The discovery that that there is much more to strength than just muscles leads to the realization that transformation is more than skin deep (though we do love the muscles, as well!). This is the reason StrongLife exists. StrongLife programs are comprehensive and customized to each client, including personal training, nutrition plans and coaching, and conditioning. We focus on strength training for weight loss and functional strength, as well as holistic health. All programs are optimized to meet the goals and lifestyle of each individual, and it is our goal to provide an environment that is unique in the industry – one that offers our clients the very best opportunity to achieve sustainability and success.

To begin, StrongLife offers a free strength assessment and consultation to evaluate your current level of fitness, how your body moves, your conditioning level, and any limitations you may have in achieving good form. Upon completion of the assessment, we will tailor a strength and weight loss program specific to your health and fitness goals, dietary needs, schedule, and budget. StrongLife is committed to helping you achieve your personal goals, and deeply invested in each and every one of our clients’ fitness journeys and long-term health. Our purpose is to help you get the results YOU want – safely and effectively – by offering innovative, comprehensive exercise science and training methodologies combined with the support, accountability, and personal connection that is vital to success.

I am a full believer that when you are ready for change, you subconsciously start to seek out change in perfect harmony with your conscious decisions and actions. You begin to choose the the work of change, and as you do so, those people that are meant to help you come into your life exactly when they are supposed to.

For me, this came to be through the wisdom and insight from two people: my mother and my best friend, Mary. They had both been there to support me, and helped me function on my lowest days. They had talked to me and loved me through it all, but neither one had really pushed me to get help up until the time I experienced a significant mental break – I was pacing, weeping, and raging; I was hysterical and suicidal. I couldn’t be reasoned with, talked to, or calmed down and spent three days in bed while, thankfully, my mother took care of my children. On the fourth day, as I began cycling out of this state, both my mother and my best friend spoke frankly to me about my mental health. The long and short of it: I was not recognizable anymore, and had become a shell of who I was before. They were concerned because I was not myself. My personality, my humor, my fire – the passion and spark that had genuinely made me who I was as an individual was no longer there. My mother encouraged me to seek help from my doctor, my friend Mary did the same. But Mary also told me something VERY different. She told me that I needed to start exercising and lifting weights. Whenever I think back on this, I laugh – at the time, it was such a novel idea to me. This was something I could do on my own to help myself! I could start doing something physical that was good for my body. Maybe doing this “something different” could change my path.

I called my doctor the very next day and scheduled an appointment to get help. I also made the life-changing decision to lose weight and pursue a healthy lifestyle. The interesting thing about my best friend was that she and her husband were very much into fitness themselves – competing locally as bodybuilders and working out every day together. They had a crazy regimen that they followed; one that up until then, I had been completely uninterested in. To their credit, my friends always freely spoke about their fitness journey, but had never tried to push their lifestyle onto me. They accepted me for who I was, and my weight was never an issue in our friendship. Maybe this was why it just made sense to me to ask them for help – I trusted them.

I discovered (to my surprise) that I really liked to lift weights. It was always different. And challenging! It was fun to see what new limits I could push and what new barriers I could break with my newfound strength. I found my confidence returning and I started to see what my body was actually capable of. This groundbreaking for me, as I had never tested such limits before. It was powerful! I had daily reminders that, as humans, we are capable of so much more than we think we are. The daily workouts were the building blocks of my transformation. I began to recognize that the body and mind are truly connected and interdependent. When you are able to exercise discipline with your body, that discipline spills over into every other area of your life. It teaches the brain that we CAN, indeed, do hard things. Very hard things.

But we don’t have to just want to change, we have to actually change what we DO. This is why the physical process of exercise and strength training is so powerful – it’s a lesson in discipline. Lesson after lesson in understanding the power of our mind and body, and developing the skill of consistency – showing up is half of the battle!

Throughout this challenging year of change, it became clear to me how important it was to find a sustainable way in which to incorporate fitness into my busy life as a mom…and as a woman who wanted to make a difference in the world. I began to see my transformation as a refining period of my life – the blood, sweat, and tears I left on that gym floor helped me focus on my purpose and meaning in this life. If, at my lowest point, I could turn my life and health around by 180 degrees, couldn’t other women in situations similar to mine do the same? I began to see what a powerful tool weight lifting could be in a weight loss journey. I learned that metabolic resistance training works in a very real and individualized way. After all, I didn’t even start implementing cardio training until I was about halfway to my goal – I had lost over 50 pounds through lifting-related workouts without doing any type of sustained cardio activity. Just by modifying my diet and lifting heavy and regularly, I had altered my metabolism and encouraged my body to burn fat while building muscle.

But the best part – the part that inspired me to want to continue repeating that “magic” over and over again – was the relationships that we developed with our clients. It was simply the most rewarding process I had ever experienced! Like me, these individuals began to rediscover themselves through the discipline and work of change. There were hard-won lessons in patience, perseverance, sacrifice, pride, self-care, and desire. And, just like my trainers had done for me, we never let them give up – not when we were asking them to do difficult or challenging things, and definitely not on themselves (even when they wanted to or felt like they were failing).

I distinctly remember one of our first clients who hit a 60-pound weight loss goal. She came up to me, giving me one of the biggest hugs ever, and with all the emotion in her voice, simply said “Thank you. I am forever changed because of you. Thank you for believing I could do it.” This was just as powerful and wonderful and satisfying as my own personal transformation – I felt those words in my heart and they have never left me. And I want everyone who has the desire to do so, to experience that power and pure joy of such a transformative experience in their lives!

From that humble start as two sisters training their friends in a tiny, basement gym, StrongLife Fitness has grown into a small, private gym specializing in individualized strength training, nutrition, and conditioning programs. Because I believe in the process, we have made it our focus to support each client’s individual journey, working together to achieve amazing results – all while making fitness a sustainable and balanced part of each client’s lifestyle. The StrongLife team is deeply invested in each client – just as we were in the beginning. We strive for positive connection. We work hard to make our gym a safe space for the transformative process, and we welcome all ages and fitness levels as we firmly believe that weight training is for everyone, and every body. In fulfilling the purpose that came to me so many years ago throughout my own fitness and transformative journey, I have continuous faith in StrongLife and our commitment to helping individuals to not only succeed, but to find joy in the journey.