Need some help to get in shape? Feel like you need a boost mentally and physically? Have some health issues that you need to address ? Want to get your children into a routine of taking care of themselves and staying fit? Want to do it in a reasonable amount of time and not have to spend a fortune to do it? Well then a personal training program right here in the Chattanooga Region may be exactly what you or your children need.
Throughout the Region there are a number of fitness centers that offer personal training programs designed specifically for the needs of their clients. In each program, dedicated, trained professionals, intensly committed to the health and wellness of their clients and this Region, work with individuals, groups and children to provide life changing and in the case of children, life forming results.
According to Julian Kaufman, owner of Fitness Together which specializes in personal training, “ people are recognizing the overall health benefits of working out smarter in the least amount of time necessary to reach their fitness goals.” Professional trainers offer their clients education, motivation, support and accountability to stay on track to a healthier lifestyle.
On the day I visited Julian at his Frazier Avenue business, I rushed in a few minutes late and felt immediately calmed by the soothing and unintimidating welcome area. Surely I had not just entered a gym! It was clear the message at Fitness Together was about renewal in an environment that focused on health and wellness versus sex-appeal or vanity.
“Our approach is to build on the positives of the individual and not solely focus on the physical aspects of the body,” said Kaufman. “We are totally health centered and view the human being as a whole which includes the spiritual, the physical, and the mental.” Certainly this is a refreshing approach in a society that places more emphasis on body image rather than a healthy body. In reality, we were not all born with the physique of Madonna or Lance Armstrong, but that should not prevent us from striving for our own level of fitness in order to live life to it’s fullest.
Serving approximately 30 clients a day between two locations in North Chattanooga and East Brainerd, Kaufman takes pride in a qualified staff that share a team passion for helping people make changes to a healthier lifestyle. Every new perspective client of Fitness Together completes a medical screening and fitness assessment before partnering with a trainer to set realistic, challenging and measurable goals. A “prescription” for workouts along with advice on nutrition is developed for each client that will safely and effectively make their body more functional and their mind sharper. Workouts are scheduled as one-hour sessions that take place in comfortable, fully equipped private suites with no waiting and no distractions.
To keep clients motivated or from hitting a plateau, trainers add variety to workouts which Kaufman claims causes “intelligent muscle confusion.” Preventing muscles from becoming too comfortable or familiar with same routine produces better results. At the end of every six weeks, individual goals are measured and reset if necessary to remain realistic while still challenging. Kaufman ended by saying, “Fitness Together has the right formula to keep clients motivated toward their goals. Eventually we want to bring our clients to a point of independence.”
The Rush and Red Swan Fitness are two recent additions to the Chattanooga fitness scene offering basic membership plans along with their own in-house personal training service. Coming from Knoxville, Rush has opened four fully equipped area locations in just over a year. District manager, Chris Adams, described personal training at The Rush as “actually taking a client where they need to go, not just telling them.”
Adams said approximately forty- percent of Rush members pay for the assistance of a personal trainer and that eighty-five percent of the folks who start out with the service stay with it. To educate new members about what a trainer can offer, two free half-hour sessions are offered upon joining which include goal setting and a plan for action. A trial program called, “I Feel The Rush,” provides one full training session for half the price of a normal session..
Small group personal training is another option which Adams described as four to six people working together with one trainer. This is type of training is more affordable and less intimidating for the person not comfortable going one-on-one. It is also the type of workout that can benefit the person who works harder and feels motivated by a healthy sense of competition.
Through cardio and resistance training and nutritional supplementation, The Rush program is about educating its members and getting results. Fitness manager, Nick Rich, said a client’s health is their number one priority and wants everyone to see their service as “preventive medicine.”
It is a family affair at the Red Swan Fitness and Spa opened earlier this year by the husband and wife team of Dana and Sherry Swanson. Conveniently located downtown on East 11th Street, this beautiful facility offers a one-stop location for personal training in one of three private, fully equipped suites as well as massage therapy and spa services such as body wraps, body waxing and microdermabrasion.
The Swansons have been training clients in the Chattanooga area for twenty years and wanted to offer a wellness club that focused on the total well-being of the individual. As an added service, Sherry, who is also a sport’s nutritionist, provides nutritional counseling to help clients with proper meal planning right down to the grocery list and menu. Their goal is to educate clients about healthy lifestyles, “ I would love to help put Chattanooga on the map as the healthiest city in the country,” said Sherry.
While we are on the subject of personal, I found a gym where hugging the instructor upon feeling a huge sense of accomplishment is perfectly acceptable. I am referring to The Little Gym in East Brainerd which caters to an exclusive clientele of children beginning at age 4 months, with the parent-child class, up to age twelve.
Totally sold from their family’s experience with The Little Gym in Boston, Keith and Nancy Moreland decided to use their business experience and background in gymnastics to open a franchise in Chattanooga. Although the clients are small, big things happen as youngsters learn to master such skills as coordination, listening, sharing, and working as a team. All of the classes from karate and dance to tumbling are taught in a safe and friendly environment designed with the little person in mind.
“We are not out to create the next Olga or gymnastics star, our job is to create a social, non-threatening environment with small groups,” said Moreland. “We reinforce good effort and tell our students it’s okay to make a mistake.” Their message is important for all ages.
Whether on your own, or with small groups, or training children early in their lives to routinely work at staying fit, personal training of all types are available right here in the Chattanooga Region. Dedicated professionals offer personalized programs that benefit people of all ages for their lifetime. We can all find our own best solution for healthier living, and I for one am grateful for the many opportunities available right here at home.