CHRISTINA TASCON

Without a good diet regimen, working out is like waxing the car but neglecting to put oil in the engine.  Yes, the exterior looks good but the car will probably break down eventually.

That is what Cheri Schumann and her staff hope to address at their new venture, Peak Health & Fitness and LOVJUICE Juice Bar located in a premium 4,000 square foot facility at 801 20th Place.

Combining full body health training with knowledgeable nutrition guidance, Peak strives to create an encompassing wellness care plan for all their clients.

Peak Health & Fitness plans to focus on a total body experience with private and semi-private traing available on the Total Gym Gravity equipment, Pilates & Strength classes, Reformer & Cadillac machines, BOSU training, Kettle Bell, TRX Suspension Training, Yoga, Personal Training, Massage and Acupuncture.

“We have brand new equipment which has a much better design and is better for safety reason too,” said Schumann.  “We are also going to be focusing on small groups so no one gets lost in the crowd and the instructors can individually help with your form.”

In 2009, Schumann dealt with a major loss when her husband, Michael, died after knee surgery and gave her the vision for Peak.

“We were together 9 years,” said Schumann, “and I saw him not taking care of himself like he should.  His health went downhill and eventually the weight he had added made his knees so painful that he could not take it anymore.”

Doctors did not want to do the surgery as a first choice because of his health but the daily pain he was experiencing made him proceed.  He died from complications after the surgery.

“He tried everything to make himself feel better except for getting healthy,”  recalls Schumann.

Schumann, who had always been into fitness, was motivated to encourage others to heal through diet combined with exercise plans.

After moving to Vero Beach in 2010, Schumann began working with gravity machines and teaching Pilates classes.  All of her past experiences and deep desire to help nurture others into becoming healthy individuals led her into opening her own conceptualized fitness center.

“Every turn I took was not intentional,” says Schumann, ” but a higher power and a higher purpose brought me to this mission.”

Schumann has watched the market steadily gear up towards organic diets and exercising for a better lifestyle.  She saw there was a greater need for personalized training and nutrition education than ever before in the area.

“We feel like there’s a shift in Vero towards healthy living and our aim is to support that shift,” said Schumann.

Schumann has brought in Jon D’Alessio, a former trainer at Jungle Club who has 20 years of experience as a Certified Personal Trainer and 15 years as a Licensed Acupuncturist practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine to manage the fitness side of Peak.

“Our whole message is about fitness and whole body health,” said D’Alessio.  “We are not going to compete against other current health ‘clubs’ by charging a membership fee but work on training, workshop and specialized programs.  As a new business we will be on a learning curve to accommodate our clientele.”

D’Alessio said that the team has a multitude of creative training ideas to give workouts that accommodate day to day living.

“We all move in many different directions and not just up and down and side to side in standard workout training,” says D’Alessio.

“In real life I have never found myself pushing a tree off my chest,” he said, “and that is what most weight machines are about…pushing and pulling.  Life doesn’t work that way.  Sometimes you are lifting something down from a high shelf on your tippy toes or picking up your baby and swinging them around to make them laugh and your muscles need to be able to handle that without hurting yourself.”

D’Alessio said that the Total Gym Gravity machines at Peak give that kind of training so that you are able to handle real world movements made every day, called functional movements.

D’Alessio is the only Master Trainer for the Total Gym Gravity machines in Florida.

“Other gyms have Gravity machines but ours are the newest available.”  I use a car analogy when I explain why having the newest most up to date machines are such a benefit.  Having an older model car may be the same basic car as a 2013 but you don’t get all the new technological bells and whistles in the older ones.”

He says that the newer machines are much more efficient and biomechanically adaptive.  The evolution of this machine is tremendous from when they first came on the scene.

D’Alessio will be providing ongoing staff training and development to encourage staff in their growth.  these tools  will ensure their clients will receive the best programs to accommodate their needs.

D’Alessio also stresses the importance of combining functional muscle training that core gravity machines provide with the mix of nutrition health offered at the organic juice bar.

“Juicing is very important,” said Schumann.  “Most people do not take in the proper amount of nutrients.  Our whole message is about fitness and whole body health.”

The LOVJUICE Juice Bar, (which stands for Live Organic Vegetables), will be run by Gina Allen who many locals know from the Saturday Farmer’s Market on Ocean Drive, who with her partner Kevin Lureau, run Wholesome Living Juices.

The Farmer’s Market is where Cheri Schumann first met and spoke with Allen about her new concept in whole body wellness and gave her the opportunity to manage the nutrition side of Peak.

The LOVJUICE Juice Bar at Peak will offer raw organic foods and juices along with nutrition and Permaculture classes to their clients.  The juice bar will offer fresh salads, smoothies, and sandwiches using bread alternatives like sprouted breads and wraps.

Peak also is growing 30 different fruit and vegetable trees on site which they call their food forest.

“It’s not always easy to find organic juicing here so that is where we found the most need, juices from nutritious vegetables and fruits,” said Allen.  “It is so guilt free when you can eat delicious foods made completely from healthy produce.”

“We eventually want to have a nice organic farm to provide all of our own organic produce,” said Allen.  “It is our ultimate dream to have a full serve organic market which can grow into something wonderful that gives us a more nutritional life and be a place where people come to learn how to be healthy.”

“Right now, organics may not be as economically cost efficient to the general public but the hope is to one day see all of these organic foods more available and abundant.  We have a lot of small farms producing these items now but we want to teach each person how to grow some of their own plants at home too,” said Allen.

LOVJUICE Juice Bar ‘s forest has been put together by Florida Regenerative Landscape with a soil preparation process called “lasagna layering.”

This is a process of layering the soil in layers with hay, composting, and organic materials to use the nutrients in the soil to produce sustainable, edible gardens.  Plans are in the works to hold Permaculture classes on site in the future.

Allen is a very upbeat enthusiastic cheerleader for the juice bar and its machines which will be able to produce enough selection to handle the volumes of clients that they expect will want to try the new variety of juices at LOV.

“We have a Norwalk Press called the X-1….it’s a beast,” she tells InsideVero, “It’s six feet tall!”

Made by the Good Nature Company, it is known as one of the best in the industry as are all the facilities at Peak’s modern state-of-the-art wellness Center.

Schumann, along with Fitness Manager Jon D’Alessio and LOVJuice Bar Manager Gina Allen, will hold an open house weekend to introduce new clients to the comprehensive health and fitness center on July 20 & 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days.

“It’s going to be a blow out, try everything weekend with all of the facilities open and free for all to experience,” said Schumann.