Category Archives: Client Success Stories

Tell us a little background about yourself! What does your life outside of the gym look like?

As far as life outside the gym goes, I’ve been focusing on building a career that is in alignment with my studies. I am an HR Admin & Recruiter for Jordanos & Pacific Beverage Company and am currently a grad student with Purdue University Global studying I/O psychology. I used to bartend part-time and while I miss it, I now have more time to work on my personal goals with health and fitness, school, and other hobbies that I haven’t had much time for like reading, art, hiking.

What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?

Prevail has had a major impact on my life and is one of the best decisions I made for myself. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I didn’t want to keep hearing my inner critic and shut down from the fear of failure. The support system at Prevail has helped me feel comfortable in the gym, and has helped me hold myself accountable and to keep showing up for myself. Prevail’s Precision Nutrition program has also helped me significantly in building better nutrition habits. Over the last 6 months I have seen significant improvements in my strength, sleep, and overall mood. I’ve also lost 30 pounds so far!

What is your favorite exercise/movement?

My favorite exercise/movement are deadlifts, they make me feel strong. I would love to get to a point where I’m lifting my body weight. 

Do you have any words of encouragement or tips for somebody new to exercise (or restarting)?

Don’t be afraid of failure, it’s going to happen from time to time, you can’t let your inner critic hold you in contempt for every mistake you make along this journey toward better health. The point is making one small change every day and building yourself up one change or habit at a time. When it comes to real change, slow and steady really does win the race.

Tell us a little background about yourself! What does your life outside of the gym look like?

I am the editor and creative strategist for my husband’s podcast, TechTables. Between live events and virtual podcasts, Joe keeps me busy! We have two awesome kiddos, Anabelle and Jack (almost 14 and almost 5!).

What are you most proud of achieving since training at Prevail?

One year ago I had emergency L4-L5 surgery after a near-complete loss of the ability to stand or move due to spine and nerve compression. I made progress with physical therapy, but the fear of reinjury eroded my confidence. When my sweet husband Joe invited me to Prevail I started thinking, “What if I could do more?” I have been attending Prevail’s Metabolic classes with Wyatt, Kyle and Rowan 2x/week for 3 months now.

 

What is your favorite exercise/movement?

Nothing beats pushing my son Jack on the sleds at the end of a hard training session- it’s motivation on a whole other level!

Do you have any words of encouragement or tips for somebody new to exercise (or restarting)?

My most unexpected benefit has been being able to do the Metabolic classes with my husband, Joe. We love our “Prevail dates!” We get to see the other person getting stronger over time, commiserate together post-workouts, and share our wins together.

Any additional comments you would like to share? 

There’s nothing that can explain going from barely being able to push myself up using a walker, to now pushing a sled with weights and my son on it. Peter, Erin and team are so good at understanding here’s where you’re at, and here’s how to get where you want to be. They spend time making sure you know the how, what, and why behind every movement. My goal is to end my 40’s stronger than I began!

Tell us a little background about yourself! What does your life outside of the gym look like?

Outside the gym, I work as a sustainability manager for a large veterinary group. In my spare time I enjoy cycling and surfing.

What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?

I have already noticed increased strength while biking and surfing and an increase in flexibility/movement on the bike fit. Also trying a lot of different exercises I would never feel confident trying by myself.

What are you most proud of achieving since training at Prevail?

Straighter feet and better movement while squatting

What is your favorite exercise/movement?

Sled pushes

Tell us a little background about yourself! What does your life outside of the gym look like?

I’m a physical therapist who loves helping people achieve their goals to improve their lives.  On my downtime, I enjoy every opportunity I have to golf weekly, daily walks at Elings Park after work with our dog, and enjoying our boat in the harbor!

 What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?

After training at prevail for around 3 years now, I’m in the best shape of my life at 40 years old. Truly life changing from where I was about 6 years ago when I tore my ACL and had persistent knee pain for a couple of years.  Not to mention, I went from driving the ball about 180 yards to now crushing it over 250 yards after training with Alexis at Prevail!!!

What are you most proud of achieving since training at Prevail?

Improved core strength and flexibility which has not only helped me in golf but in general physical fitness as well

What is your favorite exercise/movement?

Lumbar spine rotation…and maybe crawls…crawls are a love/hate relationship for me! While I secretly hate them, going from being unable to hold a proper static “crawl” position, I can now do 5 yard forward/backward crawls unbroken after training…amazing to see how much my core strength has improved/progressed!

Tell us a little background about yourself! What does your life outside of the gym look like?

A little about me…we split time equally between Santa Barbara and Tucson. Santa Barbara has my heart!  I love to travel, entertain and spend time with my main squeeze, Dana! We love renovating houses and I love design and art! We have 4 kids and 4 grandchildren all over the country– so that keeps us busy, too!

What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?

Prevail has changed my life!  I wasn’t really into working out at first, but came along because my husband really wanted me to– he loves it so much!  But this year something clicked and the progress I’ve seen with balance and strength and changes in my body and how I feel makes me so happy. I love my workout days now!!!

What are you most proud of achieving since training at Prevail?

I am most proud of all the things I can do that I told my trainer Alexis I would never do!  Lol!  I mean seriously…I used to watch people in the gym and say, “wow that’s cool…I could never do it.” And now I am!  I’m actually doing it!  I have had balance issues most of my adult life because of a car accident I had in college. I went through the windshield of a car and suffered a traumatic brain injury that resulted in a stroke which paralyzed the left side of my body. I was never supposed to walk again. I recovered with most everything, but balance has always been a real issue. I’ve tried everything from Pilates to yoga and anything that I thought would improve it. After a lot of work with Alexis, my balance has improved so much more than I ever thought it could and I am forever grateful to the Prevail team who encourage me every day!  I am also so thankful to my husband who really encouraged me to join him on this journey and is my biggest cheerleader! Thanks, honey!

What is your favorite exercise or movement at Prevail?

My favorite thing at the gym is the sled!  I don’t know if that’s weird or not but I totally look forward to pushing that thing every chance I get!!!

Meet Joe Blair!
My name is Joe Blair and I am 17 years old from Santa Barbara. I live with my mother (Kim), father (Chris), little sister (Jade), and our 1-year-old puppy (Dexter). Currently a junior at Santa Barbara High School, I like to play computer games, basketball, and hanging out with friends.

When did you start coming to Prevail?
I started coming to Prevail towards the end of 2016, but took breaks due to back problems. The past few months, I have been able to train more consistently.

What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?
Training at Prevail has truly been a great impact on my life. Recently, I completed my goal of a 20 pound weight loss in just under 3 months. I see this as a result of my consistency at the gym. Prevail has helped me with my confidence as well. While I struggled with depression for years, I truly believe that exercise and working hard helped me overcome problems in my personal life to help me become happier. Recently, I have noticed that consistency in the gym is a good way to stay on top of daily activities and stay energized. I now look to continue my consistency of exercising and hope to potentially start coming to Prevail more often.

What were the challenges you faced in regards to making changes with your nutrition?
I was able to make changes in my nutrition, but it didn’t come without its own challenges; results did not come overnight. The biggest obstacle for my change was nutrition. Poor food choices are a tough habit to break, but I think it is necessary to start working on this before beginning a workout routine. For me, soda and spicy chips were the hardest things to say goodbye to as they used to be some of my favorite things to eat. I began an approach of slowly decreasing the amounts of these foods that I was eating. Keeping track of my “junk food” intake on a daily basis helped me stay organized. From there, I began substituting new foods for the junk. This was tough, but I found success in trying combinations of healthy foods that I already enjoyed to ensure I was eating all the necessary food groups. Problems I dealt with in the gym were mainly concerned with my attitude towards fitness in general. As I became more interested in working out, I started to see positive changes and results. This made me a lot more positive, and once I started looking positively towards exercise in general, it helped motivate me to get in the gym and work hard more often.

List the top 2-4 changes you made that you feel were paramount to your success?
The top 2 changes for me that are paramount to my success are changes in my diet and consistency in coming to Prevail.

Do you have any words of encouragement or tips for somebody who has struggled with losing weight and/or improving their nutrition/lifestyle?
It takes trial and error to get results, but don’t let troubles in losing weight discourage you. As long as you are willing to try hard and be open to change then you have a good foundation for success in fitness and health.

Meet Larry Nowlin!
I’m a California guy. I grew up in Pasadena, graduated from UCSB twice with a BA and MA, and spent some time in Europe. I’m retired but much of my career was in Aerospace in Santa Barbara. I’m happily married and we stay healthy and active.

When did you start coming to Prevail?
It seems a long time ago, maybe 15 years ago. At the time I was working, sitting around in front of the computer, getting fat and out of shape, going to meetings, and eating power lunches. It was not good; Prevail saved me. I started with private lessons and moved into group classes. I took a break but now I’m back and part of that wonderful madcap “Master Class”. (That’s a euphemism for geezers you know!)

What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?
I am a huge fan of Prevail because: they are the most scientific, well trained, credentialed instructors you could hope to find. They know what they’re doing. Every instructor we have had is top notch. Even in the group classes, they provide careful individualized instruction tailored to your goals and needs. You improve and you don’t get injured. For a while, Erin, an Olympic Bronze medalist in Bobsled, coached our class. How cool is that?! My wife and I train at Prevail together. Our quality of life has improved in strength, flexibility, range of motion, balance, and endurance. Prevail offers a variety of services in addition to training, including Physical Therapy, Nutrition Counseling, and more. I have taken advantage of several of them. Nutrition Counseling with Diego Garcia has enabled me to lose 25 pounds and I feel great. Physical Therapy with Brook helped me correct the damage from two herniated discs in a way none of the other PT’s I’d seen could do. My wife has benefited from Nutrition Counseling. The “Regen” (Regeneration) class is currently one of my favorites. It is an amazing class, not really an exercise class, but oh does it help. Their excellent instructors attract dedicated students. If you attend one of their periodic celebrations, you will see a cross-section of their clients: all ages, sports, and goals. Prevail’s community is a great group of people. We are lucky to have Prevail Conditioning in Santa Barbara.

What are your hobbies?
I like being active. Do whatever works for you and keep moving.

What is your favorite movement/exercise?
The programs have logic to them. There is a Warm up, Training, Recovery, and you do it again. The programs change over time and progress. We have fun. I like all the exercises, but I hate some of them, especially the hard ones like SLEDS. Gads, sleds! I guess that’s what happens when you have instructors schooled in winter sports! I gripe about sleds because they are hard, but I like them too just for that reason. So… bring it ON.

Any additional comments you would like to share?
Finally, it is about the people. Chris, Peter, Erin, Josiah, Brook, Diego G., Deigo B., Ali, Sara, and all the good people at Prevail, you are the best! No bull! Thank you!

Meet Sue Collisson!
I’m a former paralegal with County Counsel’s office in the litigation division. Now, however, I’ve been enjoying retirement with my husband for the last year and a half.

When did you start coming to Prevail?
My initial entry to training classes pre-dates Prevail, when Hayashida and Associates ran their own classes, and continued when Maury contracted with Prevail to provide trainers. Two of my current classmates and I have been working out together in these classes for about the last eight years!

What impact has training at Prevail made in your life?
Over the course of the first several months of these strength training classes, I lost 28 pounds and regained the strength I lost after having to stop playing handball. Although I’ve backtracked in the last couple of years due to injuries and arthritis, I feel I’m on track to get my strength back, burn off some of those re-gained pounds, and stay flexible.

Do you have any words of encouragement or tips for somebody new to exercise (or restarting)?
Start slowly and don’t hurt yourself in the beginning, or you won’t come back. Be patient, but know that your strength will develop, and it is so worth it. And ladies, developing muscle strength definitely burns calories! It makes you feel better too.

What are your hobbies?
Walking 3-5 miles a day from the harbor with friends; taking adult ed classes (yoga, meditation, QiGong), reading, traveling to the Caribbean.

What is your favorite movement/exercise?
The sled is my favorite exercise, because it’s a perfect combination of cardio and strength training of a lot of muscle groups. The floor crawls are my least favorite because the movements encompass all of my injury and arthritis limitations.

Any additional comments you would like to share?
I appreciate the willingness of all the trainers to offer me modifications for the exercises. They are a great group of dedicated professionals!

Do you have any words of encouragement or tips for somebody new to exercise (or restarting)?
Just show up! Some days I feel completely exhausted or overwhelmed by life and I think I won’t be able to do anything in the gym. But generally, if I just get dressed and show up, something shifts and I always leave feeling much better than when I came in.

What are your hobbies?
I enjoy reading, spending time in nature, hiking, and attending concerts with friends. I also play drums in a West African drumming group. My church and the Franciscan community at Old Mission Santa Barbara are also a big part of my life.

What is your favorite movement/exercise?
My favorite exercise is the deadlift because it requires a lot of focus and precision to get it right and there is such a feeling of satisfaction when a heavy weight lifts smoothly off the floor! My least favorite exercises are Peter’s creature crawls including the gorilla, the dragon and the frog!

Any additional comments you would like to share?
Prevail feels like a gym family. Everyone is so nice including both clients and staff. I always feel like it’s a good day when I am coming to Prevail.