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Years ago, fitness was about women trying to be skinny; now it’s about empowerment,” says Lauren Brenner, the founder of Pure Power Boot Camp, a fitness center in midtown Manhattan. Every class ends with reciting a mantra of the 11 core values written on the wall—the list includes integrity, courage, and honor—and a trip around a Marine-inspired obstacle course. “Exercise, literally climbing over walls, is very symbolic of things women need to do in real life, outside of the gym, to give themselves courage and self-worth. What we do here transcends into the personal.