To Get Serious, Get Personal

by Leah Greenstein

Fitness. It's an abstract concept, something that extends beyond your body—overflows into all aspects of your life. "It's well-being from the inside out," says Al Bitar, personal trainer and owner of aptly named Inside Out Fitness near Tahoe City. "When people are fit, they can handle anything life gives them, physical or mental."

Most people go to a personal trainer with superficial goals—superficial, as in providing benefits you can see—weight loss or gain and muscle tone. Lisa Renschen, a petite, unassuming trainer at Tahoe City's A Santé Lakeside Fitness, who you might never believe is an Olympic–style weightlifter if it wasn't in her bio, sees her job as "improving a person's quality of life through agility, balance, coordination and strength."

Why might you need a personal trainer to achieve those improvements? The benefits of working with a personal trainer are numerous, but most of them stem from one thing: the one-on-one attention it offers.

When Nathan Castellanos, a trainer at Kingsbury Athletic Center in Stateline, starts with a new client, he spends the first session learning the client's health history, particularly if the person has experienced any injuries. He asks about the client's shortand long-term goals and then starts with non-weight-bearing exercises to ascertain level of fitness and form.

Some trainers, like Kathy Brown, also of A Santé, integrate Pilates mat work into their programs. Others, like Eufay Wood of Sierra Athletic Club in South Lake Tahoe, take their training outside to the stairs, or down to The Lake. With so many approaches to training, it's important to "find someone you click with personality-wise," says Heather Golden, another A Santé trainer.

If you're working out at a smaller gym, make sure your trainer is properly certified; most trainers have at least one certification, with the American Council of Exercise (ACE) being the most common. Many trainers have a specialty such as rehabilitation or sport-specific training. At athletic clubs with a number of trainers available, you'll be more likely to find one with the expertise you seek.

The expense of hiring a personal trainer can be prohibitive for many. Clients tend to meet with their trainers three times a week for fees ranging from $40 to $60 per hour. There are some other options. Heather Golden teaches a Fitness Sculpt class at A Santé and at the Incline Athletic Club that she describes as "personal training in a group setting." Other trainers offer discounts for "buddy training"—splitting the cost of hourly training with a friend. Or, for $200, Kathy Brown will design a custom training program that includes two, twoand- a-half-hour sessions for a client to do independently. The program follows all of the same principles her personal training does, without the constant oversight.

Now you might be thinking, "I'm already an athlete. I don't need to go to the gym." But personal training can provide excellent conditioning for a particular sport. Whether you're a recreational athlete or a competitive one, a trainer's attention to form, balance and core strength can give you better balance on the rock, more stamina for a 24-hour race or help save your knees on the slopes.

While all of the trainers mentioned here emphasize that it's overall fitness that will help you be a better skier/ snowboarder and prevent injury, most agree that the three crucial exercises to do throughout the season are lunges, squats and core training for balance.

For more personal advice, contact one of the many gyms around The Lake and make an appointment for a healthier, stronger future.

A Santé Lakeside Fitness

(530) 583-4283 • Tahoe City, CA

Incline Athletic Club

(775) 831-4212 • Incline Village, NV

Inside Out Fitness

(530) 581-5541 • Tahoe City, CA

Kingsbury Athletic Center

(775) 588-7600 • Stateline, NV

Sierra Athletic Club