Bio: Klara Roupp, 31, of Fort Collins is the brains behind YoCycle, a group fitness class that combines cycling, yoga and a head massage in a one-hour class.
The Colorado native and mother of two found her love for fitness early when she decided –
after participating in group classes – that she wanted to become an exercise instructor. At 17, she put herself through the instructor-certification program and began leading step and weightlifting classes at Bally Total Fitness.
Working as an instructor paid Roupp’s way through the University of Colorado at Denver, where she earned a degree in nutrition.
But after years of teaching three high-impact classes a day, Roupp felt the toll on her body. The aches and pains, combined with the news that she was expecting her first child, forced the then-21- year-old Roupp to seek low-impact activities.
“I realized that if I didn’t slow down, I was going to become really old really fast because I was hurting my joints,” she said.
The Journey: Wanting to continue her strength-building regimen, Roupp took her first yoga class. But she wasn’t prepared for the intensity of the practice, and found herself off her mat and out the door halfway through the session because the poses were straining her wrists.
A little pain wasn’t going to keep her from trying it again and soon, the fire was lit for what became a passion for the practice of yoga.
Roupp took her yoga studies east, moving between studios in Manhattan and New Jersey, eventually completing 200 hours to become a certified instructor.
Roupp next taught back-to-back yoga and cycling classes. She had a faithful following of people who walked with her from class to class, demanding they get more of the “yoga-cycling thing.” Roupp knew she was on to something. She combined the classes into a one-hour time slot and began moving to trademark the process, which she calls YoCycle.
The Practice: Back in Colorado, she now teaches YoCycle at Anytime Fitness in Windsor and Miramont Lifestyle Fitness in Fort Collins.
Roupp finds herself balancing life with two sons, adopting a baby girl from Guatemala and maintaining her YogAmor business, which sells equipment and clothing that Roupp designed. She also plans to produce YoCycle DVDs.
But her busy lifestyle doesn’t stop her from introducing people to yoga and Yocycle, motivating discouraged students by sharing her own successes and failures.
“Saying you can’t do class because you are not flexible enough or in shape enough is like saying you can’t go to work because you don’t have any money,” Roupp said. “You have to work at it.”
Staff writer Desiree Belmarez can be reached at 303-954-1211 or dbelmarez@denverpost.com.
