Client of the Month: May 2023
And the winner is…
Steve Jordan!
Congrats Steve! If you haven’t yet, please read why he was nominated below
Nominees:
Liz Carr:
One of Become Betters longest clients. Liz has hit many gym PRs and recently turned her goal of being able to do one chin up into hitting a 4 rep PR. In May she did the Pittsburgh half marathon. Technically she did not PR her half marathon pace because Pittsburgh is a very hilly and hard race, but she was only 2 seconds slower per mile off of that pace. This placed her 37th out of nearly 900 people for women in her age range.
Liz first reluctantly entered Become Better thanks to her Brother Elliot way back in 2015 (I think). She was as novice as can be and only came in 1 day/week. After getting into a routine and realizing the benefits she increased to 2 times/week and has hardly missed since then. 2x/week is a really good goal for those that run as much as she does to make sure you keep your body strong and capable of withstanding the impact of all those foot contact.
Here are some of her recent gym PRs:
4 Rep Chin Up PR
95 kg Deadlift PR - over 200 lbs for the first time
115 kg x 3 Trap Bar Deadlift - over 250 lbs
74 kg back squat
Steve Jordan
Steve has been in the gym for only 6 months, but has been very consistent and always works hard to get his workout done. He takes all of coach Dan’s constructive criticism in stride and uses it to become better. The smile on his face and supportive attitude is a prime example of the atmosphere we have tried to create here.
Smiling and having a good time isn’t enough to get nominated for this award though. Steve also recently deadlifting 140 kg (308 lbs) after barely starting at 100 kg just a few months prior. Steve has also Back squatted 90 kg, just under 200 lbs, for an easy double. Steve is also trying to get back into volleyball shape and has increased his vertical almost 3 inches since starting.
All-in-all, even though Steve has only been around for a relatively short amount of time compared to most, he has worked very hard to become better. He’s a model client and I look forward to continuing to see his progress during the Summer Olympics this year.
Francesca/Sue
This will be our first double nominee for Client of the Month since they train together 3 days/week. When coming to us for the first time, Francesca was as fresh a gym goer as they come. Francesca had not stepped foot into a gym and had some of the concerns that many do when stepping into a new situation. What's it going to be like? Are they going to beat me up? One of her first questions to us was "what type of clothes should I wear to work out?" This is how new she was coming into the gym. She then began her journey with Become Better Training with our previous trainer, Nik. That was ~5 years ago (sorry i’m bad with exact dates)... Since then, Francesca has been training 3 days/week (unless she is traveling the world that week) and come a long way with her fitness. We started out with many bodyweight exercises, bands, and small dumbells. Now she asks to use the bar for more weight or to make things harder in general. She has also been helpful in calling us out for things that we could improve in our gym which is always appreciated as we too out trying to Become Better.
Recently she has also had her longtime friend, Sue, join her for those 3 days/week that she trains. Sue also has been recently trying to push her weights too and is never afraid to try something new. Together they make quite the quippy duo with their quick one liners and sense of humor between them and with us. Although the weights they lift may not be monumental, I think it’s prudent to mention that Francesca has no problem pressing 25 lb dumbells or picking up 50 kg (110 lbs) for multiple sets and reps. For many this may not seem like much, but from where it all started I am very proud of their progress and very happy they are apart of our gym :).