Testimonials


Getting Healthy and Preventing Disease

When I was younger, I was active and fit, but then life got in the way and the last six years of my life have been mostly sedentary.  I gained a lot of weight as a result.  For the last three years, I was on medical disability due to severe sleep apnea.  My doctor told me that my weight was exacerbating my condition, and that in order to get healthy and prevent the onset of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes (both of which run in my family), I needed to get in shape and lose the excess weight.  Not wanting to compromise my health any further, I knew I needed help to get healthy.

I contacted Shelley to help me get on the right track.  She started me out with a run-walk program to gently ease me into cardiovascular training, and a basic resistance training program.  I have been losing weight (over 10 pounds and counting!) and my endurance has improved dramatically.  Now I run 5k three days a week and I feel so much better.  My family is also very happy with the new, healthier me and I actually look forward to working out now.

-Todd W.
Hamilton, Ontario


Breaking Plateaus and Having Fun!

I'm a fairly advanced exerciser, and I've been at it for a long time. But I got stuck in a rut on my
leg workouts, and I needed some help. Shelley and I sat down and had a long discussion about
my goals, the equipment I have available, and a few limitations I need to work around, and she
gave me some excellent advice that has totally revamped and re-energized my workouts.

I exercise at home with free weights, and do not own a squat rack, so that limits my load to
what I can lift with my upper body. To intensify the weight work, Shelley told me to emphasize
isometric holds and low-end moves. To add a new dimension to my workout, she suggested
that I try to incorporate some plyometric moves to increase the power in my legs. I was a little
hesitant to try this, since I don't tolerate a lot of high impact moves very well. But we worked out
a program that intersperses the plyo moves with traditional weight lifting, and I was very pleased
to discover how well it worked.

The changes she made to my workouts were relatively small. But the changes they've made for
me have been huge! Just a few weeks into my new program I was already noticing an increase in
my explosive power, and my muscles are gaining strength and endurance. I notice this especially
when I do steep hill climbs on my incline trainer, because it's just so much easier to handle the
higher inclines of 30-40 percent with my new and improved legs.

Shelley's thorough knowledge of fitness and her understanding of how to maximize a workout
helped me to break through a plateau I didn't think was breakable without using the machines at
a gym. But more important, she put the fun back in my leg workout, and I really appreciate that.

-Shannon P.
Little Rock, AR