Meet Our Class Instructors
Veronique Johnson
Veronique’s yoga journey started at a young age with her dad. She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and teaching for 5 years. She is trained in Baptiste Power yoga, Yin yoga, Chair yoga, Hatha yoga, Ayurveda and meditation. When she is not doing yoga, you will find her doing outdoors activities like gardening, traveling, pottery, speaking French and spending time with family and friends.
Alyssa Damke
Alyssa is passionate about anything and everything “fitness”. In addition to fitness, she is extremely passionate about helping people—fostering a love and dedication for health and wellness being a top priority. Her fitness journey started in 2010 when she took the first steps towards embarking on a lifestyle change by walking through the front doors of a local gym in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. After losing 70 pounds and gaining so much more, she quickly discovered that her calling needed to be geared towards helping people lead a happier and healthier life. Alyssa earned her Master of Public Health in December of 2020 and brings 3 years of group fitness training to Lion’s. Alyssa has experience teaching cardio kickboxing, TRX, spinning, as well as indoor/outdoor fitness bootcamp classes. She is excited to join the Lion’s family—come see Alyssa on Tuesday evenings for spin class!
Donna Heck
Sharing her passion for health and wellness, helping guide people to their full potential, is a driving force in her work as a group fitness instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. Donna's career as a group fitness instructor began in 2003 when she helped launch a Group Cycle program, and it has been a passion of hers ever since. Helping people see that “not being fit enough” is not a reason NOT to come to class, it is all the more reason she encourages, applauds and supports it! Her own journey started 22 years ago when she was well over 200 lbs, scared and unhealthy, no coach, mentor or support team to help educate and guide her. She made it her goal to someday provide that support, motivation, education and encouragement to others. She is so excited to share her passion for Group Cycling with you!
Amanda Pieper
Amanda has been teaching indoor cycling classes off and on for the past 10 years, taking a small break when her kids were born. She loves challenging people to new levels and enjoys getting to know you in class. Music choices are all varied, but she loves a good burn and a quick change of pace. Amanda is married to husband, Nate, has two small children and a Bernedoodle named Oakley.
Cale Albert
Cale Albert graduated from CenterPoint School of Massage and Shiatsu Therapy in 2011. He practices holistic and integrative massage, blending a variety of styles and methods. This includes "Western" approaches such as Swedish, Deep Tissue, Hot Stones, and Craniosacral therapy, as well as "Eastern" styles like Shiatsu, Thai massage, Cupping, and Reiki. The tools used for each session are catered to your particular health goals and needs of that day, as we well as taking a long term care view to improve overall health and wellness for the years to come. As a martial artist, Cale has earned a 4th Dan black belt in Ao Denku Jitsu, as well as a 2nd Dan in Sung Moo Kwan. Over the years, he has had the privilege to train with excellent instructors across a wide variety of disciplines such as Tai Chi, Judo, Haidong Gumdo, Kali, and others. Qigong was a natural addition as he transitioned from a martial artist into the healing arts.
