Don’t be surprised if, in the not too distant future, you hear: “Stay tuned for the Super Bowl 61 Halftime Show with the Fitness Marshall.”
As far-fetched as that may seem for your Super Bowl entertainment in 10 years, it may not be any more far-fetched as the journey Caleb Marshall has already been on the past 2 1/2 years.
The 23-year-old from a small Indiana town has become a You Tube sensation with his cardio hip-hop workouts. He is closing in on 1 million You Tube subscribers and is on the road taking his show for live performances in cities including Dallas, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Boston.
He just had two sold-out shows in the area, Saturday night at the Midtown Athletic Club in Willowbrook and Sunday afternoon at the Chicago Marriott at Burr Ridge.
Before his Midtown show, Marshall reflected on his success so far.
“It’s been so surreal,” Marshall said. “To be operating with some fame, for people to know me and what I am doing still amazes me; and that all this has happened in two years is unbelievable.”
In his 60-minute hip-hop dance concerts, Marshall plays to a crowd almost exclusively female, getting them moving to music and stressing that knowing every move is not as important as simply moving to the songs.
In five years, Marshall sees himself doing cardio concerts in arenas across the country with “people getting a workout, but also getting a concert experience.”
Five years after that?
“The Super Bowl,” Marshall smiled. “Why not think big, right?”
Marshall was in community dance and theater programs throughout his childhood. At Indiana University, he began teaching cardio hip-hop class, rediscovering his passion for dance. He said he knew he was on to something when he put on some camouflage gear for one of his classes, videotaped it and put it on You Tube and the hits started adding up.
Marshall said he goes to the gym to lift weights three times a week. His cardio work, he said, comes during performances.
Although needing to stay fit for his high-powered dance workouts, Marshall is not without his guilty pleasures.
“Fries and ketchup,” Marshall said. “Sweet potato fries, any kind of fries, and hazelnut chocolate peanut butter spread. I bought a jar and finished it in two sittings.”
Marshall said his cardio workouts are fun, giving people a way to workout without the drudgery of exercise.
“I bring a lot of personality, a lot of energy,” Marshall said. “We connect with people. We don’t have to sell them to like it.”
Melissa Marohn, a Zumba instructor at Midtown, said Marshall’s message is one of that resonates with people.
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“The ‘no pain, no gain’ is only for athletes,” Marohn said. “In my programs, I want people to have fun.”
For nearly 250 women and a couple men to spend their Saturday night working out says something about Marshall’s drawing power, Marohn said.
“You’ve got people having a lot of fun. There are a lot of happy residents,” Marohn said as people streamed into the fitness center for the cardio concert.
Marohn has her own improbable fitness story. A friend had to literally drag her into a Zumba class 10 years ago. Now she instructs most of the Zumba classes at Midtown.
She said individuals need to make that step of getting off the couch and get moving.
“It doesn’t matter what you do. Do whatever you want,” Marohn said. “There are so many wonderful things to do. Even if you just get off the couch and dance for five minutes, that’s a start.”
Renu Thamman of Hinsdale was one of the women who spent her Saturday night dancing with Marshall and his back-up dancers, who like the rest of his crew, are from his hometown.
“My husband and boys think I’m crazy,” Thamman laughed.
The owner of Thamman Law Office in Chicago, who has been doing Zumba for 10 years, said she thoroughly enjoyed Marshall’s cardio concert.
Having seen some of Marshall’s videos, she jumped at the opportunity to attend the event when she saw he was coming to Midtown, where she is a member.
Like most of the women present, Thamman paid extra for a “meet and greet” with Marshall after the event to get a photo with him to “remember the experience.”
Thamman said she likes watching Marshall’s routines.
“I get my workout and entertainment all wrapped up in one,” she said.
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press