NAFC Trainer Kelli Zahariades

An Interview with a trainer who will inspire you!

Equinox, An NAFC Affiliate, has been called a temple of well-being, featuring world-class personal trainers, group fitness classes, and spas. Voted Best Gym in America by Fitness Magazine, Equinox is known for its innovative fitness centers in upscale markets around the world.

Kelli Zahariades, Equinox Tier-2 Personal Trainer speaks out about fitness:

I am a Connecticut native, lucky to be living in San Diego with my spouse thanks to the Marine Corps good graces. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Southern Connecticut State University. I fell in love with training after a long-term internship with Yale University’s football team as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. I am currently employed by Equinox La Costa as a Tier 2 personal trainer. It is extremely fulfilling for me to educate others on fitness, nutrition, and how to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. My favorite part about my job is I am constantly learning about myself and growing as a trainer. I believe that as long as you get a little bit smarter every day, then you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of success.

What inspired you to become a trainer?

To be honest, all throughout working on my kinesiology degree I never anticipated pursuing personal training as a career after I graduated. I always had a passion for health and fitness, which is why I chose kinesiology, but I feared that if I made PT my job, I would lose my love for it. I had a taste of PT during a 4-month internship as a strength and conditioning coach with the Yale University football team. I found I really enjoyed coaching and motivating the athletes, and I felt immense pride after helping them reach their goals. At this time, I thought this would just be a stepping stone during my college experience. My long-term plan was to graduate with my bachelors and pursue a masters in occupational therapy ASAP. But, my plans changed, and I decided to take a huge leap of faith and move across the country to San Diego to be with my Marine, who is currently serving active duty at Pendleton. I scrambled to look for a job before heading to the west coast. I contemplated and continue to bartend as I did all throughout college, but being a new graduate I felt like I had so much more untapped potential. I came across a listing for a PT job at Equinox and I thought, why not! I felt as though I’m qualified, I enjoy training myself and others, and this could be a great opportunity for me to keep up with exercise science material as I prep for OT school. Later, I honestly had no idea I would love training as much as I do. Aside from my passion of educating others about fitness, nutrition, and health, I absolutely love the connections PT has allowed me to make with others. It’s cool to think that my clients have chosen me to be their coach, and I have become such a large part of their lives. It’s been so exciting seeing my clients fall in love with fitness. I make sure to celebrate the small victories with them, such as increasing weight in their squat, or gaining 1 lb. of muscle mass. That is ultimately what inspires me to continue to be a personal trainer. The progress that I have helped my clients make, as well as witnessing how that progress makes them feel empowered, inspired, strong, and worthy is what gets me up for work at 4:30 am every day.

What are 2 of your greatest training challenges?

1. Instilling motivation in new clients! Sometimes people begin training very motivated and ready to work hard, but others just joined because they know they needed to. Those individuals can be difficult to motivate at first because they are working hard but aren’t seeing any results yet. This is where is gets difficult to get them to do their “homework” that I assign them on our off days. For example, solo gym or home workouts, cardio, foam rolling, and stretching.

2. Nutrition! Trying to emphasize the importance of nutrition and how slacking on this component will always, always hinder them from reaching their goals. Especially on the weekends. So many people do well all week and then completely sabotage their progress on the weekends. To prevent this, I try to give them the tools and knowledge to build a healthy lifestyle that balances eating nutrient-dense foods while still enjoying life, and the things that they enjoy.

How would you like to see the fitness industry improved?

I would love to see an end in the negative stigma that is incorporated around the “weight room.” So often I have heard how intimidating walking into a gym can be for some individuals. New clients have said to me that they often felt very anxious and nervous coming into the gym, sometimes to the point where they wanted to quit. Some women (and men!) do not have the confidence to linger away from the cardio section of the gym, and they feel they will be judged by other more “fit” or “strong” people in the weight room. It’s sad to me that there are individuals who are not challenging themselves enough to stray out of their comfort zone. I would love to see the stereotypes that a gym floor is only a place for men and those select strong women become obsolete. Every gym-goer should feel comfortable wandering over to the free weights without fear of being secretly judged or ridiculed. This is where personal training comes in! My main goal as a trainer is to help my clients feel more and more comfortable in the weight room, even if they have not been brave enough to admit it is one of their fears. I do this by assigning them “homework,” that requires them to get to the weights on our days off of training together. I have found that by sending them out solo after a couple of weeks working as a team has helped them feel more at ease, and as though they are “strong” enough to belong on the floor.