My employer, Aprilaire has a corporate health program with Pat’s Gym. Employees of Aprilaire can workout at Pat’s Gym in a personalized class to help fellow employees improve our health. I have been working out at Pat’s Gym for the past 5 years.
Besides playing basketball until high school, and participating in hockey in high school, most of Crystal’s early years were sedentary. After her children were old enough, Crystal started running and kickboxing; however, those activities were hard on her joints. Crystal did experience the profound benefits on her mood and outlook with exercising.
When Crystal started working out at Pat’s Gym, she loved the classes. After all these years, Crystal has built great relationships with her co-workers, as they cheered each other on. Also, they were able to connect in helping each other successfully complete the workouts.
Crystal also enjoyed spending time in Pat’s Gym classes outside of the corporate classes. Everyone is so welcoming and supportive – it is never intimidating.
The coaches are the biggest cheerleaders. Crystal has built great relationships with the coaches at Pat’s Gym because they care about helping you improve. They know that you can do it, even when you think you can’t. I love that they push you, because they believe in you.
For the past 9 months, Crystal has also been training with Pat Gilles through Online Coaching. She loves training with Online Coaching because its focused only on Crystal and her goals. She has seen gains in strength and aerobic capabilities since being on a focused program that Pat builds specifically for her. Also, the flexibility of Online coaching allows Crystal to stay consistent with her training even when her schedule changes. Pat does a great job building workouts around a cramped/changing schedule and for vacation – even camping.
Crystal set a goal to build strength and endurance, and place in the top 5 in the 1000m sprint. This year, Crystal exceeded her 1000m SkiErg goal in the Concept2 World SkiErg Sprint Competition! Crystal is excited to keep increasing her 1RMs and wants to get even better on the ski with both sprinting and longer distances.
Crystal loves working with Pat Gilles. Through Pat, Crystal has access to a wealth of knowledge and experience. Pat is an intelligent and respected expert when it comes to training and wellness.
It’s different from other experiences because the coaches and Pat push you to reach a little further. In other classes she’s been in, some people barely break a sweat and reach for the lightest weights possible every time. I like the passion the athletes at Pat’s bring with them. I love that people at Pat’s love working out. It shows with the energy and focus they bring to every class.
By training with Pat Gilles, Crystal has learned that she can accomplish just about anything if she has the right attitude. She has applied Pat Gilles’ mental toughness in all other areas of her life. As a result, Crystal is better able to take on stressful situations.
When she started, Crystal had major knee pain and wasn’t able to squat deep or do lunges because of the pain. It was tough to sit down and standup without assistance. Because of his experience, Pat knew how to build a program with movements that build strength in the places that were lacking it. Crystal is now able to squat deep and can-do lunges again. Another unexpected surprise was that an old shoulder injury doesn’t bother Crystal anymore. When she first started Online Training, she had a hard time dealing with pain in that shoulder, but now the pain is completely gone.
For Crystal, Pat’s gym is a great way for people not only to increase their physical abilities, but it has a positive effect on all other parts of life too, including some great conversation starters like, “guess how many man-makers I did yesterday? What’s a man-maker? Let me show you!” Crystal loves showing her twelve and thirteen-year-old sons what their mom is capable of. Crystal is excited to share her passion for fitness with them on their own journeys. Crystal is looking forward to when her kids start lifting weight and are able to do more endurance activities; she’ll be there right alongside them!
