Higher Heights Fitness offers more than professional personal training

By Patricia Nugent

Just as clients undertake a journey of becoming their ultimate best at Higher Heights Fitness, so has its owner, Kyle Hotz. Since opening in 2021, he’s been introducing practitioners and programs to become a hybrid one-stop shop training studio.

He and his team have expanded on their ethos of individualized one-on-one training sessions in private training suites with state-of-the-art equipment. First, they invested in the InBody 270 analyzer to measure and track a slew of health indicators beyond a person’s weight, including lean muscle mass and body fat mass, as well as skeletal muscle mass.

This fall he and assistant manager Connor Gray introduced the nutrition program. Becoming certified in nutritional counseling lent them the experience to work with people to customize a realistic eating plan they can stick with for life.

“Nutrition is a key component to how well our strength training goes, and we wanted to help educate clients about how the choices they make impact their optimal health,” he says.

To make the transition to healthy meal planning a breeze, they also partnered with the Cleveland-based service UnRefined.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how popular these breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and desserts have become,” says Kyle.

In fact, the studio just underwent a renovation to expand the lobby and allow more space for the refrigeration unit that houses the meals.

And to expand clients’ stretching and mindfulness goals, new trainer Lily Cole, who is also certified as a yoga instructor, is introducing yoga classes.

Healing What Ails You
Inviting Aidan Simenc, Doctor of Physical Therapy, to set up a mini clinic within the studio earlier in the year opened up a door of opportunity to help clients who may be rehabbing from surgery or injury, or suffering from chronic ailments.

One of his specialties is dry needling. Ultra-thin monofilament needles penetrate muscle tissue to relieve tension and irritation by eliciting an inflammatory response. This increases blood flow to the area and promotes healing.

Meet Mark and Lisa
Living and working about 30 steps from a gigantic cache of candy makes for a mountain of temptation. Just ask Mark and Lisa A., of Breckville, who are candy manufacturer reps.

“It’s a tall ask not to be tempted by the sugar on hand when you’re stressed out,” she says, laughing. “Though we’ve become immune to the candy, we’ve had the instinct to keep moving as we age, especially in light of jobs where we sit most of the day. Although we had joined the rec center, we hardly ever went. There was no motivation or accountability. Our lives are extremely busy, and we need to have an appointment we can put on the schedule and know there’s someone waiting for us. Higher Heights has been fabulous.”

In their mid-50s (her) and late-60s (him), they intend to keep up with their 3-year-old grandson, as well as their hobbies. They both love Cleveland Guardians games and Mark is a drummer in a band.

“Though Mark has had two back surgeries due to herniated disks, he keeps his core and back strong,” she says. “In fact, he recently did over a 10-minute plank. Sometimes the trainer will put a 20-pound weight on his back while doing it. He loves the challenge.”

Higher Heights Fitness is located at 8251 Chippewa Road in the back of Creekview Commons (Heinen’s Plaza) in Brecksville. For more information, call 440-630-9497, or visit the website at HigherHeightsFitness.com.