If you’re an elected official, a busy working mom, or a pro athlete, how do you stay in shape? We asked three local fitness enthusiasts to describe their workouts.
The City Leader: Jonathan Weinzapfel
When you’re the mayor of a city that finishes dead last out of 162 U.S. metropolitan areas in a national poll on healthy behaviors, you better not be leading by example. With a busy schedule overseeing the third largest city government in Indiana, Weinzapfel doesn’t have a typical workday: Some begin with 7:30 a.m. breakfasts or morning news appearances, and others finish with after-hours events. Yet, Weinzapfel finds time to work out three or four times a week, but to be flexible, it’s “whenever I can fit it in,” he says. He runs, walks, bikes, or lifts weights — important activities he says he uses to relieve stress and stay trim.
The Working Mom: Brittney Salpietra
Between her job as a children’s department merchandiser for Shoe Carnival and her duties as the mother of two young boys (ages 3 and 5), Brittney Salpietra’s schedule can be chaotic. Still, exercise is a priority, and she works out at least five times a week. At Elite Fitness on the city’s North Side, Salpietra typically spends 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical machine, then lifts weights. She also teaches kickboxing classes at Club Bushido and participates in CrossFit. The goal is “to stay in the clothes I’m in,” she says with a laugh, but Salpietra and her husband, Tony, exercise together — with their boys in tow — to show them “it’s very important to keep moving,” Salpietra says.
The Enforcer: Adam Kampsen
Adam Kampsen, a strength and conditioning coach for the Evansville Otters and former Otters baseball player, was hired “to keep our athletes in peak physical condition,” he says. During baseball season, the team attends mandatory workouts at the Downtown YMCA every three days. “They’re not bodybuilding workouts,” Kampsen says. “It’s not to get the guys bigger.” Instead, he focuses on flexibility, injury prevention, and core stability with exercises such as side planks and medicine ball sit-ups. (In the off-season leading up to spring training, the Otters tackle heavier weightlifting exercises.) On the road, Kampsen coordinates an optional “gym bus” to a local facility. He also offers nutrition advice to help players make healthy fast-food choices while traveling. Before home games, the team enjoys a “healthy spread,” says Kampsen, of lunchmeat, vegetables, light cheeses, and fruit.
