by Isaac Boots doesn’t just sculpt bodies – he crafts them.
With a client roster that reads like the guest list at the Met Gala, the man behind the transformative workout phenomenon Torch’d has become a fitness guru, lifestyle whisperer, and cultural force all rolled into one impeccably dressed package.
Born Isaac Calpito and from the beaches of Hawaii, Boots’ rise to fitness royalty was anything but typical. He cut his teeth under Broadway’s blazing lights, performing in shows like West Side Story and Mamma Mia! before transitioning from pliés to planks.
Sports Illustrated spoke to the fitness guru on how his idea became a movement. “Torch’d was really born on the Broadway stage; I was a dancer on Broadway for 13 years. I created it for me really, there wasn’t a plan for it to become what it has today. It was for me to keep my body snatched, to keep my body lean. And also, be able to do West Side Story eight times a week on the Broadway stage and not be injured, but still look a certain way and feel a certain way. I started doing it alone, before the show, with my little boombox blasting Madonna. Slowly but surely the rest of the dancers and the cast started joining in,” Boots recalled.
He continued, “When West Side Story closed, I started choreographing for major pop stars. I would start the rehearsals with Torch’d as a warmup, because I knew it worked for me as a dancer, and slowly but surely their bodies started changing. And suddenly, literally overnight it seemed, LA is a small town, my schedule was training Hollywood heavy hitters back-to-back. And suddenly I had a new career. I’ve been doing that for about 10 years now, collaborating with Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop. Working with clients for awards seasons and Fashion Week.”
Hollywood’s elite couldn’t get enough. Lisa Rinna swears by it. Kelly Ripa is practically evangelical. Even Vanessa Hudgens livestreams the workouts. But Boots’ biggest power play came during the pandemic. When the world shut down, he turned his Instagram into a global fitness studio, streaming free classes and raising over $1.5 million for charities like No Kid Hungry.
“When Covid hit, it was like the first day, I offered as a fluke, my Torch’d work out on my Instagram account. The clients that I had built up over the last 10-12 years, a lot of them were on that Instagram live class. I started doing it every day and it went from 100 viewers to 10,000 viewers. It’s really turned into this beautiful thing that started off as something really personal. We were able to raise millions of dollars for kids who didn’t have access to food. Really because so many kids in this country rely on school lunch as their meal and the schools were closed,” the athlete said of his endeavor.
The Torch’d method — a high-intensity, full-body workout heavy on repetition, resistance bands, and searing core work — is a sweaty love letter to endurance. But the magic isn’t just in the movements; it’s in Boots himself. Equal parts drill sergeant, hype man, and comedian, he leads sessions with infectious energy, delivering motivational one-liners while Madonna blasts in the background.
The mantra of this sacred fitness ceremony? “Feel the burn.” Now, Boots is expanding his empire, partnering with Mindset Wellness on Torch’d CBD Energy gummies and patches, telling Sports Illustrated, “My friends at Mindset Wellness, I was introduced to their products and fell in love. With traveling around the world, I needed to supplement my life without artificial stimulation. I’m up at 5 am training clients, virtually and in person training, and sometimes events at night. I needed something to give me sustainable energy, without the crash and burn. It’s really changed my daily existence, I don’t get jet lag anymore, or sugar cravings in the afternoon.”
Boots isn’t just a trainer — he’s a movement. One that’s redefining fitness and proving that hard work, when done with style and grit, will always win the day. But fame hasn’t gone to his head. Whether he’s training an A-lister or a suburban mom, the message is the same – show up, work hard, and leave it all on the mat.
