Wednesday, May 31, 2017

From Spanish Physical Therapist to Ann Arbor Personal Trainer: Meet Eduard Font

Like another of our personal trainers, Will Burchfield, Eduard Font also moved to Ann Arbor for love.

In Eduard's case, though, he traveled just a little bit longer to get here – specifically, Eduard comes to us from Barcelona, where he is a licensed physical therapist with extensive education, training, and experience in this field.

Eduard moved here to Ann Arbor to support his wife, Maria, as she pursues her Ph.D in Chemistry at the University of Michigan. But he can't work as a physical therapist here because US law requires different training and certification for medical professionals than European law.
Instead, Eduard is using all of the knowledge and skills he developed as a physical therapist in his new profession as a personal trainer with Better Living Fitness.
Better Living personal trainer Eduard Font works with our newest nutrition counselor, Becca Addison, during a recent workout in Ann Arbor.

Eduard says that while the two fields are somewhat different, personal training and physical therapy have a lot in common – both practices are all about helping people get the most from their bodies.

“With both physical therapy and personal training, we offer each individual very personal treatment and work to find solutions for the problems they have,” he explains. “As a physical therapist I helped clients with an injury or physical problem to master normal life.”

“Some of my Better Living clients also come for help with injuries or other physical problems. Others want to lose weight or become better athletes. As a personal trainer, I get to use my skills to help people reach a wide variety of goals.”

Given Better Living's emphasis on functional fitness, Eduard's approach has been an excellent fit for our clients. At the same time, Eduard says he's thrilled to be able to take his knowledge and experience as a physical therapist and use those skills as a personal trainer.

Eduard adds that he's learning a lot because of the ways that personal training and physical therapy are different.

“I never worked in a gym before Better Living Fitness,” he explains. “For me, this is a new field because I know the body and how the body works, and the mechanics of movement, but I never worked with the machines or the tools we use here.”

“At the same time, [Better Living Fitness Founder Mark Thiesmeyer] is very specific about how each exercise should be done, so that's something I'm learning here – how to do the exercises and how to do them well.”

While Eduard says that he misses the mountains and living near the sea, he has discovered the beauty of Michigan's national parks – particularly our forests, which he says are very different than the ones he's used to in Spain. He and Maria enjoyed exploring Michigan's parks last fall, and are looking forward to spending as much time as possible outside this spring and summer.

“I'm also doing a lot of reading to keep up with developments in the science of physical therapy,” he says. “And the things I learn in my reading are also helping me work with my Better Living clients.”

If you'd like to schedule a personal training session with Eduard or any of the other Better Living Fitness trainers, click here for your free initial consultation. We look forward to seeing you!

Monday, May 8, 2017

A Hands-On Approach to Helping People: Introducing Better Living's Newest Personal Trainer, Joshua Plonka

Josh Plonka joined the Better Living team back in November of 2016, working on the front desk to welcome members and schedule personal training sessions.

As of March, though, he's the one being scheduled – and we're thrilled to have him as our newest personal trainer!

Josh Plonka training Will Burchfield at Better Living Fitness Center in Ann Arbor. Josh is our newest personal trainer.
Josh (left) with Will Burchfield
Josh has always known that he wanted a career focused on helping people, and first went to school to pursue occupational therapy.

“I've always been physically active, and I wanted to help people live healthier lives,” he said. “But after being in school for awhile, I decided I wanted to practice a more hands-on approach to helping people heal themselves, and decided that earning a B.S. in Exercise Science was the way to go.”
 
When he's not training clients, Josh's hobbies include cooking and watching cooking shows. Josh is Better Living Fitness' newest personal trainer -- welcome, Josh!
Josh in his kitchen
Eventually, Josh plans on earning a doctorate in physical therapy. In the meantime, though, he's enjoying learning even more about the ropes of personal training from Better Living Fitness founder Mark Thiesmeyer.

“Mark teaches Better Living trainers a lot about communication with clients, as well as the proper techniques for all of the exercises,” Josh explained. “I've also learned how to quickly spot when a client's form is 'off,' so we can prevent an injury before it happens, and muscle testing to help target areas where a client needs special attention.”


When he's not working with personal training clients, Josh said that he's still staying active with camping, Frisbee golf, and biking. When it's time to rest, though, Josh makes time for one of his abiding passions – food.

“I'm a foodie – I love cooking, going out to restaurants, and trying new things,” Chef's Table on Netflix, because it's not just a full hour of cooking. The show also looks at food culturally, and why people cook what they do the way they do.”

Back at Better Living, Josh said the biggest surprise he's had so far as a personal trainer is how quickly the time goes by during sessions. “The hour just flies because my client is having fun, I'm having fun – it doesn't feel like work at all. We're just having a grand old time together, while at the same time my clients are working toward their fitness goals.”
he said. “And I also love cooking shows. Right now I'm obsessed with

Josh, and our other Better Living personal trainers, are available to help you achieve your best body ever. Just click here for your free initial consultation, and we'll set you up with personal training that works!