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| Kaci Wehr is the Fitness Instructor at French Lick Resort who leads the fitness courses offered four days per week to resort guests. Most of the fitness classes are free of charge, and a full schedule of the fitness offerings can be found here. |
Here’s a pro tip: If you want to get in on the fitness classes offered at French Lick Resort, get here soon. The longer you wait, the less elbow room you’re likely to have.
“One of my fitness class participants, we talked about this
was like a hidden gem that not many people know about yet. So if you do find
it, a lot of times you get your very own personal training session for free,”
said Kaci Wehr, the resort’s fitness coordinator.
“There’s a lot of guests who, if I run into them in the
hallway or I catch them in the Fitness Center, they’re surprised whenever I
tell them we have fitness classes. But the word is gradually getting out,
because I’ve had a participant in classes before where every time she stays at
the resort, she comes back to class. And I’ve had that with a few people.”
Just like a high-intensity workout that ramps up to a
feverish pace, the fitness offerings across French Lick Resort are starting to
work up a good sweat.
Guest fitness courses were rolled out in the fall of 2016,
with a range of seven different courses offered from Wednesday through Saturday
each week. (Check out the course descriptions and the daily calendar for the current month here.) It’s a return to our roots, of sorts. After all, the hotels at French Lick and
West Baden originally rose to prominence as a place where folks came to get
healthy — in the early days, guests were given a routine of moderate exercise in
the midmorning hours after they partook in the mineral waters (that process further
activated the cleansing process brought on by the waters).
These days, the fitness curriculum is more of a
choose-your-own-adventure deal.
Cardio HIIT Gym and its interval training is a workout that
can challenge the more fitness savvy. Aqua fitness has become popular with
older guests. There’s even a class geared to kids offered each Saturday
morning. There’s something for any age or fitness level, and it’s becoming a
common thread beyond French Lick Resort as well.
“So many resorts across the United States — and not just the
US, it’s globally as well — they’re starting all these wellness initiatives,
and fitness classes are a big part of that. Not just having a fitness center
that guests can go to get their workout in, but actually having an added experience
of going to a fitness class, and maybe trying something new.”
The best part: Nearly all the fitness classes are free. The
lone exception being a small fee for the Core-Flex-Stretch course, which offers
the West Baden Spa experience even if you don’t experience a treatment: “It’s probably
one of the fanciest rooms you’ll ever work out in, considering there’s
chandeliers on the walls and paintings by an Italian artist. I don’t think many
places have that,” Wehr said with a laugh.
With the groups that bring their business to French Lick
Resort for meetings and conventions, Wehr also foresees fitness occupying a
bigger sector of the itinerary as time goes on.
Groups have the option of booking one of about a dozen
fitness offerings, ranging from structured classes to a fitness energy break of
10 to 15 minutes to get up and moving when that inevitable mid-meeting lull invades.
One group integrated a 4-mile hike into the business of the day as an optional
activity.
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| Trails on the perimeter of French Lick Resort offer miles to explore for hikers, bikers, walkers and runners. |
“Companies and businesses, that’s one of their greatest
focuses as time moves forward, is keeping their employees healthy,” Wehr noted.
“Their culture has become encouraging wellness, so whenever they go on trips
and meetings, that’s something they are looking for.”
The concierge staff at West Baden Springs Hotel also helps
guests get their steps in for the day — while serving up a little dose of
history as well. On Saturday and Sunday mornings from Memorial Day to the end
of October, they lead a walking tour (free of charge) covering about 3½ miles
and a few hundred years of historical tidbits about the resort.
Wehr guides the weekend fitness walks over at French Lick
Springs Hotel, which are typically tailored to whatever the guest wants.
Sometimes it’s a simple power walk. Other times it’s a trek up to West Baden
and a lap around the atrium if the guests haven’t yet made their way there to
soak in the “wow” factor of the resort’s other hotel.
A travel adventure is all about fresh experiences and coming
back with a few souvenirs, and in that respect, the fitness offerings at French
Lick Resort provide exactly that. They’re yours to explore.
“That’s one of the things I really love to do in the
classes, is make sure they can learn something that they can take home with
them – that way not only are they getting an experience, but they’re taking something
along home that they can use to promote healthy lifestyles whenever they get
back home,” Wehr said.