Wellness With Lauren Kleban: Why Movement Is More Than a Workout
Lauren Kleban is a fitness expert, celebrity trainer, and wellness entrepreneur. She is the founder and creator of LEKFIT, a celebrity-favored fitness brand combining rebounder cardio, sculpting movement, and lymphatic drainage. What began as a Los Angeles garage studio in 2013 grew into a cult-favorite brand, with Lauren launching the LEKFIT Online Studio in 2016 and opening her flagship Hancock Park studio in 2019. Her celebrity clientele has included Busy Philipps, Kate Beckinsale, Julia Garner, and Leslie Mann. Her work has been featured in Vogue, W, The Hollywood Reporter, and People, and she was named to Town & Country’s Beauty Guru Power List. Through LEKFIT, Lauren continues to build a fitness community centered on effective movement, body confidence, and accessibility.
Q: LEKFIT started in your garage and has grown into a devoted fitness community. Looking back, what was missing from the fitness industry that inspired you to create something entirely your own? When I created LEKFIT in 2013, there was so much toxic “bikini body ready” messaging, and I wanted to move far away from that ideology. At the time, boutique fitness could felt very exclusive - think SoulCycle front row status, needing to be a certain fitness level to take the class etc. Between the pressure to work out as punishment for what you'd eaten, the intensity of pushing yourself until you felt sick, and the competitive atmosphere around classes, I wanted to create the opposite.
A: I wanted a space where people wouldn't feel intimidated walking through the door, where everyone felt welcome regardless of their fitness level. I wanted movement to feel attainable, inclusive, and effective without being aggressive or damaging to the body.
Q: We often talk about the connection between physical health and how we show up in other areas of our lives. How has prioritizing movement influenced your confidence, mental clarity, and ability to navigate the demands of entrepreneurship and motherhood?
I believe we're meant to move every day, but not necessarily in the same way. You wouldn't want to lift heavy every day, just as you wouldn't want to only stretch every day. That's why I created LEKFIT as a complete fitness method that balances cardio, strength, sculpting, recovery, and lymphatic-focused movement.
Prioritizing movement, and especially being a dancer, really supports my energy and drive to get things done. As an entrepreneur, sometimes you just have to sit down and get things done. As a creative, I prefer to wait for the right mindset or energy, but business doesn't always allow for that. Sometimes you have to sit at your desk, get it done the best you can, and move on.
Q: Which Juna product is your favorite and how does it fit into your daily routine?
A:Juna is my number one go to, cannot live without. Every morning I have the chlorophyll drops, and every night I have the sleep gummies. It's literally the only product I've ever been so ride or die for.
Q: There's so much conversation around optimizing our health, from strength training and metabolic health to sleep and longevity. What do you believe women should be paying more attention to when it comes to their long-term health, and what's something you think we're overcomplicating?
A: I think women need to pay more attention to their own bodies and stop ignoring their intuition and their innate ability to recognize what they need. There's so much noise and conflicting information being thrown at us that it's easy to lose touch with ourselves. I think we'll ultimately feel our best when we tune that out and get back to listening to our bodies.
We're absolutely overcomplicating wellness and especially our diets. I've always believed in paying attention to hunger cues rather than eating by the clock. Our appetites can change at different times in our lives, and even from day to day, so I think it's important to listen to your body rather than follow rigid rules.
Q: As women move through different stages of life, our bodies and needs inevitably change. How has your own approach to fitness, recovery, and nutrition shifted as you've gotten older? Are there things you prioritize today that you didn't 10 years ago?
A: I'm try to tailor my approach to be in tune with my body but it hasn’t changed in a radical way. I've always known that regular massage and recovery work are important for me. I’ve stepped it up with monthly massage therapy that includes full-body work, cranial massage, and cupping. That routine helps keep me going. I don’t buy into the messaging that everything needs to shift just because we hit a certain age. I love helping women feel good in their bodies, feel feminine, feel sexy, and feel like themselves at any age.
Q: On Your Nightstand: What's one thing you can't go to bed without? Or a nightly ritual you swear by?
A: Sleep gummies, Silk bonnet, mouth tape, and my Nurse Jamie Pillow, which I swear by. I also take a 10-minute walk followed by an Epsom Salt bath every night, which helps me decompress.
Q: Current Favorite Book/Podcast/Playlist/App?
A: I honestly love Tidal - I might be one of the last people still using the app, but I love making playlists on there. My background is in dance, and all of our classes are highly curated to music, with the rhythm setting the tone and guiding movement, so I’m always listening to music and love discovering new artists.
Follow Lauren's Journey
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