Hello everyone! It has been a few weeks now since I left Pittsburgh and I must say I am missing you all like crazy. I found a job personal training at a gym here in Albuquerque, but I haven’t built up much of a client base yet so I am thinking about all of you guys more than ever wishing I was still seeing you and working with you every week. Become Better SPPT is such a fantastic gym and I’m sad that I’m not there anymore. But I am still writing programs for a few of you online, so that is keeping me busy and making me still feel like I’m part of the Become Better family. Everyone left me such such great memories on the board before I left, so I wanted to write this article to share some of my favorite memories with my clients. While I have plenty of memories with all of you, this article will focus primarily on memories with clients that were primarily mine. You’re all in good hands with the rest of the Become Better team, but I’ll never forget our time working together!
Alright, now on to the memories in no particular order.
Nicole Miller:
My favorite memory of Nicole is her doing the 100 calorie bike challenge for the first time last July. It must have been her second or third week at the gym and that challenge is very tough, even for our most experienced clients! I expected her to give up after a few minutes like some other people who have tried that challenge have, but she pushed through all the way to 100 calories without complaining once. In fact, she was cracking jokes the whole time in between grimaces! From the very beginning of Nicole’s time at the gym, it was apparent that she was a hard worker and that she would make rapid progress. She has one of the best work ethics out of any person at the gym.
Mike Tobias:
My favorite memory with Mike is helping him get to his first 1000lb total (squat max+bench press max+deadlift max). Last summer, Mike and Kelly showed up 3 days per week just about every week and made tremendous progress. Before we started that program, I believe Mike’s maxes were in the mid 200s for the squat, low 300s for the bench, and low 300s for the deadlift. At the end of the summer on testing day, he squatted over 300lbs, bench pressed over 315lbs, and deadlifted over 400lbs! Seeing the excitement on his face knowing that he accomplished the goal we set out to accomplish was very rewarding.
Nicole Celender:
Nicole is my longest standing client at the gym. I’ve been writing programs for her since my very first week as an intern two summers ago. I have too many memories with her to pick just one. Watching her squat 250lbs for the first time is up there, coaching her through her first powerlifting meet is up there, and so are all the brewery trips and beer fests. Also, we shared many laughs about her inability to do plate math while lifting. She has set many accidental personal records due to loading the bar incorrectly and I’m never sure whether to be happy for her or get onto her. Either way it is always entertaining!
Robbie:
My favorite memory of Robbie is watching him go from a goofy 13 year-old who couldn’t do a push-up or pull-up to a goofy 14 year-old kid who could do 10 push-ups and 5 pull-ups. Getting your first push-up and pull-up are both huge milestones! And it was an honor to help him get there. Robbie showed up to train 3-4 days per week just about every week until the COVID shutdown, and he made a ton of progress. I remember on day one when he could barely deadlift the empty barbell with good form. Now he is deadlifting over 220lbs for reps. It’s always great to work with someone who shows up every week and works hard!
Kerry:
I worked with Kerry more times than probably any other client at the gym. I saw him four days per week over the past year and I don’t think he ever missed a session. I have some great memories with Kerry including watching him power through hill sprints and mile and a half runs, and squatting heavy weights. For those of you who don’t know, he is training to pass the FBI physical fitness test. Before he came to the gym he took the test and did not receive a good score. After a year of hard work, he is near maxing out the point scale in certain events and he has improved by leaps and bounds in every aspect of fitness. He plans to take the test again some time in the next few months, and I know he will pass with flying colors.
Colby:
Colby was one of my favorite clients to work with. He was 11 years old when I first started training him, and from day 1 I could tell I was really going to enjoy working with him. He was fascinated by all of the different types of equipment in the gym and always wanted to try new things and learn how to do different exercises. During our year together Colby got much stronger and learned a lot. But most importantly, he is now set up for a lifetime of success with exercising. It’s never too young to start learning how to move and be healthy! My favorite memories with Colby are throwing the football outside after our sessions.
Francesca:
Francesca was one of my most dedicated clients. She showed up 3 times per week almost every week, only missing sessions when she was out of town. My favorite memory of her is just watching her learn and build confidence in the gym. Before coming to us, she didn’t have much experience with exercise. After several months of consistent training, she was doing back squats, trap bar deadlifts, overhead presses, and plenty of other exercises with great form! With the trap bar deadlift in particular, she worked up to lifting over 135lbs which is a huge milestone for anybody! I always loved seeing the look on her face after I would tell her to do something which read “yeah right, I can’t do that” and then seeing her do it anyway.
Katie:
Katie may have been the sassiest client of mine. She was usually my first client of the day, so bantering back and forth with her was always a great way to start the day! Whether it was complaining about how the barbell was going to give her man hands or telling me she wanted me to stop making Alex do squats and deadlifts because his legs were strong enough already and I should just make him do arms and abs instead, our conversations were always fun. Despite all of her fake complaints, she always did the work and she got much stronger and lost weight during our time working together. I think my favorite memory was the day that both her and Alex did the 5 minute sled challenge at separate times during the day and they both ended up in the same position on the ground immediately afterwards. Scroll back to Valentines Day on the Become Better SPPT Instagram page!
Jen and TJ Smith:
I loved seeing Jen and TJ every Sunday morning. Jen always came in to work hard and during our time together, she worked up to a 100lb bench press and a 210lb deadlift! It was awesome watching her get stronger despite a crazy work and travel schedule. TJ joined a few months after Jen did, and it was awesome watching his perspective shift from “this sucks” to “this sucks, but I love it”. (Sorry if I’m putting words in your mouth TJ, but I could tell you really grew to enjoy the butt kickings haha). Family sled workouts with their 8 and 12 year old sons were also a blast to watch!
Ben Avon:
Ben is one of my longest standing clients at Become Better. Several memories come to mind when I think about him, but by far my favorite memory is seeing him deadlift 500lbs for the first time. This was a goal he set two years ago when we first started working together and I distinctly remember him saying a few months into working together that he thought he was too old to deadlift 500lbs. He finally reached his goal this February, and seeing his excitement immediately following his lift was great. I knew how much it meant to him to finally accomplish this goal and I was so happy to be a part of it. I also really enjoyed the day he came out to throw the highland games implements with me. I’ll be coming back for the Ligonier Highland Games some time, and Ben I may just sign you up to compete with me!
Jessi Wooten:
Jessi is probably the most motivated client I worked with. During our time together she added lots of weight to all of her lifts and she lost a bunch of weight in the process! Most of this was due to her dedication to her nutrition and taking care of herself outside of the gym, but seeing how hard she worked and how much she loved training made her a pleasure to work with. No matter what kind of torture I threw at her, she always did it with a smile on her face! I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to get stronger as we work towards her first powerlifting meet in August!
Nicole Clement:
While I only got to train Nicole for a couple of months before we had to shut the gym down, she made lots of progress because she showed up twice per week every week and rarely missed sessions. She struggled with back pain before she came to us, but during our time together she made her back strong enough to deadlift over 100lbs with no issues! I’m looking forward to hearing about her continued success at Become Better SPPT.
Alex Langely:
Alex came for a trial session with Katie and ended up tweaking a muscle in his neck/shoulder. After this I was worried that he wouldn’t come back, but sure enough he bought a joint package with Katie and showed up twice to three times per week just about every week! My favorite memory with Alex is helping him find the strength that he didn’t realize he had. During our time together, he worked up to a 440lb trap bar deadlift and a 310lb back squat! He did both of those while also losing over 30lbs. He was always excited to try the monthly challenge each month and he was a great member of the Become Better family as he was always staying after his sessions to cheer on the other clients. I’ll miss you buddy!
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I think that’s everybody… If I missed someone I apologize and will add to this article as needed! But all of you made a big impact on my training philosophy and I enjoyed each and every session. I miss you all and I hope you are all continuing to Become Better without me! I will look forward to seeing you again when I visit Pittsburgh next. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me! I’m just a text or email away.