Meet Our Fitness Instructors
CARA HOFFMAN
Spin & Strength
Cara is committed to finding creative ways of incorporating strength, flexibility, and mindfulness into her practice. She is also currently an Occupational Therapy Student at GRCC and plans to graduate in 2024. Join Cara on the mat for an invigorating and empowering yoga experience designed to enhance both physical and mental well-being.
David mart
HIIT | Firm H2O Gold | Personal Trainer | Spin | Strength & Stretch | Strong & Balanced
David is an avid marathon runner who has participated in various road races throughout the country. He is certified as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor through the NASM Academy of Sports Medicine. David is an upbeat encourager with a passion to help people reach their fitness goals. He loves connecting with people from various backgrounds and getting to know them on a personal level in order to understand how he can inspire them to make positive changes in their lifestyles. He wants to show the world that exercise can be such an enjoyable part of life and that moving your body feels good.
Deb Weiss-Gelmi
Classical Yoga | Gentle Yoga | Sing Song Yoga | Yoga in the Park
Deb Weiss-Gelmi is a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, and she has great respect for the rich teaching lineage of the method. She finds it deeply rewarding to guide her students from their first experiences with yoga through to a deeper understanding of yoga and themselves. Deb founded and developed Sing Song Yoga®, the kids’ musical yoga program featured in Zeeland Rec's programming, and has published a kids’ yoga DVD, an iOS App, and a school program. Her formal education includes a bachelor’s in education (including child development), and a master’s in reading / literacy K-12.
erica boerman
Firm H2O Gold | Mobility | Strong & Balanced
Erica started attending group fitness classes right here at Zeeland Rec and absolutely fell in love with them! So much so, that she pursued certification in group fitness instruction from the American Council on Exercise. Her passion is functional strength and mobility to enhance performance, increase range of motion, and improve stability. In her spare time, she can be seen walking downtown Zeeland, embarrassing her children at their sporting events, and enjoying one of the many top-notch classes offered by Zeeland Recreation. Outside of fitness, she's a foodie who loves to talk travel, green cleaning, organizing, and adoption.
Grace Spelde
Zumba | Zumba Step
In 2007, Grace discovered Zumba and was thrilled to find out that she could burn lots of calories and improve her overall fitness level while doing something that she couldn’t help doing anyway. When the invitation was extended to become a licensed Zumba instructor, that was a no-brainer, and now she gets to throw a dance party several times a week at Zeeland Recreation Center. She promises that if you join her class, you will burn lots of calories, you will improve your overall fitness level, and you will learn some sweet, Latin-inspired moves to spice up that dance you do in the produce section.
JACI LOWTHER
Cardio Sculpt
Jaci Lowther is a health and wellness enthusiast. She is group fitness instructor and has been teaching classes in person and online for several years. She is also a Nutrition and Wellness consultant and loves to help others learn how to become healthier by finding balance in their lives through eating healthy, moving more, getting adequate sleep, and managing stress. Jaci 's favorite quote is "Encourage one another and build each other up." 1 Thessalonians 5:11. She strives to live by this motto when she teaches. Jaci loves to encourage her fellow students to be their best. Being healthy and staying active are important to her and she loves to support others as they pursue a path to wellness!
Julie Lamer
Spin | Strong & Balanced
Julie Lamer is a Group Fitness Instructor for Zeeland Rec. She started teaching Group Fitness in 1985. Julie is also an avid runner. She began running in the 80’s and has kept that passion going. Julie enjoys competing in races, triathlons, golf and spending time with family and friends. Julie, her husband Scott, daughter Maci, and grandson Graysen reside in Zeeland.
kellie bozek
Bootcamp | Spin
In addition to being a Stages Cycling trainer, Kellie is a busy mom of four. In her free time she likes to bake and spend time with her husband in the sunshine! She has a huge passion for helping others! She enjoys getting up early and crushing a great workout. During the day you will see her working at church as the Kid's Hope Director along with taking care of the church building. Kellie is also a big dog lover! Her furry family members include two dogs: a small "white poof ball" named Trey and a beautiful rescued Lab named Pauley!
kendra davito
Aqua Fit | Cardio Drumming | Strong & Balanced
Certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a personal trainer (NASM CPT), and also a certified Spin Instructor and Senior Fitness Specialist, Kendra finds joy in encouraging others in both fitness classes or personal one on one training sessions. Kendra's own fitness journey began over 20 years ago and has evolved into serving as the President of the Macatawa Cycling Club, has lead multiple local community road cycling bike rides, and participated in triathlons. In 2018 she even completed her first full IRONMAN triathlon! In addition to her fitness pursuits she enjoys coffee with friends and traveling with her hubby and spoiling her grand-kids.
LOVE GONCHARENKO
Yoga Relax
Love is from Ukraine and lived in Thailand for 14 years. She studied yoga, ayurveda and different kinds of meditations all around Southeast Asia and India. Love got her certification as a Yoga therapist in 2019 in Kerala, India. She was also certified as a fitness instructor for a group program in 2008 by Fitness academy.
MELLISSA ZOERHOF
Strong & Balanced | Yoga in the Park
Mellissa is a group fitness instructor and Yoga teacher who has a 200 hr Yoga Certification and is also certified in Sing Song Yoga. She is also a certified Middle school teacher and has her Masters in Elementary Education. Health, wellness and learning have always been passions for Mellissa and she is grateful to continue to inspire these in kids, teenagers and adults at Zeeland Rec. In addition to her role at Zeeland Rec, she is the owner of "Grit & Grace", which is an organization that provides wellness and learning opportunities for all ages in West Michigan. Mellissa lives in the country north of Zeeland with her husband, 2 kids, 1 dog and 13 chickens.
stephani hop
Cardio Dance Gold
Stephani has a NASM personal training certificate and is also workings towards her NASM nutrition coaching certification. In addition to her work in the fitness field, Stephani has been a registered nurse for many years in numerous fields (neonatal, asthma, allergy, plastic/reconstructive surgery). She has a passion for health and fitness and became a personal trainer to help encourage and inspire others to achieve their health and fitness goals! She is married and has two children and three chocolate labrador retrievers. Her son loves dirt biking, and her daughter enjoys dance. In her free time, she enjoys weightlifting, Zumba, camping, and spending time with my family and friends.
trish vanderloon
Firm H2O
Trish has had a passion for water her entire life. When an injured knee brought her to water aerobics for strengthening, she immediately fell in love with the low impact workouts. She felt compelled to become an instructor and share in her joy. With the healed knee she has taken to leading HIIT classes with strength training. She loves to hike with her dog, boating, biking and singing. She and her husband also own The Embroidery House Inc. / Harwood Printing & Advertising where she is an Account Executive.