Fit for Impact
At 70, Jania Sommers decided to work with a personal trainer for the first time. Twenty years earlier, she says she “turned a corner” from inactivity and learned to swim and to take yoga seriously. She pursued tai chi and Pilates and continued to practice yoga. But when her spouse passed away in 2018 after years of illness, she says, “I was not in good shape and needed some serious help getting well and being as strong as possible in whatever life is left for me.”
Her husband had been a member of 24 Hour Fitness, and for Sommers, turning to a personal trainer there was also a way of honoring her husband’s memory. That trainer was David Merrell. A part of the team at 24 Hour Fitness Trolley Corners Active Gym in Salt Lake City, Merrell happens to know from his own experience what it’s like to gain the good health and strength to make a difference. “Personal training is an intensely rewarding field,” he says. “You take people who have limited function and open the world up to them again.”
Sommers says, “[Since working with Merrell], I feel stronger, more awake and mindfully aware of my body. Practicing exercises at the gym surrounded by a community of people also wanting to be healthy is good medicine.” It also gives her the mental and physical energy to serve her clients, as a practicing social worker and therapist.
24Life covers the benefits that physical training has on mindset, the impact that mental fortitude has on motivation, and the momentum that comes from taking a first step. But nothing speaks more meaningfully to the impact fitness can have on the rest of life than 24 Hour Fitness personal trainers and their clients. It’s a privilege to share some of their extraordinary stories in this issue.
April Staubs, member
Soon after I started training, I got pregnant and miscarried. Then the military called my husband to another state. I could have fallen into a depression, but [my trainer] Christa [Mortimore] not only taught me about fitness and diet, but she also was there for me mentally. Training was something to look forward to. I’ve learned to be patient, consistent, step out of my comfort zone and be confident. And my husband and I just had a son.
Beau Ray Bowles – 24 Hour Fitness Mission Hills Super-Sport Gym, Mission Hills, California
I’ve been involved in competitive sports my whole life, whether it was football and track or gymnastics and martial arts. My knowledge and experience, passion and talent let me give back in a way that makes an actual difference in people’s lives by helping them be the best version of themselves. Who gets to say they change lives? I do.
Cassandra Clement – 24 Hour Fitness Massapequa Super-Sport Gym, Massapequa, New York
When I started my fitness journey, my goals seemed almost impossible until I found my first personal trainer. He showed me the importance of exercise and living a healthy lifestyle. He changed my perception of fitness, and now I want to do the same for others.
Diana Sarkissian, member
“Diana discovered the importance of personal training and fitness in preparation for hip-replacement surgery,” personal trainer Jamie To says. “She received medical advice to lose weight just to survive the surgery, and a poor opinion of her chances for a normal life. She reached her weight-loss goal and gained enough strength in her hips that post-surgery, she’s walking faster and better than ever, pain-free!”
Hermes Gonzalez – 24 Hour Fitness Kew Gardens Sport Gym, Kew Gardens, New York
I tell my clients as long as you put your mind [to] your goal, your body will achieve it. At birth, I had to have surgery on my legs and lower back, and the doctors told my family that I wasn’t going to be able to walk or do any heavy exercises by my 20s. I proved them wrong, and now I love to motivate everyone.
David Merrell – 24 Hour Fitness Trolley Corners Active Gym, Salt Lake City
I chose to become a personal trainer because I wanted to relocate to be near my fiance, when he moved closer to his son. But my passion for fitness was already deep-rooted because my family has a history of diabetes, and [through physical fitness,] I changed my [health]. I love to teach, and I find personal training is an intensely rewarding field.
Debra Kerr, member
I live with moderate disability due to a neurological disease, and [my personal trainer] Steve [Rice] developed a workout program that I could trust to provide a path to improvement without risking making things worse. My improved level of fitness has brought huge benefits to my life every day. I no longer have debilitating back pain, my legs are stronger, I am walking with one hiking pole instead of two, and my energy level has increased tremendously.
Christa Mortimore – 24 Hour Fitness Apple Valley Super-Sport Gym, Apple Valley, California
I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 11 and given medication until I decided to stop taking it because it made me feel terrible and gain weight. As I lost the weight I had gained and I felt “normal” again, I became interested in joining a gym for the first time. I started training, and then I got certified as a personal trainer. Fitness changes lives—it did mine, and now I get to help others with changing theirs.
Jamie To – 24 Hour Fitness Mission Hills Super-Sport Gym, Mission Hills, California
I became a personal trainer because I love to help people. I thought I wanted to go into medicine, but in my internships, a vast majority of the cases I saw could have been prevented with more movement and better movement mechanics. Injury has been a big factor in my own fitness journey, and using my knowledge to help members avoid injury is what I strive to do.
Margo Gravelle, member
“I met Margo in June 2018, and she was very apprehensive about starting a pool session,” personal trainer Alyssa DiMarco says. “She was scared of ‘upstairs’ (the gym). By October, she tried the gym for the first time. Now I can give her exercises she never thought she would be able to do, she feels more confident, and she’s no longer worried about what other people think.”
Kelsey Waugh – 24 Hour Fitness Mission Hills Super-Sport Gym, Mission Hills, California
I was a pre-med student until I became a fitness and wellness intern for the Tempe Fire Department. With that experience, I decided to turn my passion for fitness and wellness into a career as a personal trainer. Personally, I look and feel my best when fitness is part of my daily routine, and I work with a personal trainer once or twice a week.
Marilyn Van Dyke, member
I went to the gym two or three times a week to pedal on an elliptical trainer, but more often, I kept driving on my way home from work as a speech-language pathologist. I’m 63 and I thought I was too old for strength training, and I was taking two medications for high blood pressure. Thanks to my trainer Beau Ray Bowles, I have a new passion—being strong and fit—and I’ll run my first full marathon in June.
Nabii Bastet – 24 Hour Fitness Hollywood Super-Sport Gym, Hollywood, California
My family was airlifted from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; my mother died and my husband and I divorced. I began binge-eating and became overweight. But my son was invited on a pro skateboarder world tour and I had to chaperone him. So I began working out in hotel gyms and lost weight. When others asked me to train them, I became a personal trainer to share the thing that saved my life.
Alyssa DiMarco – 24 Hour Fitness Mission Hills Super-Sport Gym, Mission Hills, California
I became a personal trainer because I wanted to help people in a more hands-on way. Polycystic ovarian syndrome and dance-related injuries made it hard to maintain an ideal healthy weight, but I finally reached a controlled state thanks to diet and exercise. I want to show others their goals are much easier to attain than they may realize.
Robert Torres, member
“Robert became my client after finishing cardiac rehab from pacemaker surgery,” personal trainer Victoria Gooley says. “He couldn’t walk on a treadmill for more than a minute and a half. Now he works out four times a week and bounces back faster. He’s told me that a trainer has the knowledge not only to improve someone’s health but also to improve their way of thinking about health and fitness.”
Victoria Gooley – 24 Hour Fitness Tualatin Super-Sport Gym, Tualatin, Oregon
Growing up, I played soccer, basketball, volleyball, and track and field. Then crossing the street after practice [one day], I was hit by an SUV. The collision broke my lumbar spine and wiped a lot of my memory away. I made progress on my recovery, suffered setbacks, and then at 24 Hour Fitness, I learned for myself how to work out properly, structure meals and improve my mindset, and it really changed my life.
Steven Rice – 24 Hour Fitness San Leandro Sport Gym, San Leandro, California
In high school, I decided to become a physical therapist because I truly wanted to help people get better. I worked for years as a physical therapist but felt I could do more to assist my patients. I decided to change careers as a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness. I’ve helped clients take control of their physical selves and improve their function and abilities, much to my joy and satisfaction.
Gennie Samala, member
Less than a year ago, I decided to be more accountable for my health and happiness. Without commitment, I had never become the person I felt like I was meant to be. But when my health started to decline, I knew it was time to make personal changes. My personal trainer, Nabii Bastet, taught me how to enjoy working out and make healthier nutritional choices, and she has been my biggest source of support.
Photo credit: Courtesy of personal trainers and members featured