Lagree Tahoe Fitness Studio aims to bring new health and wellness program to Incline Village
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – When Lexi Heinzer was in the midst of attending grad school to become a marriage family therapist, she was desperate to find a way to boost her energy and offer an escape from the grueling study program. Heinzer soon found Lagree, a high-intensity, low impact fitness method and it wasn’t long before she fell in love.
“I got certified in 2017,” said Heinzer, “so I started teaching it more than I was actually doing therapy because it made me so happy to see other people leave the workout so happy.”
What exactly is a Lagree workout? For those who don’t know or have never heard of it, Heinzer said, “Lagree is a strength-based fitness program, done on a Lagree machine. It is spring loaded, and it’s what you would do in the gym such as planks, squats, lunges, that type of thing. It’s very high intensity, you’re going to shake, you’re going to sweat on the machine.” The program is considered low impact, allowing anyone of all ages and all bodies to benefit.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down, Heinzer got creative. “I cofounded a website called ‘Lagreeing At Home’, it’s an online platform for Lagree workouts, and my goal was to always have a studio.”
Describing it as kismet, Heinzer crossed paths with entrepreneur and owner of Karacotta Ceramics in Incline Village, Kara Pendl, and their shared vision for a Lagree studio was destined to become a reality.
Pendl previously owned a yoga studio in Austin, Texas. “Even when I had the yoga studio, I would go to Lagree as my workout, and loved it. I had been practicing for about 8 years when I moved to Incline,” said Pendl. “Once I decided to be here full time, I thought ‘oh my gosh, there’s really no workouts that are similar to Lagree. Worldwide, there’s nothing like it.”
Within the first 30 minutes of meeting each other, Heinzer and Pendl shook hands and said, “Okay, we’re opening a studio together.”
Upon its opening, one of the studio’s core values is community.
“It’s been a true blessing, and we keep getting that same feedback from clients that the town really needed this,” said Pendl, with clients coming from as far as Homewood, South Lake, and Reno to get a Lagree workout in.
To expand its community outreach, Lagree Tahoe is doing monthly community events called Apres Lagree, “because everything happens after the burn.” Their first community event is planned for December, and in the works for this event is a relaxing spa night. The studio is partnering with local businesses to provide a sauna, facemasks, and other spa-related activities, completely complimentary to Lagree Tahoe studio members.
“We have an event planned for every month,” said Pendl. “We do want to be that catalyst for connection. It’s not work, it’s not church, it’s something fun. It’s for yourself.”
Lagree Tahoe is hosting their grand opening on Friday, November 21, bringing everyone together for an epic party. “Thania’s Juice is doing the catering, 72 Mile Spirits is doing the bar. We have raffle prizes for all sorts of local businesses. We’re going to have music from a local DJ in town.”
The party-style grand opening is open to the public, but folks are asked to RSVP if planning to attend. The raffle will take place at 7:30 p.m., and includes a grand prize of a free unlimited one-year membership, equivalent to $4400 in value.
In terms of their goals for the studio, “We’re really just trying to focus on providing high-quality workouts,” said Heinzer, “so we want every workout to feel consistent, we want our members to know that our trainers are very educated. They’re sticking to the Lagree method. We have a lot of quality control between our classes, and we want our members to know that they have a safe, effective workout that is also very intense.” Skiers, snowboarders, hikers and sports lovers of all kinds can utilize the Lagree workout method to enhance their endurance and strength.
A variety of classes are available seven days a week, anywhere from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the studio offering private and group classes. Check out their schedule and/or learn more about what they have to offer by visiting lagreetahoe.com.
Lagree Tahoe is located at 930 Tahoe Blvd, suite 202. Their grand opening will be held at the studio starting at 5 p.m., and to RSVP, go to https://app.arketa.co/lagreetahoe/checkout.
