success stories

Mike Quigley

Naval Officer

Like so many of us, I have let my personal fitness wane over the past few years to the point were I wasn't happy with how I looked or felt. Six weeks ago, while paging through a local newspaper, I saw an ad for FT at Scott Circle and decided to do something about it. What I needed most was motivation and a well regulated system of cardio, strength training, and diet. From the moment I walked in on that first day, I knew this was the right place for me to get back the body I remembered from just a few years ago. I was impressed with the friendly and professional staff and with the quality method of assessment used to see where my fitness level was and what goals should be set. I'm not going to lie, it was a tough and intense six weeks. I trained vigorously with Jen, my trainer, but all the while I had a great time. She kept the workouts interesting and fun by innovative exercises and constant motion (adding to my own cardio training). In a short time, I became a part of the FT Scott Circle family and felt more like I was working out with a friend, not simply a personal trainer. Today, six weeks later, I have lost four inches off my waist and increased my strength by more than 50%. I also rediscoved the abs I haven't seen in a few years! As an officer in the US Navy, I will be deploying back to Iraq in a few weeks and I knew that I needed to get back into shape before I go. Fitness Together helped me to achieve a level of fitness that will help me in combat, but more importantly, FT gave me a blueprint for how to live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle for the rest of my life. When I get back from the desert, I'll be back at FT Scott Circle for more! Thanks, FT, I couldn't have done it without you!

Fit for Life!

Laura Logerfo

Research Scientist

In college and graduate school, I worked out frequently – running, using the elliptical, and exercising on the weight machines.  When I moved to DC, I began feeling sharp pains around my knee that kept me from running, climbing stairs, and even stepping on a curb.  A doctor eventually diagnosed this chronic stabbing pain as IT band syndrome.  The doctor sent me to physical therapy, which partly solved the problem, but the physical therapists warned me that I needed to build more muscle in my legs to ensure the IT band syndrome did not reappear or worsen.  How would I do that, now that PT was done?

 Enter Jen.  In spring 2006 Jen worked at the gym in my office building, and my boss (a former athlete himself) had seen her knowledgeably train people and recommended her.  I set up an appointment and told her my goals – to run again and to complete a pull-up.  Jen tested my strength and endurance and patiently instructed me that she doesn’t just build muscle in one spot, like the legs.  You have to build strength systemically.

 And she did.  Jen pushed me.  It wasn’t pretty – still isn’t – but Jen strikes the perfect balance between challenge and capability, scaffolding the improvement from where I am to where I need to be.  She sees where my weaknesses are and helps me strengthen them.  Jen encourages me to try moves that I wouldn’t do on my own with her support, because I should do them, to increase my fitness, to improve my strength, and to ensure better health.

 When she moved to Fitness Together, there was no question that I was following her.  Jen’s focused effort, experience, and expertise as well as her real talent for training and instructing are too rare to lose.

Not only can I run again but thanks to her “you can run faster than that!” prodding, I’m running faster than I ever thought possible.  I’m also stronger than I ever imagined I could be… and I love it.  I can do squats and bench presses with weight that surprises me – and weight that I would not push myself to try on my own.  I can even do a pull-up! 

 A little over a year ago, Jen asked me to record my eating habits.  What we found shocked us – I was filling up on relatively healthy foods, but they were not providing me with the nutrition I need.  Since then, she and I have worked to strike a better nutritional balance for my needs, and I can honestly confess that my body and my energy levels have never felt better.

 Last year, I was married in a dress I never expected to carry off – strapless and close-fitting – but that was just a small reward from my fitness journey that Jen has led.   This effort wasn’t for a wedding, which lasts one day – it’s for my health, which should last a lifetime.  Jen has always understood that.

Before

After

Naomi Morales

Vice President Administration and Human Resources

Why I Love Fitness Together!

After working with personal trainers for a number of years, I have finally found a team that delivers results!  The trainers at FT focus on me, my goals (or helping me set a goal), and my sports.  It’s great to be the center of their attention – it’s all about me; not any preset plan.  They constantly push me past where I think I can go.  The result: I am in the best shape I have been for a very long time and continue to see results in my racewalking (and jogging and tennis and …).  In the last year+, they have helped me establish new PRs in racewalking and have helped strengthen my body for the stress of tennis.  I love the “personal” part of their focus on training and appreciate that they get more out of me than I’d ever dream possible.

Deb Kepler

Journalist

I was in the summer doldrums, heavier than I’d ever been and trying to recover from surgery that left me with six pins and a plate in my left foot. I had spent more than three months in casts and on crutches. My body ached all over. As a young person, I had played several sports. Now I was a 51-year-old woman in the worst shape of her life.  I had limped past the Fitness Together ad board that was outside my apartment building more times than I want to admit. It wasn’t until I was slated to go to Iraq for all of July 2009 to fill in for one of my press colleagues that I finally called the number on the sign. I was still in physical therapy. My doctor said I could not run or put heavy pressure on my recovering foot, but I needed to start getting in shape. Every time I went to the gym, I ended up hurting myself and this time I could not afford to be injured. I canceled my gym membership and signed up with FT. I’m sure my trainers, Jen and Brian, thought I was a basket case when I walked in, still wearing my surgical boot. But they immediately took charge, assessing my body and my commitment. This was not going to be easy. The early days of the training were difficult. Luckily, the FT trainers just laugh when clients start whining. But while they are strict, they are so encouraging that you want to show up. You want to prove to them that you can do the exercises. And they vary the exercises and make it so fun that you end up laughing through the pain. Your energy level goes up along with your confidence. Halfway through my training, I landed a two-year reporting job in Afghanistan, which gave me even more reason to train hard. There were only weeks left to get strong. Jen strapped a weight vest to my back and worked me up to the point where I could walk eight flights of stairs twice and run on a treadmill.  I’m not ready for the military, but my arms and legs are much, much stronger. I lost inches and body fat and FT offered to give me workouts to take along to help me continue my transformation.  There is no way I could have done this without the expertise of FT. It was an investment in body that I’ll never regret.  Money well spent!

Raquel Duran

Insurance Agent

If you are looking for a trainer who will truly believe in you and motivate you choose Jen at Fitness Together Scott Circle.  I had been to several personal trainers before Jen and they didn't motivate or connect with me because I could tell they didn't believe I could achieve the lofty weight loss goals I had set for myself.  The first time that I interacted with Jen I could tell that she was different.  She helped me believe in myself and taught me to always push myself one step further.  At my largest I was a size 14 and weighed 181lbs.  I now weigh 124lbs and am a size 4 and I have kept the weight off for over a year.  I cannot express the difference that Fitness Together and Jen have made in my life.  Thank you for everything. 

Marty McCarthy

The size 8 figure of my 20's and 30's, after having 4 children had crept up to a size 12 by the time I reached 53. I thought maybe I wasn't too old to do something that would improve both my looks and my health. My immediate goal was to lose 20 pounds and to be able to wear sleeveless clothes and shorts again! I had immediate success! At the end of a year at Fitness Together, I had met my goal of a 20-pound weight loss, my cholesterol was down to 173, my blood pressure was lower, and I have been size 8 wearing sleeveless blouses and shorts. I look and feel better at 55 than I did at 45.

Liz Sakorski

Mom

I want my body back! After my first child, I got my body back at Fitness for Life / Fitness Together! I love the private rooms and have continued my fitness schedule with my personal trainer during this pregnancy. I have never felt better or healthier. I look forward to getting my body back after my next child also. Thanks to Fitness for Life / Fitness Together, I know I will! I have been a client for 10 years.