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Walter Kemp II splinters his training circuits into three short acts.Act I is focused on the movements themselves.
Photo via Obé. Illustration by Clara Hendler.
I break everything down, he says.
“‘double-check your weight is in the back of your heel.’
‘see to it your core is tight.'”
Kemp demonstrates a lateral raise during a Strength class.
It is safe to say that Kemps core is tight.
Angling himself toward one of three cameras, he crawls into a geometrically perfect plank position.
The walls and floor are lit from within, glowing in blue, pink, and green.
The Box, as Obé’s stage is known, is actually a lighting installation — instructors perform against shfiting, Rothkoesque fields of color.
In brilliantly hued athletic separates, they squat and lunge against great, moving fields of pastel color.
“I had a professor who said, ‘What’s your dream role on Broadway?’
And I was like, ‘to be Seaweed inHairspray.
Kemp was hurt, but ambitious, so he began to gradually incorporate exercise into his routine.
He’d go jogging and let his mind wander.
One day, he experienced something like a vision: a beautiful Black man standing before him.
Thick of biceps, svelte of waist, gold of chain, and platinum of teeth.
It was Walter Kemp II, but from the future.
“Ever since that day, the weight dropped,” Kemp says now.
This brings us to Act II of Kemps strength circuit.
“Round two, you know exactly what to do.”
He grins a heavenly white.
“Now youre just chilling.”
Plus, by not alluding to the material, conversations about Obe inexorably drift toward the spiritual.
Which brings us to Act III of Kemp’s strength circuit.
Now that the body has been engaged and the mind unwound, the soul is left awaiting salvation.
Kemp may or may not be able to access yours, but he is absolutely going to try.
It is not enough to make the workout look easy; it has to look irresistibly fun.
“Jane, welcome to class!”
Kemp beams, mid-lunge.
“Jolene, I havent seen your name in a long time.
Im not calling you out, Im calling youin!”
“Hi, Kelly!
Good to see you.
Beautiful work, Gary!”
During the upper-body set, Kemp sermonizes while demonstrating a shoulder press.
His right arm is ink-free and glistens like rain-soaked pavement.
“Let me tell you guys something,” Kemp says.
He grips two 10-pound dumbbells as they ascend into a shoulder press.
“I was freaking out and I didn’t know what to do.
But I had to surrender.
And once I surrendered, I realized that I was meant to be there,” he says.
“I want you to surrender.”
Reading magazine articles: Like boutique fitness classes, but for your brain!
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