Fitness
Currently, I’m a NASM certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor. I don’t train clients on-on-one any longer, but I do teach several classes a week in a live setting, and those moments are typically the best parts of my week.
How I got started in fitness
My fitness journey began in college, when I started running several times a week. It wasn’t until very early in my professional career that I learned about the power of group fitness, and my world changed.
I started attending a gym regularly after work and was completely floored by the changes in my body and the improvements in fitness level that I gained from one particular class — Les Mills BODYPUMP. After several months of progress, the instructor encouraged me to consider joining the ranks as a leader.
I thought about it for some time and finally signed up for a three-day initial training, and the rest is history. Although I continued to work in the corporate world, I spent more and more time in the group fitness room … building my passion for everything that has to do with working out, healthy food and living. That passion continued to grow, and now I’m a fitness professional, as well as the writer of A Lady Goes West.
Currently, I teach three different types of classes at Life Time in Charlotte. Before this, I taught Les Mills classes (BODYPUMP, BODYATTACK and CXWORX) at a few San Francisco Bay Area 24 Hour Fitness gyms, as well as barre and POP Pilates classes. My experience also includes having worked as a Fitness Coach at Orangetheory Fitness and as a full-time personal trainer at Equinox. I got my Certified Personal Trainer certificate through National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
Fitness posts
Here’s a recap of some of my best fitness-related posts …
Personal training
- Top six reasons to work with a personal trainer
- Why I like working with a personal trainer
- My experience with the NASM CPT Guided Study Program and passing the NASM exam
Les Mills group fitness
- The best workouts on Les Mills+ (Plus formerly On Demand)
- Review of Les Mills Smart Tech equipment and Les Mills Smartbar (and a promo code)
- How to become a Les Mills group fitness instructor (and how to prepare for training)
- Everything you need to know about Les Mills workouts and how to get started
- Review of Les Mills On Demand streaming workout service
- How to become a group fitness instructor when you have a full-time job
- How to learn Les Mills group fitness releases
- How to modify a BODYPUMP class when you’re pregnant
- BODYPUMP 101 overview and tips for first-timers
- BODYATTACK 101 overview and tips for first-timers
- CXWORX 101 overview and tips for first-timers
Group fitness class reviews
- Find all of my class reviews here.
Orangetheory Fitness
- Everything you need to know about Orangetheory Fitness
- How to get more out of your Orangetheory Fitness workout
Fitness tips
- Five things no one tells you about postpartum exercise
- Seven recovery methods to try on your next rest day
- How to get more from your virtual and digital fitness classes
- Foam rolling 101: How and why to foam roll
- 15 things you should know about working out when you’re pregnant
- What you should know about working out in the morning
- Six tips for taking your first group fitness class
- 13 ways to teach a good group fitness class
- Top 10 ways to grow your group fitness classes
- How to get better results from taking group fitness
- Top five confessions of a fitness professional
- Signs of a bad group fitness instructor
- Six ways to be a polite group fitness participant
Workouts
- 20-minute full-body BODYPUMP-inspired barbell workout
- Total-body sculpting weights workout
- Four-move total-body dumbbell workout
- Short and fierce total-body dumbbell and cardio workout
- 30-minute walk/run treadmill routine
- 20-minute no equipment bodyweight workout
- Change your world with these two shoulder-mobility moves
- 15-minute, three-move total-body dumbbell workout
- 25-minute power-walking treadmill workout
- 20-minute treadmill interval workout
My current fitness certifications:
- Certified Personal Trainer, NASM
- Life Time Barbell Strength, Shred and LifeBarre Instructor
- Les Mills Advanced BODYPUMP Instructor
- Les Mills CXWORX Instructor
- Les Mills BODYATTACK Instructor
- Bootybarre Instructor
- POP Pilates Instructor
- Certified Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach
- Pre- and Post-Natal Certified Personal Trainer
- CPR/AED