $180 and boxing gloves are extra. There are no membership contracts and single visits and other arrangements are available in a range of costs. To walk in and try a class is just $10.
"You can get a great aerobic workout at a regular gym, but this is much more intense and more effective as an athletic-style workout,"Perez says. "Most people have never hit anything in their lives and they like the punching bag as a great self-defense mechanism. It builds self-esteem and self-worth as well as a being a great stress reliever."
While the size of classes can depend on the season, Perez says he's running out of room to hold the number of sessions he prefers and would like to find a bigger gym. "I won't squeeze people in like sardines,"he adds. He's been at the Bridge Street location since 2006.
"Frank is the reason I chose this gym over others in the area,"says Tracy George, sales and promotion account executive for Full Circle Marketing & Design. "He has the incredible ability to push everyone to their highest physical potential even when he has people of varying fitness levels in the same class."
George, 29, says she tends to get bored with the average workout routine, but not with Perez. She has increased her workouts to four times a week.
"Each class is a new experience and no two classes have ever been the same,"says George. "I even have my husband coming to class with me now."
A veteran journalist formerly of The Grand Rapids Press, Mary Radigan is a freelance writer based in Grand Rapids. She has written for Rapid Growth on subjects as far ranging as being a movie extra to the practice of calligraphy.
Photos:Frank Perez leads a workout class at his gym
Anita Piazza works the heavy bag
Frank Perez owner of Frank's Knockout Fitness Photo by
Brian KellyHeidi Cizauskas warms up before a workout
Left to right Patrica Du Bois, Heidi Cizauskas, and Anita Piazza
Photographs by
Joshua Tyron -All Rights Reserved