GET TO KNOW LEAP
Your Questions,
Answered.
Common questions about LEAP in East Lakeview, Chicago — our coaching system, programs, memberships, and how to get started. If you don't see your question answered here, you can reach us at (773) 360-8163 or matt@leapchicago.com.
YOUR FIRST STEP
Getting Started at LEAP
Starting at LEAP is a four-step process. First, you book your Starting Point — either a Personal Training Starting Point (one-on-one) or a Team Training Starting Point (coach-led small-group). Next, you schedule your LEAP Onboarding Session through the LEAP App, where a coach assesses your movement, defines your goals, and builds a structured strength training plan around your week. Then you run the sessions included in your Starting Point package — actual coached training, not a sales consultation. Finally, you decide on a membership only after you've trained with us. The whole arc is built so you experience LEAP's coaching system before you commit to anything beyond your Starting Point.
No. Every program at LEAP — Personal Training, Team Training, and Barbell Club — is built to scale to your current strength, mobility, and movement quality. Most members were either completely new to structured training or returning after years away when they started. Your LEAP Onboarding Session is where we meet you exactly where you are, not where you think you should be.
Tell us in your LEAP Onboarding Session. We assess your movement, ask about history and limitations, and scale your plan around what your body needs — including injuries, surgeries, chronic conditions, or pain. If you're working with a doctor or physical therapist, we follow their guidance. We don't replace medical care; we build coaching that respects it.
KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT
Training and Progress
Most members see measurable strength gains within the first 6–8 weeks of consistent training, alongside cleaner technique, better movement quality, and the conditioning to handle more volume each week. Specific outcomes depend on where you're starting and how consistently you train — your coach will set realistic targets during your assessment phase. Strength training compounds: the longer you stay consistent, the bigger the gap grows between LEAP members and people winging it on their own.
Personal Training, Team Strength Sessions, Team Peak Performance Sessions, and Barbell Club sessions are 50 minutes. The Forge is 30 minutes.
Because it gets recorded every time you train, on the exact same lifts, so there's something real to compare against.
In Team Strength Sessions and Team Peak Performance Sessions, you log every set on your phone as you go — the weight, the reps, and how many reps you had left in the tank. The Forge is logged in the same place. That record is what turns "I think I'm getting stronger" into something you can actually look at: your best sets on each lift week by week, how many sessions you've trained this block, how many weeks in a row you've shown up, and every new personal best. A personal best only counts on the exact same lift, so it means what you think it means.
In Personal Training, your coach keeps that same record for you and you can see it any time between sessions. Every four months, you get a written report card by email — a summary of exactly what went up, lift by lift, over the months you just trained. Not a feeling about it. The numbers.
For what to expect on the timeline, see "How soon will I see results?" above. For the full picture of what gets measured and when, see how we measure progress.
You do log your sets, but not in a notebook and not from memory. Everyone training in Team Strength Sessions and Team Peak Performance Sessions gets their own link to the Team Session Log, which opens on their phone at the facility. The Forge is logged there too. Your lifts for that day are already on the screen with the target your coach prescribed, so you tap in the weight, the reps, and how many reps you had left, up to four sets per lift. It takes seconds between sets.
Each lift also has a "How to do it" note you can open if you want the coaching cue in front of you while you set up.
From the next Barbell Club block, every squat, bench press, and deadlift goes into your log the same way — that progression is exactly what a record like this is for.
Personal Training clients don't log anything at all — your coach records the session and you get the finished picture in your progress view.
Yes, when it's relevant to your goals.
The Myzone heart rate system shows you whether you're working at the right intensity during a session. The LEAP App handles your booking, your schedule, and your training and nutrition support in one place.
If you're in nutrition coaching, you also run a two-week check-in built on Precision Nutrition hand portions — meals and meal times, plus sleep, water, caffeine, alcohol, and your training. It rolls up into a summary your coach reads before you sit down together, so the conversation starts from what actually happened over the last fourteen days instead of what either of you remembers.
Body composition is measured by DEXA scan through our Live Lean Rx partnership at set points in the nutrition program, so changes in muscle and fat are measured rather than guessed from the scale. To see the full picture of what gets measured and when, see how we measure progress.
RIGHT HERE IN EAST LAKEVIEW
About LEAP
LEAP is a coaching facility — not a gym, not a class studio, and not a place to do random workouts. At a typical gym, you pay for access and figure it out alone. At a class studio, you follow whatever the instructor decides that day, alongside whoever shows up. At LEAP, every session is part of a structured plan built around your body, your goals, and your schedule. A coach guides every workout, your programming adapts as you progress, and strength is the foundation of everything we do. You leave knowing what you trained, why you trained it, and what comes next.
LEAP — Lakeview East Athletics and Performance — is located at 1057 West Belmont Avenue in East Lakeview, Chicago, a short walk from the Belmont CTA Red, Brown, and Purple line stop. We coach adults from East Lakeview, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, and North Halsted/Boystown through structured Personal Training, Team Training, and Barbell Club programs.
If you're looking for structured strength training with a coach — not random workouts, not unsupervised facility access without coaching, not class studios — LEAP is built for exactly that audience. Every program at LEAP is designed for adults aged 30–60 who want measurable progress, accountability, and a system they can stay consistent with. Our Personal Training, Team Training, and Barbell Club tracks each give you a different entry path into the same coaching system.
LEAP is located at 1057 West Belmont Avenue in East Lakeview, Chicago — a short walk from the Belmont CTA Red, Brown, and Purple line stop and minutes from Wrigleyville, North Halsted/Boystown, and Lincoln Park. The fastest way to plan your first visit is to schedule a LEAP Onboarding Session — we'll send you everything you need to know before you arrive.
FIND YOUR FIT
Choosing Between Programs
Personal Training is one-on-one coaching with full customization, flexible scheduling, and the fastest path to results on your specific goals. Team Training is coach-led small-group strength training — a structured plan, real coaching, and the energy of training alongside other adults doing the same work. Personal Training memberships also include unlimited access to Team Training sessions, so you can combine both. Most members eventually do.
LEAP isn't a class. Every Team Strength Session and Team Peak Performance Session is built around structured programming, real coaching, and individual attention — not random workouts. You follow a clear plan that progresses week to week, with a coach watching your positioning and scaling movements as needed. The result is the consistency of a coaching environment with the energy of training alongside other adults doing the same work.
Barbell Club is a 10-week structured strength program built around the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Sessions run twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays at 6:00 PM — for the full cycle, with a mock meet in week 10 where you'll get three attempts at your new max in front of friends and family. Barbell Club is built around progressive coaching — we meet you at your current strength and progress your lifts week by week. If you're newer to barbell movements, you'll learn the mechanics in the assessment phase. If you're more experienced, the load progression scales with you.