One of Hollywood’s hottest fitness studios is expanding to Cleveland.
Rise Nation, a VersaClimber studio, is holding its grand opening Sept. 16 and 17. The only other location right now is in West Hollywood.
Derek Millender, part owner and manager of Rise Nation CLE, is also the Cleveland Cavaliers head strength and conditioning coach. He’s been incorporating VersaClimbers into workouts for a decade. The Cavs started using the machines in 2010.
RELATED: LeBron James praised VersaClimbers in May
“If I could only have one piece of equipment to train with for the rest of my life, this would be it,” said James.
Millender was first introduced to Rise Nation in 2015 while on the west coast.
“I instantly fell in love with it,” Millender said. "I had a euphoric workout high which is hard to get for me when you work out so often.”
After building a relationship with celebrity trainer Jason Walsh, Millender convinced him that expanding to Cleveland was the right move.
“I started to explain to him, what’s happening, the Renaissance, the community feel that a lot of bigger cities don’t have and if we put it in the right place, the community will support us.”
Millender says the turnout has been great since Rise Nation CLE rolled out classes at its Euclid Avenue studio this summer.
“Honestly I wake up every morning just so thrilled as a coach to just be a part of so many more lives than just working with a team.”
