Karen Hauer first bagged her place on the Strictly dance floor back in 2012. And she'll be back for her 8th consecutive run on the BBC1 dance show this autumn...
And it looked like all her hard work and hours rehearsing had finally paid off in 2019 when she reached the semi-finals of the show with her partner, and an unlikely success, comedian Chris Ramsay.
“I don’t think anyone, myself and Chris included, thought we’d ever make it to the Semi Finals!” She jokes.
“Chris was a complete novice, with no training and, at the start, no coordination, but through his boundless energy, incredibly hard work and insatiable desire to improve we proved so many people wrong and hopefully inspired a few non-dancers along the way too!
“We had so much fun dancing together and to watch him learn the joy of dance was really special.”
Now though, with an 8th series of Strictly coming up this autumn, she’s been using the break from the show to work on an individual project – Hauer Power, which she launched at the beginning of 2020. An at home, equipment free workout that is a mix of pilates/yoga, body weight resistance training and, of course, some easy to follow dance steps.
It’s a real passion project from Karen, who was a Personal Trainer in New York before her dance career took off. And couldn’t have come at a better time for fitness fanatics who have no doubt been looking for ways to keep up their regime at home during the UK lockdown.
It was her dedicated and determined approach to fitness that really made her finally take the plunge and create the programme, which she says is suitable for everyone.
“My partner David and I often train together at home and he said that he worked out harder when training with me than he did alone and it made me think, I wonder if I could get other people training harder as well.
“I created and started to put #YourBody challenges up on YouTube which basically documented my own workouts and I hoped that people might do them too, and the reaction was great. After a year I’d uploaded a tonne of my workouts and had such great feedback from people that I decided I wanted to create a programme that people could follow and also track their progress, and that’s how Hauer Power was created.
“Creating Hauer Power was one of the easiest things I’ve done. With Hauer Power expect laughter, dance, dogs and fun, but not always in that order! I want to keep fitness in people’s lives on a day-to-day basis, not just for a New Year resolution or for summer bikini season.”
She promises that there is a range of workouts to choose from and combines a mix of influences including some Strictly-inspired moves.
Karen, who confesses her biggest passion is eating, wants to emphasise the importance fitness and nutrition can have on your mental as well as physical wellbeing.
“I love food, I mean, I LOVE FOOD. But I always listen to my body when it comes to how I eat. I eat pretty simple, whole nutrient dense foods, but I always love my bagels and doughnuts! I don’t deny myself a treat if I want it.
“Feeling fit and physically well directly connects with your mental health. It makes you feel good, confident and has so many health benefits. Hauer Power isn’t just about losing weight, getting fit and getting sweaty. For me it’s also about rebuilding the physical, mental and spiritual connections between the mind and the body. My hope is that as your physical strength increases through the workouts, so too does your mental health and your spiritual awareness.”
For more information on Hauer Power visit: www.karenhauer.fit
