Dear Fitness Fusion Family & Coaches,
I stumbled upon your florescent signs after I had gotten lost in the mill building one afternoon. I wasn’t sure what was behind the coded door, or if there really was some life-changing fitness place tucked inside an old mill. But I grabbed a business card, headed to my car, and made sure I began my efforts to find out what Fitness Fusion was all about. My passion for fitness, though, extends far beyond my curiosity of a set of locked doors. When I was 15, my only ride home to and from school was my older brother, Collin. We were close enough that we shared similar interests and were able to get along for a few hours at a time. Everyday, my brother would spend his afterschool hours playing basketball with his friends before heading home. Me, being unlicensed and without any sort of desire to walk home, was left with two options. A. Playing basketball with a group of older boys. Or B. going into the YMCA and figuring things out on my own. So inside I went.
As I carried a strict routine of going to the gym throughout high school and after I graduated, I realized it was more than just a bit of interest. It was my form of therapy, it was the clanging of the weights, the sweat down my face and the cleared space in my head that made me feel better. It wasn’t long into my fitness career before people had started approaching me at my gym. Some, with new workout ideas, some helped me correct my form, and I was even asked to show what workout I was doing to some of the members. Slowly, I began to become friends with some of the trainers there and built a wonderful community of people around me who all shared a similar passion. This is when I realized how much of a positive impact exercise truly had on my life.
I was a part of my first gym for six years. It was comfortable, motivating, and gave me a space to balance myself. But as I began to get into routine I knew I needed something more. I signed up for my NASM Personal Training Certification (National Academy of Sports Medicine) class last fall. At the time, I knew it was what I wanted to pursue. After testing out a few gyms in the area, I was almost constantly disappointed. I gave up my search for a bit, until I stumbled across the words “Fitness Fusion” that lit up a long dark hallway. I almost immediately was greeted by a “Hello Paris!” text from Brian when I signed up for my first free week. I was nervous, intimidated and honestly almost backed out of my first class. At the beginning of my workout, Brian led the warm up and gave instructions which I had never really had before. It was different, and I immediately knew this was a place I wanted to be a part of.
After I had spent a few days at Fitness Fusion, I mentioned that I was in school in hopes of becoming a Personal Trainer. Brian quickly took me under his wing, and offered me an opportunity as an Intern and I simply could not deny it. Through times I didn’t want to even get out of bed, to moments where I felt like completely giving up, the gym was the only thing that held me together at the end of a long day, so I knew I couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass.
Starting at a new gym can be terrifying and to be honest, it really was. But my fear of failure and all of the other fears that ran through my mind were almost completely diminished when I started my internship. The first two weeks I learned more than I ever thought I would have. I was shocked that someone wanted to teach me, and that every single person at the gym welcomed me with pleasant smiles and fist bumps. Although I was given a text book from my course, they hadn’t taught me anything like I have learned at Fitness Fusion.
I was immediately pushed out of my comfort zone of working out alone, and it was my first time ever being able to watch trainers and learn from some of the best out there. I was able to watch each of the trainers teach their classes, and study closely different techniques each of them had used.
But it wasn’t only observing trainers, I was able to assist in some of the classes and help people correct form, modify an exercise, or demonstrate a movement. At the end of every two-week period I was given a quiz on some of the study material, and in class material I had learned. They were impressive, and really made me dig deep into everything I had learned so far.
As the weeks progressed, I was learning an abundance of things and I was surprising myself everyday with how knowledgeable I really was. Close to the end of my internship at Fitness Fusion, one of my assignments (and my favorite so far) in replacement of a quiz, was to write and design my own Small Group and Large Group workout. And to my surprise, it only had taken me an hour to create my very own workout for both groups. I took the day, to extensively go over all of the workout to make sure it was just perfect and even ran myself through it at my gym in town.
Everyday at Fitness Fusion, there was a pleasant smile, a warm hand to high five, and a positive word cheered across the room. I have learned so much here, and it was such a wonderful experience to work closely with both trainers and members. As I will finish my internship with this, my passion for fitness and my fitness career does not end here. As I am avidly shooting for my Certification, I feel more prepared now than ever. I cannot thank the trainers here enough; Brian, Jared, Marlene and Kaisa, and to all the Fitness Fusion family for making everything possible. GET FUSED ON THREE!