Victoria Kline Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 6 p.m. Thursday, May 7
Fighting the ‘Quarantine 15’
You might not be able to go to the gym right now, but Kamps Fitness owners Ari and Sam Karl are bringing workout classes to your home every day of your social distancing. –
Brothers Ari and Sam Karl run and operate two Kamps studios in Madison, Wisconsin, and in South Miami. Kamps is a high-intensity interval training, or HIIT studio that the two brothers began about three years ago.
The Karl brothers are Miami natives and Sam Karl is a UM law school graduate. However, after years in their respective fields, the two decided to pursue a career together in a field they are both passionate about: fitness.
However, the family energy has extended far beyond the two of them. The “Kamps Kommunity” is contagious and has captivated hundreds of people at both the Madison and Miami locations.
When the Kamps studios inevitably closed their doors indefinitely on account of the coronavirus, the Karl brothers were quick to devise a plan to keep community fitness alive.
Every day, Kamps offers up to five HIIT classes online which are accessible to everyone at a minimal fee. The workouts are 50 minutes long and feature a rotation of the Kamps trainers.
Upwards of 400 people tune in to each virtual class – “Kamps Live” — from around the world.
“When we started Kamps, we always had the mindset that we wanted to create this sense of togetherness,” co-owner and head trainer Sam Karl said while introducing the new class platform. “And we weren’t going to let that community suffer just because we couldn’t physically all be in the same room.”
“This is a hard time for everyone,” Ari Karl added. “This is just our way of helping people in a way we know how.”
Ari and Sam Karl have also used this platform to accept donations for Feeding America to help provide food for those who are suffering since the outbreak. For every $1 donated, Feeding America can provide 10 meals to families in need. So far, they have raised more than $20,000.
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