BEMIDJI BONDS: Revolution Fitness offering a popular kickboxing class

Since September, Billy Fisher and Will and Julie Laitala have been kicking it at Revolution Fitness, tucked next to the U-Haul building on Paul Bunyan Drive.
The three offer a variety of workouts in their small, but well-suited gym, including kickboxing, which is quite popular.
“I do personal training sessions throughout the day and in the evening we do small kickboxing classes and fitness groups,” Fisher said. “Not necessarily cardio kickboxing, but fitness kickboxing with leg work, pad work and a bunch of different exercises we incorporate into it.”
Many people are probably unaware of Revolution Fitness due to its size and appearance.
Connected to U-Haul and across the street from Burger King/Qdoba, it has been home to many other businesses including a bank and a battery shop before becoming a gym.
The building itself isn’t much on the eyes either, but it works and it is home for Fisher and the Laitalas.
It is a place where they and their clients can come and not only get in a fun workout, but also take out some stress.
“For me it’s therapeutic,” Julie Laitala said. “It was a place to come and take out your frustration. On a treadmill, you think too much, with this you don’t think, you are just responding to what your trainer says.”
Fisher does a lot of the training at Revolution Fitness and despite having a military background, Laitala says he’s no drill sergeant.
She says he doesn’t need to be, he has an ability to push his clients and co-owners without them realizing what he’s actually doing for them.
“It’s hard to put into words what makes Billy such a good trainer,” she said. “When you first come in you are out of shape and there will be people who are better than you, but he can make it seem like you’re doing great.”
One thing he does to help his clients is what they refer to as a ‘Billy Minute’.
A ‘Billy Minute’ can last up to three minutes where he’ll tell his clients there is one minute to go and then three minutes later he’ll stop them.
“You’re thinking you’re actually doing it for a minute,” Laitala said. “But a minute later he’ll say 45 seconds and then a minute later he’ll say 30 seconds left. He’ll push you to that other level where you think you can’t go.”
When you go to Revolution Fitness you’ll find an array of workout equipment with ropes and bags all around the area.
Fisher is quite innovative as well with the equipment, getting the most out of everything he has to his disposal.
He’s tied ropes around medicine balls for ab workouts, he’ll tie up extra bags for extra clients if they need, he’ll reconstruction workout equipment and he even put velcro all around the walls so he’ll stop losing his stopwatch.
“I make tons of things,” Fisher said. “I can be pretty creative with stuff laying around here. This kind of stuff cost money so I have to be creative and open-minded.”
Having an open mind about their workouts is something he would like people to have.
Whether it means being open-minded about the looks of the facility or about the nature of kickboxing.
“Everyone who comes here wants to be here,” Fisher said. “Some people look at this and think it’s brutal or barbaric, but really it’s just different. It’s a good way to workout. I have teachers and social workers who come in here and they burn their stress out, it’s good stuff.”
With the size of the building and a growing demand for different workouts, Fisher already has multiple classes a week so he can get everyone into the gym.
Fisher sees a revolution emerging out of his small workout facility.
“The only advertising we have is on Facebook and word of mouth,” Fisher said. “I had a few probation officers come in and look to get something going for training for their crew. I know it’s one of those things that is going to get huge around here.”