KIRKWOOD, Mo. — Good things come to those who sweat.
That's what they believe at Burn Boot Camp in Kirkwood.
"We focus on strength training and bringing women together and their families to become mentally, emotionally and physically strong," explained Chelsea Theodoropoulos.
Theodoropoulos owns all four Burn Boot Camp locations in the St. Louis area and she believes in the notion that we are all stronger than our excuses.
"What we do here on the floor and part of our culture is celebrating what our bodies can do," she said.
Celebrating our bodies, even when you're like 11-year-old Brenna Beffa and your body works a little differently.
When Brenna was a little girl, her parents knew something wasn't quite right.
After many trips to the doctor and dozens of tests, there was finally a diagnosis. A Muscular Dystrophy called Mitochondrial Myopathy.
"My muscles are different," said Brenna. "They work differently and I can't run for a long periods of time or very fast."
Mitochondrial Myopathy causes muscle weakness, movement disorders, seizures and an array of other issues. But Brenna refuses to let the disease put a damper on her dreams. She has gone through occupational, physical and speech therapy and she wants to be a therapist when she grows up.
"I haven't narrowed it down yet," she told 5 On Your Side, "because I've done all types of therapy."
We all need help to achieve our dreams and Burn Boot Camp is helping Brenna and kids like her.
They're raising the bar for giving to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
"We have raised over a million dollars so far for the MDA and it's, it's a really important part of our organization," said Theodoropoulos.
MDA is as much a part of this gym as jumping jacks. In fact, the head trainer at the Kirkwood location used to head up the local MDA office.
"It's really amazing to be able to bring like my past life and then my current together for this event every year and still be able to see the MDA families and have that relationship," said Erin Hoffmeister.
Disability doesn't have to be an obstacle to success.
"And so being able to see Brenna, look at her in the eyes and see the opportunity of helping her instill confidence and feel strong, it gives me purpose every single day," Theodoropoulos said.
As far as Brenna Beffa is concerned, Burn Boot Camp's workouts are always a tribute to the heart.
"I think it's very cool and very amazing that they help us," said Brenna.
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