Amanda Kloots is an infectious and inspirational trainer that’s making waves amongst the dance cardio culture with contagious fitness classes that make you jump, skip, and smile. A former Broadway dancer and Radio City Rockette, she’s New York’s most-followed celebrity trainer, most known for her inventive workout classes using none other than a jump rope. Garnering a cult-like following on social media with pop smash combinations that are “pow, wow and wonderful,” Kloots is changing the game of where is most popular to sweat with a stream of routines that combine dance craze steps and high energy cross-training with crank-up-the-volume radio hits. And now, with a change of winds from east to west, Kloots is opening up shop in Bandier’s West Hollywood flagship, lending locals a new schedule of classes with the ultimate gym savvy prop.
Haute Living sat down with Kloots to hear more on how she built AK! Fitness, transitioning to the West Coast as a native New Yorker, and her most beloved celebrity clients, from Kate Walsh to Aimee Song.
Photo Credit: Justin Patterson
HL: Amanda, you recently moved to Los Angeles to train out of Bandier’s new flagship location. As a New York native, tell us about this cross country transition.
AMANDA KLOOTS: It was actually very hard to leave New York. But it’s so much fun to be in L.A. Ever since the first time I performed in L.A., which was back in 2002 while I was doing 42nd Street, I wanted to live here one day. My husband has always had the same curiosity. He’s an actor, so he benefits from living here, too. He got hired for a job here and so then I thought, in order to make this work I need to be able to work here too. Luckily, Studio B had just opened. It all was just kismet. It’s super intriguing. The weather is always beautiful. It’s a slower pace of life for having a new baby, so we’re welcoming it with open arms.
HL: Relocating from one capital of fitness to another, describe L.A.’s workout culture and finding a new niche on the West Coast.
AK: New York is such a transportation city. If you live on the Upper East Side but your favorite workout is down in Soho, you’ll get on that train and you’ll go. L.A. is very different. If you live in Santa Monica, you’re not traveling to Los Feliz for your workout. It’s very locational, which is a little crazy and hard when you come here because you’re wondering, ‘Where do I want to set up shop?’ I get so many DMs asking if I’m going to teach in Santa Monica or Brentwood! And New Yorkers are very type A. They want to go, they want to hit it hard, they want to leave drenched in sweat, and then they want to go to work. They want to get all of their aggression out. They come in hungry. And L.A. is laid back. But they still want a good workout.
Photo Credit: Studio B Bandier
HL: Los Angeles is known for its contagious health-conscious hot spots. Is there one eatery that’s a must-try after class?
AK: I just went to Wanderlust for lunch and I loved it! I wanna go back to take yoga too because I wanna do some more yoga in my life.
HL: Initially starting your career as a successful performer on Broadway and Radio City Rockette, what made you decide to pursue fitness and why leave the world of professional dance?
AMANDA KLOOTS: I was going through a really big change in my life. I had been performing for 16 years and when you’re on Broadway and doing the Rockettes, your life is so up in the air. I loved it. But I got to a point where I was in my mid-thirties and the Broadway show that I was in closed unexpectedly. I was back on unemployment, which in New York City is $400 a week. At the same time, I was going through a divorce. I was working as a fitness trainer, barely making enough money to survive. It just hit me—if I keep performing, my life is always going to be in the other hands of somebody else telling me your show is open, your show is closed, you’re hired for this job, or you’re not hired for this job.
I got to a point where I didn’t want that in my life anymore. I was like, ‘I’m going to start my own business. I have an idea for a jump rope class.’ There was no jump rope class like it anywhere in the world that I knew of. That was my launch.
HL: And how did you develop this jump rope class, now known as the wildly popular AK! Rope?
AK: I was training a private client and I gave her my jump rope to start warming up. As she was jumping and I was jumping with her I thought, ‘I’m just going to do a whole hour jump rope situation and see what I can create!’
She was a young, fun client that I was training and I knew whatever I handed her she would be fine with. The whole hour went by and we never put the rope down. I looked at her and said, ‘I think I just created a class.’
Photo Credit: Terminal 4 Productions
HL: Founding an empire and building a repertoire of celebrity clients, which A-lister most resonates with you for their effervescent energy and positive attitude?
AK: I love training Kate Walsh. I met her last year in the Hamptons and then we started training together and she just has such a positive outlook on life. She radiates happiness and working hard. She’s a beautiful human, inside and out.
Aimee Song is my favorite influencer to train! She is full of light and energy and is always ready to have fun and laugh. I admire how hard she works at building her brand, but at the same time she’s generous, and most of all kind. She is a true gem!
HL: Coining AK! Rope, Dance, Body and Baby Bump, you’ve built a new stage of infectious classes that are meant to make you smile while fulfilling a full-body workout. What are your plans for the future, and do you see yourself opening your own studio?
AK: I would see myself opening a studio somewhere. My husband and I need to figure out where we’re settling down our roots, but I do feel that coming in my life. I would like to build a community and have a little home for AK! Fitness for sure. For my business, I have some new products coming out. I’m really obsessed with creating products to help people and solve fitness issues that people have. I have one product coming out just before the holidays, which I’m really excited about.
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