Meredyth is an outstanding personal fitness trainer. She has extensive working knowledge of all aspects of the human body and how it works. Meredyth established a personal connection with me as a client and is an absolute pleasure to train with. Her nature is calm and patient - she is always respectful. Meredyth ignites enthusiasm with her sustained energy and commitment to help me achieve optimal levels of my personal performance. Her professional excellence and positive reinforcement give me the confidence to do what I once thought was not possible. She is teaching me the skills I need to make my life easier while helping me to stay mobile and active.

I am 68 years old and my fitness journey is a story of recovery and rehabilitation. I am plagued by longstanding back issues, arthritis and body pain all of which have been further impacted by injury. Medical treatments, spinal and joint injections, chronic pain management program offerings and many rounds of physical therapy got me to a point in my recovery but for a sustained improvement in my quality of life I knew that I had to do more.

So, I joined a gym and embarked upon an exercise curriculum with one of their recommended personal trainers. I wanted someone to help me learn what exercises I should do and how to do them without hurting myself. Then came the COVID shutdown, the gym closed, and I switched my exercise routine to online group classes. However, the Yoga and Pilates classes I took did little to help restore my strength and, in fact, likely introduced new alignment problems and improper muscle activations. My strength and mobility continued to deteriorate and my musculoskeletal pain increased.

That is when I became Meredyth’s client. She started our engagement with an extensive physical assessment of my posture and movement, flexibility, balance, core function, muscular fitness, body composition, power, agility, and coordination. I shared with Meredyth my fitness goals and she helped me to refine my objectives and targeted my many weaknesses. Meredyth then developed and continually modifies my personalized fitness program incorporating specific exercise routines that align with my stabilization and strengthening plan.

We workout virtually together via Zoom. Meredyth introduced me to aspects of exercise that I was never taught at the gym, such as foam rolling techniques, proper stretching and warm up exercises. If I cannot do an exercise a particular way, she helps me modify it so that I can. I actually prefer training sessions online as opposed to a gym environment because our sessions are private and focused solely on me. Meredyth teaches me new exercises that I can do anywhere without machines or gym equipment.

Meredyth’s holistic fitness methodology works well for me. Specifically, Meredyth has helped improve my quality of life by:

• Demonstrating, guiding and instructing me through exercises and stretches to help me reach my goals while ensuring I do the movements safely.

• Addressing my health and nutritional interdependencies.

• Sharing her vast knowledge on many other aspects of wellness including general health, body structure and nutritional guidelines.

• Determining root causes of issues and limitations and then targeting corrective strategies.

• Listening and caring when I experience pain or discomfort.

• Watching me exercise looking for indicators of possible misalignment or posture that could lead to pain.

• Explaining how her customized workouts will help me reach my goals.

• Changing the workout formats and the number of repetitions/sets in every session.

• Utilizing the range of motion that I have available and making improvements from there.

• Recording extensive notes on the events and outcomes of each training session.

• Asking me how things are feeling, checking in with me during exercises to see “where I feel it” and coaching me through the exercise mechanics.

• Changing the exercise routine, sometimes on the fly, to be sensitive to my body’s limitations.

• Understanding the difference between pain and soreness and conveying that understanding to me.

• Challenging me to be more in tune with my body and sensing changes from within.

• Keeping me engaged in the process with encouragement, focus, accountability, and reminding me of results achieved.

I don’t think exercise is fun. I get frustrated with my limitations and have minor setbacks. Improvements in my body mechanics and proper posture alignments take time and effort to achieve. However, I have experienced measurable results - a day-to-day life with less pain, no medications, and more living. Another unintended result of my exercise program has been a significant reduction in my cholesterol numbers.

I am delighted to have found my perfect fitness trainer in Meredyth. She has helped me find my way to a better me.

-B.B.