New mobile fitness business in Lakewood Ranch

Now 51, Lakewood Ranch's Dale Kuehne can remember back to the time he figured out his life's direction.

He was in a gym, working out, when one of the members came up to him and asked for pointers to use the weights correctly. Kuehne, then 28, explained a routine, and then walked away.

His mother, Joanne Kuehne, was there to see her son sharing his insight.

She looked at her son and said, "I guess you know now what you want to do."

Fast forward to today, and Kuehne continues to find enjoyment by helping people reach their fitness goals. It's just coming in a different form now.

For years, he worked in various gyms and fitness centers, using them as his base. In February, Kuehne decided to go out on his own, and he literally drove away.

Dale's Mobile Fitness was born and early returns suggest Kuehne has found an untapped market.

He specialties include senior fitness and golf performance and goes where needed.

"Seniors are different," Kuehne said. "When you are 18, you want to look good in a bathing suit. For seniors, it is more about quality of life, things like lifting your grandkids. If they can be stronger and more flexible, that can give them greater independence."

Kuehne will meet with a possible client and do a free assessment. "I sit down and talk about any fears they might have," he said. "I put together a customized plan. I find out what level they are at."

He urged seniors to consider they don't need to be at any fitness level, size or shape. The goal is to be more fit, and more independent, no matter the age. He understands that nobody particularly likes to work out.

"If you polled 100 people and asked if they liked to work out, there would be five saying yes," he said. "Older people don't want to have more stress than their body can handle. But I like working with seniors. It is a niche that's not being filled. People lose their balance and they lose their muscular strength. They don't have the stability."

In a different direction, Kuehne enjoys working with golfers.

"I've golfed since I was 14," he said. "I found the Titleist Performance Program five years ago."

He took the program and was certified.

"Golf can really take a toll on your body ... it beats you up if you don't have core strength."

A 12-handicap, Kuehne said for many golfers, fitness means more than dropping strokes. It means the golfer isn't sore a day after playing 18 holes.

Once a wimpy 10th grader at 120 pounds, Kuehne found the gym and fitness. By the time he was a senior in New Port Richey, he was a 170-pounder. 

"I had felt weak and I had hung around people who were bigger," he said. "I saw they were treated differently.

"Your fitness is something you can control. You have the power to change."