for strength and longevity rather than working out just to be a certain size.
MAXIMILLIAN SULLIVAN @milliwap.fit Certified Personal Trainer, NASM, NFPT Where to train with Maximillian: NorCal Health Works, 920 21st St.
“Do what you can now and watch yourself blossom—small changes create huge results over time.” What’s your approach to fitness? I look at fitness as the result of small changes being made on a consistent basis. I collect data by analyzing their current lifestyle as a whole and suggest changes that will feel natural paired with the cadence of a client’s day-to-day routine. I strategically build onto what’s already working. Who is your ideal client? My ideal client is simply someone who is curious. I like my clients to be ready to work toward “documenting without shame.” We identify metrics that either they connect with or that are relevant to their particular training program. Data is the best way to establish a baseline.
What Do All Those Letters Stand For?
What does an initial session with you look in their everyday lives to improve their like? It varies. I give the option of meetactivities of daily living. ing at the fitness studio, or we can chat Who is your ideal client? I created My Joyover coffee. Some folks are ready to jump ous Adaptive Momentous Movement, or into the consultation and get the MY JAMM, and Joyful Inclusive “BIG BOX ball rolling with a fitness assessMovement, or JIM, as moveGYMS DON’T ment, while others would rather ment spaces that are authentic, ADEQUATELY meet and get a little more inforaccessible, inclusive, safe and ACCOMMODATE mation before we start working LARGER BODIES,” effective. The programs are deout. Both are great and give me signed for larger-bodied folks SAYS WENDY good insight into their commuwho may have experienced trauWELSHER. nication styles! ma around body movement. It’s What one exercise do you think everyone should be doing? Stretching. One very overlooked benefit to stretching is injury prevention. You’ll often notice certain muscles are tight or flaring up before you injure or re-injure what I call “sticky spots” during movement. What do you think the role of a personal trainer is? I like data. I acknowledge the small (and, more importantly, new) wins. Over time, I help people build on those wins, and they realize they’re much closer to their goals than they thought they were. What a twist! What is a misconception that you think the general public has about personal training? That we yell at you to make you push yourself. Most of us are nerds that love anatomy. If we aren’t a match for you, we most likely can recommend a good fit.
WENDY WELSHER
Personal trainers rely on several organizations for training and certification. Here are some:
@jimjamm_wendy
l NATA—National Athletic Trainers’ Association
Where to train with Wendy: joyfulinclu sivemovement.com
l NASM—National Academy of
Sports Medicine l NFPT—National Federation of
Personal Trainers l AFAA—Athletics and Fitness
Association of America l CSCS—Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists l SITA—Size-Inclusive Training Academy
Certified Personal Trainer, AFAA, SITA
“I’ve experienced fatphobia and weight bias firsthand and understand how traumatic this is in a movement space.” What’s your approach to fitness? I’m a fat-positive personal trainer who specializes in functional strength and conditioning. I teach the foundations of functional movement, weightlifting and power training, including safe practices and recovery methods, which my clients use
about access, treatment, folks with disabilities and body size. There is not a lot of community support for disenfranchised individuals seeking to embrace movement. When there is, it is usually short-lived before given the chance to be commercially successful. For the underrepresented, there are very few safe, effective and inclusive spaces for them to celebrate movement. What is a misconception about personal training you’d like to clear up? Some people think a trainer’s body is their advertising, and a “fit” body indicates a successful personal trainer. Diet culture is a billion-dollar industry that brainwashes society to believe that skinny is the only way to be healthy. When people start looking for a personal trainer, they often make the mistake of thinking that a “skinny” or “fit” trainer is the healthiest trainer, and they can make you look like them. If you look at me from head to toe, I am none of those things. I am fat and healthy, and fat and fit. Living in a larger body in our culture means that I am not always taken seriously in the fitness industry. I’ve been an athlete since 2009, and my body has fluctuated. This doesn’t make me a bad trainer: I have the education and the experience, and I can relate to my clients because of fatphobia, weight bias and how diet culture sees me. What is something that you wish more people knew about fitness? Big box gyms don’t adequately accommodate larger bodies. Their equipment has low measurement and weight restrictions that are not suitable or safe for larger bodies. Binary locker rooms aren’t accessible for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to feel safe SACMAG.COM July 2023
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