Veteran-owned Hot Ground Gym teaches kids life skills through fitness

A suburban veteran owned and operated gym offers programs strictly for children, and helps them improve physically and mentally, teaching life skills along the way.

Doug Gialds, an Afghanistan War veteran who served eight years in the Marines, and Sam Simpson, an Iraq War veteran who served nine years in the Army, are co-owners of Hot Ground Gym, which has locations in Arlington Heights and Libertyville. The duo met after their respective military service through a security job.

“It got rough out there sometimes, and Sam and I really looked out for each other,” Gialds said.

They sought to use their experience to instruct kids in unique fitness and leadership programs.

“First of its kind truly … it utilizes obstacle courses, combining that with team building, hand-eye coordination skills and life skills,” Gialds said.

Hot Ground Gym opened in 2013 in Northbrook, specializing in hand-to-hand combat, weapons training and obstacle courses. Gialds then decided to incorporate a kids program in 2014, with challenges involving activities such as lifting heavy tires or navigating an obstacle course blindfolded.

“The term Hot Ground comes from military lingo. It means a place where training is active and ongoing,” Simpson said. “While we use some subtle military language as a nod to our brothers and sisters, the gym isn’t rigid or authoritarian. We’re firm but compassionate, with the goal of helping kids push themselves beyond what they thought possible.”

Seeing how rewarding it was to help children grow, Gialds evolved the gym to only offer these types of programs. Simpson, who first ran the Northbrook location as a general manager, joined as a co-owner in 2021. The duo restructured the business during the pandemic.

“Over the next year or two, we really refined the program. We still refine the program weekly, daily. The classes … and the experiences get cooler,” Gialds said.

At the time, Simpson also was working as a firefighter in Grayslake, and Gialds asked him one day if that’s all he wanted to do in life. Simpson said he first was offended by the question, but soon realized what Gialds meant by it.

Gialds “saw the potential in me … believed in me,” Simpson said. “I fell in love with it to the point where I stopped firefighting.”

Gialds now owns Hot Ground Gym’s Arlington Heights location at 8 W. College Drive #A, while Simpson owns the Libertyville location at 1950 Route 45, in the Canlan Sports Complex. Looking to franchise the concept nationwide, the duo is opening a Hot Ground Gym in Dripping Springs, Texas.

The passion both have for the business is rewarded every day by the steps they watch their students take. Gialds shared a recent moment when he watched a second-grader who began the class in tears, convinced he wouldn’t be able to complete the obstacle courses, transform into a confident climber.

“By the end of it, a kid who couldn’t even look me in the eye … he’s out here high-fiving me so hard my hand hurts,” Gialds said.

Hot Ground Gym’s unique ranking system encourages children to advance by mastering physical challenges and life skills such as how to use power and hand tools, first aid and knot tying. At the highest level, participants volunteer their time as junior instructors.

Gialds and Simpson describe their gym as the best therapy they could ever get.

“As a veteran, and going through everything we go through … kids are real therapeutic. This has really helped me,” Simpson said.

Though being in the military allowed the two to develop lifelong skills, it also was a painful experience.

“A lot of us have seen really bad things happen to kids. Giving back to the kids the way that we do makes us feel wonderful,” Gialds said.

Hot Ground Gym offers classes, day camps, team building events and birthday parties for children in kindergarten through high school. Further information can be found at hotgroundgym.com/.

• Shaw Local News Network contributed to this report.