Nicholas Jacobs, 27, started teaching fitness classes when he was a teenager, following in his mother’s footsteps.

“My mom was an instructor for the YMCA and when I was young I started taking classes and then teaching classes myself when I got older,” he said.

Jacobs moved to Atlanta in 2004 and is originally from the “cornfields of Ohio” — or the small town of Lancaster, Ohio. Fitness has always played a major role in his life and led him to teach classes at LA Fitness. Now Jacobs is ready to take his career one step further.

Although he works fulltime as an account executive for Creative Loafing, he is launching his new side business, Sweat Atlanta. The new business kicks off with a free boot camp Saturday, April 16, at the Regal Hollywood 24 on I-85. While this may be an odd location, Jacobs, who is gay, says there is plenty of parking as well as green space. The boot camp will also include movie ticket giveaways for participants.

After this weekend, the boot camp will relocate to its permanent home at Lillian Webb Park, 5 College St., Norcross, Ga., 30071. The boot camp will be held every Saturday at 9 a.m.

Jacobs fell off the fitness wagon for a few years, he said, and his weight shot up to about 200 pounds. Wanting to change how he felt and looked, he rejoined a gym and lost 45 pounds. And he regained his love for working out with others.

“Fitness is really my passion,” he said. “I have a way of making fitness fun.”

Jacobs is now certified as a personal trainer and certified to teach boot camps as part of opening his new business. He also still teaches three times a week at LA Fitness.

“I love music, so I always have a good selection. Breaking a sweat can actually be fun,” Jacobs said. “I like teaching, training, helping people. I like being able to partner with a woman who is trying to shake off that last bit of pregnancy weight or the man who can’t get rid of his love handles — and then just be so proud of their accomplishments,” he said.

And group fitness is the best way to work out for Jacobs, he said.

“One hour on a treadmill to me is torturous, but I love being in a group, having people interact with me,” he said.

Top photo: Nicholas Jacobs says his passion for fitness led him to open his new business, Sweat Atlanta. (courtesy photo)