Hey Fusers!

Zak is a Bay Area Native who grew up right here in Kensington and attended Hilltop Elementary School.  The way that he became a Fitness Professional all started with his own fitness journey. He played sports growing up and due to numerous injuries from basketball, his path to recovery was through strength training.  Although he came from a sports background, Zak has been able to adapt his training style after consistently learning.  

A few words from Zak:

“Trial and error has helped me gain experience and become more specific with my plan. I’ve learned so much and have become much better at addressing goals and not using a cookie cutter approach.  The more I get to work with clients that have a wide range of fitness levels, the more it humbles me, because I came from a sports background.”

Through experience, he knows how daunting this journey can be for anyone just starting out; which is why he tries his best to help people with realistic expectations on how to achieve results.  He wants his clients to look at the big picture, instead of through just one workout. Zak believes that getting out of an outcome oriented mindset, creates more of a process mindset. Once a foundation is established, then you are able to build consistently from there.  This is what translates his passion for helping others.

Zak was introduced to us by way of a mutual dear friend, Julie Moore. Julie, who sadly passed away a year ago, was the owner of Circle Salon on Colusa Ave, and had cut Zak and his family’s hair since he was a little boy. Julie was one of the most warm, inviting and generous people we’ve ever met, and she welcomed us to the Colusa Circle right away when we first opened in Kensington. She took classes at Fuse and also did some personal training, often leaving beautiful, home-grown bouquets of flowers for us. 

As Zak was beginning his career as a personal trainer, Julie introduced Zak and Kristin, asking her to take him under her wing. And that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship with Zak. What Kristin immediately saw in Zak was a real, genuine desire to learn and ask questions, no ego involved. And what she appreciated was how he paid keen attention and always had great questions that were smart and thoughtful. Zak has truly developed into a great trainer over the last few years, creating his own unique style, and has a great rapport with his clients. 

Zak’s quote on what inspires him: 

“How life transforming fitness can be for people.  There's the working out itself, and it extrapolates out in every aspect of your life.  Your relationships improve with other people. It makes me want to impact more lives and just meet more people and continue to make the world a better place.”  

Fun Facts about Zak

Guilty Pleasures:

Pastries in the morning with coffee. Baked goods.  Pepperoni Pizza on fridays. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Hang out with my fiance. Netflix and chill with her every night.  Cooking. Fun activities with her such as dancing, cooking, and going to museums.  I love making music. I’m on Spotify. Open mic on Monday nights at Kava Kava bar at 9pm, and Tuesday nights at Starry Plough Pub. Workout, and play basketball and go to the movies. 

Favorite movie(s):  

Ferris Bueller’s day off. Zoolander.  

What is your training style?

Strength Training with a barbell, focusing on compound movements and finishing with a circuit to get the heart rate up.  I also have a class called “Six Pack with Zak”.

What does a typical training week look like for you?

Total body strength training on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

Wednesday and Saturday are my cardio days where I either run or play basketball. 

If you could be an animal which one would it be and why?

A zebra. My name is Zak and a zebra starts with a Z, and it’s always been my favorite animal growing up.  The zebra is the dopest looking animal; it looks very musical, sort of like a piano. I enjoy looking at zebras because of their pattern. 

Hey Fusers!

The Client of the Month for March is Daly Richards.  She has taken it upon herself to learn more about fitness by becoming a NASM Certified Personal Trainer!  She first joined The Fuse when she took a TRX class with Pascha, and besides her becoming certified her greatest accomplishment is becoming a Mom.  Great job in setting a prime example for her daughter to live by.  

Here are some random facts about her:

• Favorite exercise:

  • Bear hold/crawl, band walks, plank variations, hip thrust, glute bridge, and anything that involves being upside down.

• Favorite food:  

  • Pizza, but, unfortunately i can't eat it as I avoid gluten and dairy.  I also love olives and am happy that I can eat them.

• What others may not know:  

  • I briefly had dreams of joining the circus and took flying trapeze lessons for several years.

• Favorite sport: 

  • Watching my daughter play Albany HS Varsity basketball: 

• Favorite thing about the fuse:  

  • Instructors are awesome and the members are all super friendly and welcoming to newcomers!

• Next goal: 

  • I am interested in taking courses in corrective exercise and possibly nutrition.

Hey Fusers!  

This year we wanted to shake things ups a bit and let you get to know all our trainers a bit more! We thought it would be fun to highlight a different trainer each month so you can learn more about who they are, where they originally come from, how they got into fitness, and what inspires/motivates them.

Up first!! The strong, beautiful, loyal and loving Gail Hotten. This amazing woman has been with Fuse the longest, and we are so honored and grateful for all that she contributes to Fuse.  

Gail steps up to help out and goes above and beyond for us--always making herself available for subbing at the last minute, helping us build and open the Albany studio (we could NOT have done it without her and her husband Scott--we are forever grateful to them both), taking towels home to wash and always offering to fold them when we haven’t been able to get to it. She’s known for creating some really tough, challenging workouts, despite her sweet, calm and innocent-seeming nature ;)

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Gail moved to the Bay Area when she was just 2 years old.  Like many things in her life, she sort of just fell into becoming a fitness professional--we like to think of it as serendipitous :)

She started taking classes at Berkeley Iron Works, an indoor climbing gym, and was a regular in their spin class program.  One day the instructor asked if she wanted to teach 1 class each week. Despite already knowing everyone in the class from having taken it, she wasn’t sure she wanted to do it because she was fearful of having to speak in front of a group of people.  She decided to take on the dual challenge--doing something she hadn’t done before, as well as face her fears of being in front of the class teaching.

“I couldn’t get over myself, but that led to my own personal interest in fitness.  I started to workout more often, and eventually learned more about boot camp style classes.”

Believe it or not, one of her first bootcamp classes that she took was Kristin’s Monkey Ninja BootCamp at Iron Works. See what we mean by serendipitous :)

“I got my by butt kicked and realized that I have no business in this class, and I never went back.” Ok, maybe it wasn’t serendipitous at first….;)

She never went back until Kristin actually needed a sub for one of her classes, which Gail agreed to teach.  Eventually one thing led to another and she was asked to take over an early morning bootcamp class at Iron Works.  However, she didn’t want to do so until she was certified. Thus, she made the decision to become a Certified Personal Trainer, took over the early morning class, and with the help of Kristin and Pascha, she developed her own training style. 

Here’s the good stuff….what inspires Gail to be in this industry?

“I’m a people person and if I didn’t end up doing this, I would have gotten into some type of social work or therapist work.  I love helping people find the right resources to help them get through the challenges in their lives. I learned to be resourceful at a young age.  I remember wanting a pair of Guess jeans, that was the style back then, and my dad had a great idea for me to work to get them. I would do introductory piano lessons for students that were on the waitlist to get into my mom’s piano class, and I enjoyed helping them prepare for it.  I love working with people and seeing them make strides to get closer to their goals is rewarding for me.”

Fun Facts

Guilty Pleasures:

Corn Chips and Guacamole.

Margaritas

Peanut butter and dark chocolate.  

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

“Mountain biking, hiking, trail running, cooking, and having people over for some dinner and wine.  Carnitas for bigger parties with a good green sauce, then you can break out your margaritas. Apple cider braised pork shoulder recipe that I love to do, depends on the people coming over.”

If you could be an animal what would it by and why?

A cat.  No particular reason, it was the first animal to come to mind.

We’re already three weeks into the new year and we are seeing that our clients either have great momentum

OR

they’re beginning to feel the effects of creating too many unmanageable goals.  

Perhaps you relate…. Are you experiencing a loss of motivation from jumping in too quickly without a well thought out strategy? Or are you overwhelmed with too many things on your plate? 

Writing your thoughts down has been scientifically proven to help you accomplish your goals.  

So, let’s try something new. Instead of putting too much on your to-do list without creating a plan, and thus causing yourself more stress, let’s W.O.O.P. those habits so you can reach your goals! 

W.O.O.P. comes from German Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, whose research is based around how people think about the future and the impact it has on their cognition, emotion, and behavior.  

W - Wish:  What is it that you want to accomplish?  What is your goal? (Try to describe in one sentence, we want to be specific.)

Ex. I want to bring a healthy lunch to work.  

O - Outcome:  Envision the outcome.  What is the benefit of this wish that you will experience if you were to accomplish this goal?  (Again, describe one sentence as we are trying to be as specific as possible)

Ex.  I won’t eat unhealthy snacks at work, and it will help me fit better in my jeans.

O - Obstacles:  What might get in your way of completing this wish?  Write down all that apply and choose according to what is realistic.  

Ex.  Laziness.  I don’t have time.  I don’t have any food to prepare.

P - Plans:  What will you do if those obstacles do get in the way?  (A great format to use for this one is an “If….Then” statement.)  

Ex.  Laziness:  If I prepare my lunch ahead of time, then I will avoid getting fast food instead.     

After you take the time to write your wishes down following the W.O.O.P. guidelines, you will either be ready for action or will see that you may need to adjust your wishes.  Sometimes, seeing it on paper allows us to realize that it may be an unrealistic wish at this time. You know what you can handle, so remember to start small. There’s always room later to add on, or take it a step further.  Just remember, that once you have created your plan, the next step is to take action.

Our client of the month is Karen, who has been a longtime member of The Fuse Fitness family. She is constantly pushing us to become better trainers with her hard work and enthusiasm.

From TRX to kettlebells, Karen demonstrates how far consistent habits can take you. Her biggest accomplishment so far has been attending and kicking butt at Pashca’s TRX class every Saturday!

Here are some fun ways to get to know Karen: 

• Favorite exercise: I like most anything on the TRX and also like the kettlebells.

• Favorite food: Geoff's carrot cake or his rhubarb pie - both are pretty spectacular.

• Fun fact about yourself: I was a synchronized swimmer throughout most of my childhood and teen years.

• Favorite sport: Not sure I have one. I love to swim but do not swim much anymore.

• Next goal at Fuse: To keep moving and stay fit as I approach 60.

Here’s to our client of the month, Erin, who joined Fuse Fitness for its caring and supportive community. We absolutely appreciate her dedication and enthusiasm, regardless of the challenge. Her biggest accomplishment so far has been strengthening her shoulders and core - reducing neck pain episodes.

Here are some fun ways to get to know Erin: 

• Favorite exercise: box jumps

• Favorite food: Pho, Ramen, all Asian noodle soups

• What others may not know: I love to sing but not in front of people

• Favorite sport: Basketball - Not only my fave sport but one of my fave things in the whole world - to watch and to play

• Next goal: Tone up for my wedding in March 2020!

“I can feel a change in my body and strength, and also have a much higher awareness of my own body!” - Erin

Hi Fusers!

By now you’ve probably heard about our awesome new Semi-Private Training Program. We are so pumped about this program because it delivers the same results of 1:1 Private Training at almost 1/2 the cost. Yes, you read that right!

Stephanie before 40 Day Challenge

We recently launched and completed our first 40 Day Challenge using this program. The 12 clients who completed this challenge lost a whopping 87.3lbs!!

If you haven’t heard much about it yet, here’s a little info. This new program is personal training, but rather than a traditional 1:1 client to trainer setting, it’s in a 3:1 setting.

Stephanie after 40 days! Lost 9.2lbs, 2.5” off her waist and 4” off her hips!

What you will experience:

• Boosted energy levels so you can take on your day and live your best life! Keep up with your kids this summer and have FUN doing it!

• Increase your lean muscle mass and strength, while decreasing body fat and inches, a win-win! You CAN feel great in your body and clothes again!

• Better sleep(!!!)—who doesn’t need this?!

• Less stress and anxiety—regular exercise releases endorphins—the all-natural happy hormone, which is proven to lower stress levels, can help fight depression, and overall makes you happier!

• All these things combined will leave you feeling confident, strong and empowered—a killer combination for tackling life head-on and enjoying the journey!

What you get from us:

• Free, detailed fitness consultation where we go over your goals and medical history, as well as take you through a variety of movements to assess your strength, balance and flexibility, we can best write your fitness program.

• Individualized, tailored strength training program catered to YOUR unique goals and needs, progressed at the rate that is right for YOU.

• Safe and effective—if you can’t do high-impact, then we will never pressure you to do that.

• Unlike group classes, your strength program is unique to you, just like personal training. It will not be the same program as the others in your group. While you will do a similar warmup together, the strength training portion is designed individually for each person, as we’re all different!

• Expert-level fitness coaches who are here to support you through your fitness journey!

• Accountability

• Fun fitness community where you will feel like part of a tribe, supported in your goals and encouraged by others around you!

If you’d like to learn more about this program and see some of our clients’ amazing progress, click HERE.

Here’s to our client of the month, Mike, who has been a member of the Fuse Fitness since July 2012! Mike has been a consistent member of our community since day one. He will often come in on days where he doesn’t have classes and works out on his own, always keeping his primary goals in mind to take his fitness to the next level.

“I first started coming to the Fuse Fitness because I realized that I needed a personal trainer. And at that time, I had been super inactive. I was trying to motivate myself and it wasn’t working. And I realized that I needed some kind of accountability - someone to make me come in (to the gym). Once I started (training), I enjoyed it. I began enjoying being active again. And that’s what kept me going.” - Mike

Mike is a source of inspiration to all who meet him and witness the hard work he puts into each workout. New members, as well as our own trainers push themselves further when he’s present.

Mike’s perspective on goal setting

“When I first started, my goals were pretty general. I wanted to get in better shape, needed to start moving again. Between my commute and sitting at my desk all day, I was not moving. As I’ve progressed - taking classes and working out on my own, I’ve begun developing more specific goals. I now focus on specific movements, like doing a muscle up or squatting a certain amount of weight.” - Mike

In terms of his personal goals, Mike feels that there is always room for improvement. He pushes hard to overcome any mental or physical plateaus. And he appreciates the ability to work out with our caring and supportive community. We wish Mike continued success and are deeply grateful that he has chosen the Fuse Fitness to supercharge his personal goals!

Tasha Hansen has been teaching yoga classes in Berkeley and leading weekend retreats for more than ten years. She is a graduate of the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training Program in Boston; has studied at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune, India; and was certified by Sivananda in Quebec. Her classes combine attention to detailed alignment in individual poses along with occasional unbroken sequences of poses inspired by a love of dance. Tasha’s succinct instruction provides clear guidance yet offers generous moments of silence to deepen internal awareness. In addition to yoga, Tasha teaches English for Art Purposes to international college students.

Our client of the month is Kyra Millich. Kyra has trained with the Fuse Fitness since Fall 2018. An avid athlete for most of her life, Kyra was looking to get her strength and confidence back after several years of inactivity due to an MS diagnosis in 2013. We developed a plan that focused on helping her build balanced habits, steadily making improvements to boost muscle mass, improve agility, and regain mobility.

In late 2018, Kyra decided it was time to regain trust and strength in her body, but she was hesitant to join a typical gym. She was concerned that she might not be able to perform on par with others in the class. She had imbalance issues and dragged her left foot. She wanted a more individualized and attentive approach for her journey back to great health.

“I was afraid that I would fall or not be strong enough. Not trusting my body was really scary, and asking for help was difficult. I used to be in great shape and had a lot of guilt, self-loathing, and embarrassment. I eventually realized that I just had to accept my feelings at that time,” said Kyra. “ Kristin and Pascha were caring, considerate, non-judgemental, and fun. Their approach was very gradual and attentive. I felt very safe in their hands. Through their support, encouragement, and deep knowledge of fitness fundamentals - I got the strength, trust, and balance back in my body.”

With our personalized guidance and support, Kyra has transformed into an active member of our community. She is now focused on looking good, feeling fit, and continuously challenging herself.

“Anyone who is suffering from an injury or physical condition might have to deal with their ego, but should strongly consider personal training. Merge with the pain and just keep moving forward. If not now, than when?” - Kyra Millich