Spotlight (Dennis Wallace)

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Dennis is a warrior.

I’ve been training him for close to a year and a half now. Not once has he ever questioned what we do, he does it. He works hard. He puts himself, and all of himself, in every workout that we do. Some succeed, some don’t. Sometimes he’s got more than enough, sometimes he doesn’t. But through it all, Dennis never stops moving forward.

In June of 08 Dennis was doing modified deadlifts. Today he can pull 240# for a 1RM. In Aug 08 Dennis was doing modified pushups on the squat rack (at #3 for those who know what that means.) Today Dennis can bust out sets of 20 or 25 full pushups, depending on the call of the workout. In March of 09 Dennis rowed 1k in 4:39 seconds. On 7/20/09 Dennis rowed 1k in 4:10. 0:29 second improvement, but the real testament to how good that time is comes from the workout after the warmup row.

Dennis’s body composition has dropped approximately 5% in this year. He’s leaner, he’s more toned and folks who knew him a year ago see it.

Dennis is someone I love to train. He’s all heart. He knows that the only way to achieve is through hard work. There are no shortcuts. There are no workarounds. Bust your butt, rest and then do it again.

Dennis Wallace is a warrior.

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Mike Babbitt, M.F.A, M.A., CSCS, ACSM-HFI
USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Master Trainer
Mike is a Master Level trainer at Empower Personal Training. He has a unique approach to fitness that combines his scientific foundation of research and applied exercise physiology with his artistic experience as a professional stage actor. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024

It's Never Too Late

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A typical excuse I hear from people considering starting to work with a trainer is “I’m going to wait until I get into better shape before I start working with a trainer” or “I’m just too old to start a formal exercise regimen.” I never really gave any real attention to these comments, rather I just passed them off as another excuse not to try. I have a client that I’ve been working with since March 4th who personifies why I’m right to dismiss such statements. Her name is Jill Bashore.

Jill is 63 years old and by far one of my favorite clients. Never having followed any formal exercise regimen in her life, Jill came to me with only several years of gardening experience and chronic hip and IT band pain/tightness. In the course of six months Jill has lost 20 lbs., 10.8% bodyfat, lowered her total body fat weight by 40%, increased her pushups from 30 to 55 reps (on the knees). increased her curl-up test from 43 to 74 reps and alleviated her hip/IT band pain while increasing her overall flexibility! This all done the while keeping a great attitude and always showing upready to put in the work. It’s clients like this that make me look forward to going to work each day. Thanks Jill. Keep up the good work!

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Matthew Alegre, CSCS Master Trainer
With over 10 years of experience in the health and fitness industry, Matthew has trained clients from a variety of fitness backgrounds. His expertise extends from those with special needs and disabilities to Olympic level athletes. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024.