Whitney Fremeau, 27, a native of Manchester, N.H., works in human resources for General Electric in Austin. A lifelong athlete, she earned a degree in economics from Holy Cross in Worcester and worked in finance in Connecticut before moving here.
Whitney talks about making the switch from CrossFit, which promotes group classes, to Central Athlete, where her workout regime is tailored specifically to her individual needs.
“I had been an athlete my whole life specializing in Basketball and Track & Field in high school and then continuing on with Basketball at the Division I level in college. Working out/training had always been a critical component of my life … until it wasn’t. During my senior spring of college, I injured my back and was completely sidelined for eight weeks. This was the first time EVER that I didn’t sweat on a regular basis that I could remember. Once I was healthy again, it was extremely difficult to get back into a workout routine. It actually took me two and a half years to figure out a good, consistent workout routine again. It was a whole different ballgame not ‘needing to train if I didn’t want to.’ ,I had never had that freedom before! Once I got back into the swing of things, I began to train for my first Olympic triathlon – a lot of cardio as well as some strength training a few days a week. About eight months into my new routine and after having completed the triathlon, I started Crossfit, which I did for almost two years before I joined Central Athlete as an onsite client.
“The experience has been great. When I first started, I was doing a lot of Olympic lifting as I was doing a few Crossfit competitions for fun. Then, after a few months, I decided I didn’t want to do any Olympic lifting anymore and wanted to focus on body composition. It was really nice to have the freedom and flexibility to come to terms with my own personal goals and for Justin to listen to them and completely tailor a program around my preferences. It is also really interesting to hear the methodology of how my prescribed workouts will help me reach my goals during our monthly consults.”
Like many professionals, Whitney travels for her job, which can make fitness consistency challenging. The customized workouts and the experience of working with a particular trainer, as well as the app, promotes accountability and reciprocity in a manner not addressed by one-size-fits-all workouts.
“Central Athlete has worked out really well! I travel for work and in the past it was always hard for me to work out during those trips. I was never motivated to do anything when traveling aside from jumping on the treadmill for three miles, and I wasn’t consistent on that front, either. It is really nice to have customized hotel workouts so that I don’t have to think about creating my own, and also shortening them to 30-40 minutes, which is usually the most time I can give while on the road. It is so nice to be able to tell Justin exactly what equipment I have available to me and for him to completely customize an effective workout with what I have (which may be very minimal). Lastly, it holds me accountable since I have to go into the app to log my results, which is always extra motivation to make sure I fit it all in while traveling.”
Whitney says that the flexibility that her CA program allows is critical to her lifestyle.
“I love having a flexible schedule to train when it is convenient for me and not worry about getting stuck in traffic and being late for a class. Individually designed fitness is great. I love being able to target areas that I want to improve on my body, and I can see the methodology come through in my programming. It feels good to be working toward a goal and seeing progress based on the types of workouts I'm doing. Over the past nine months, my goals have changed a few times, but whatever the goal, there was always a calculated plan to help get me there.
“Inside the gym, individually designed fitness has helped me reach a body composition I am happy with. I feel better and more confident and love seeing improvements through results on the Inbody machine and/or measurements.”
In terms of her her most important achievements at CA, Whitney says she has made impressive strides.
“Since the beginning of this year, I have been really focused on ‘functional bodybuilding’ and aerobic work. I have seen some really great results in toning up my arms and legs and becoming a lot more lean. I have lost eight pounds and 3% body fat.”