I've been working out 2-3 times a week with Lance Miller for over four years. I wholeheartedly…read morerecommend him as a personal trainer and overall wellness coach.
I should note that I'm as unlikely an athlete as you're going to find. I came to Lance's gym after 50+ years of mostly sedentary living, emotional eating (heavy on the bread), and a well-established pattern of failed starts. But I had some significant health issues and, based on what happened with my elderly parents, I could see what future lay in store for me if I didn't get very intentional about building strength, stamina, and health. Still, I showed up skittish and skeptical, even though it was my idea to be there. I credit Lance's encouraging and thoughtful handling of the situation for making my participation stick. He's whip-smart but also kind and has a great goofball sense of humor.
The one-on-one coaching I get from Lance is the only thing that's ever worked for me in the fitness arena.
For our very first session, Lance sat me down to talk about my health and fitness goals in detail. My most important goal was to increase and maintain my strength and stamina as I get older, so I can keep my activity levels and independence as long as possible. Even now, more than four years later, Lance frequently programs exercises to confirm that I have the kind of functional fitness that can keep me living an active, independent life, like Turkish Get-Ups. Turkish Get-Ups aren't my favorite (that would be deadlifts), but after executing a set of them I know I have the core strength and stability, flexibility, and balance to get me through most anything in real life.
Under Lance's guidance and encouragement, I take a no-sugar-no-grains approach to eating and track what I eat in an app for Lance's reference. That change has helped me sleep better, have less-creaky joints, and be more energetic, in addition to reducing visible inflammation in my face. (I used to be pretty red-faced.) But here's the really good part: when I make not-so-great food choices, Lance doesn't lay on the guilt. What he'll do is talk with me to unpack the thoughts and feelings that went into the not-so-great choice, so I'll understand better why I made the choice and/or what alternatives might be better to choose next time. Lance's approach is to educate and clarify, not to judge or punish, so I feel comfortable being candid when I track what I eat.
When the pandemic first hit and the Bay Area was going into shelter-in-place, I didn't want to stop working out with Lance. The physical and mental benefits were too important to me, and a pandemic seemed like the worst time to regress. Lance quickly figured out on the spot how a virtual training session could work, sent me home with some borrowed equipment to supplement the training equipment I already had, and...presto! Our fitness journey went online, via Zoom sessions. We've done the workouts online for almost two years at this writing, with scarcely a miss since Lance and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Santa Fe. Sure, there are some things I can't do from home (e.g., no rope climb, because there's no rope), but there are upsides, too. For example, wearing earbuds for the workout means I can still hear and talk with Lance while I'm off running up and down stairs. Lance has been marvelously inventive and flexible in designing workouts I can do at home, inspiring me to invest in additional equipment, so I can do even more.
I miss seeing him in person, of course, but I almost never cancel a workout, because I enjoy them and always feel better (tired, but better) when we're done than I did at the start. I'm proud of the progress I've made, even since the pandemic began. If you're ready to start working toward better health and fitness (and have a great time on the way), work with Lance.
