Working out has always been an uphill battle for me. I was born with a physical disability that has made strengthening impossible, or so I thought. A year after I joined JAC I decided to sign up with Nolan, a JAC personal trainer. After my fitness Consultation with him, he said “I love a good challenge”, that is when I knew he would work hard to individualize our time together in my sessions. I love his personality: he is encouraging, funny and is great for my accountability. I wanted to lose a little weight and Nolan advised me that focusing on improving my strength would improve my overall progress, including the weight loss I was looking for.

I was born with Unilateral Hemiparesis Schizencephaly, which is a cleft (hole) in the left side of my brain. This affects the right side of my body and limits my ability to make movements independently on that side. It can however mimic what my left side is doing. Balance and flexibility are very difficult for me and though certain things can’t improve, I was taught that I can work with what I have confidently and still make some improvements even with my disability.

I have lost 25lbs, went from using 5-10lbs free weights for my upper body workouts to now working with 15-20lbs weights, my biggest personal success is going from 0 pullups to now being able to complete 5-7 UNASSISTED pullups at 1 time! Nolan even guided me into team training classes and helped my confidence in working out with all different fitness types, including those that may have intimidated me in the past. I enjoy the Atmosphere at JAC, Thank you to Nolan, James(my newest personal trainer- who also rocks) and the JAC staff!