An Okotoks resident is back on track with the help of the winner of the Best trainer/coach in the annual Best of Foothills Readers’ Choice Awards.
“I was injured and I haven’t been able to do whole lot over the past few years,” said Mike Fotie, just prior to a workout with Clare Russell of Big Rock Training and Fitness last week. “I want to get back in shape and have a normal life with my back and knee injury.
“I started here in January with Clare and I am losing weight and I’m in better shape.”
He said Russell knows when to push him and when to back off.
“She knows my goals and she won’t let me get away with cheating myself,” Fotie said. “But she also knows my limits.”
Russell has been at Big Rock Fitness since it opened in late 2010 and she comes with an impressive resume.
“I have been doing sports since year dot,” she said with a laugh. “I have Level I, II, III training from England, I am an emergency responder, a spin instructor, I am TRX (total resistance training) qualified, and I have Crossfit training, nutrition… I have a background in all sorts of areas.”
Her best credential is her passion to help her clients who come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
“At the moment I am coaching lacrosse teams, hockey teams, soccer teams, a body builder, but I also have clients who have injuries who want to get back to a normal life again,” she said. “I also have people who just want to be pushed and have a good workout.
“I might make their muscles hurt a little bit, but I will make their day better.”
Russell has also been with the British military and she admitted she can have a boot camp-like mentality now and then.
“I push people beyond what they think they can do without killing them,” she said. “I don’t ever shout. I will kindly encourage. I don’t believe in belittling people.”
Russell doesn’t offer a cookie-cutter style of personal training. It is personal training, a different program for every client.
“I might have four clients back-to-back and every person will have something different to do, because everyone has different needs,” she said. “What I like to do is find out what a person’s goal is and see what a person’s strengths and weaknesses are. “I work with what you give me – which is your body.”
She is willing to go the extra mile for her clients – or even an extra 26.2 miles.
“I worked with a woman who had never ran more than five kilometres and we ran the marathon in Las Vegas together,” Russell said.
However, a client doesn’t have to run a marathon to put a smile on Russell’s face.
“I had one woman tell me last week that she had gone for a bike ride with her family and she had beat them up a hill,” she said. “She told me her fitness level has improved. Her confidence has now gone way up.”
For more information about Russell and Big Rock Training and Fitness call 403-995-2200.
