Meet Heidi, she’s a vibrant community member and dynamic certified personal trainer and yogi. While most know her on Skimble‘s Workout Trainer app as Desert Fox, Heidi’s energy is infection wherever we find her training around the world. She focuses not only on the physical aspect of training but also on mental well-being. You can see her consistently creating, completing and sharing her workouts with a die-hard group of community members who often top our monthly leaderboards. We got a chance to chat with Heidi and learn about her background. Let’s jump right in.

Tell us a bit about yourself – where are you from?

Heidi: I was born and raised in Europe, but spent much of my childhood living in Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, and Greece. Then I moved back to Europe, left for the United States, and later settled in the United Arab Emirates. I still commute between the US and Middle East, and have traveled 126 countries ’til today.

What inspired you to become a trainer?

Heidi: After attaining several debilitating injuries, I was written off by the allopathic medical community as *permanently partially disabled,* which led me into intense studies and certifications in homeo-naturopathic alternative healing modalities and I never looked back. My journey to self healing encouraged me to help others. Fitness has always been an integral part of my life, be it Equestrian Volting, Martial Arts (Muay Thai), Freediving, Skiing, Skydiving… anything to get my adrenaline going.

Can you talk about your path to becoming a yogi?

Heidi: About 30 years ago I began visiting family in Tamil Nadu, India and discovered yoga for the first time. It was not until decades later that I fully immersed myself with Mysore-style Ashtanga. I usually spend one month out of the year in one of India’s Yoga Hubs (Rishikesh/Iyengar/Hatha/Kundalini/Ashtanga), Goa (Hatha/Yin), Dharmshala (Tantra/Multi), Mysore (Ashtanga), or Kerala (Hatha/Mohenjo Daro-Shakti/Ayurveda), as well as the Maldives (Yin). As a NASM trainer and a teacher in the aforementioned types of yoga & integrated modalities, I noticed the importance of form and posture, be it static or in movement, and decided to further my studies in Postural Corrective Therapies.

Wow! Where do you find the time and space to do all of this?

Heidi: For one, I’m off of social media. I am lucky enough not to need it to promote myself. Skimble is the only social media I therefore use as it is linked to productivity. These days I choose not to watch a favorite sitcom or movie, this is leisure time I do not have. I prefer being an eternal student. My Skimble Team “Wolverine”, however, was inspired by the Marvel character, as I believe everyone can find a “Super Hero” within themselves. In my free time I continue to study Holistic Health, Nutrition, and Detox methods. My social schedule is sparse, my nickname amongst friends is “Big Foot” as they rarely get to see me. I prefer solitude and nature after decades of living in the Emirates world of glitz and glam.

What’s your favorite Workout Trainer feature?

Heidi: I appreciate Skimble’s Workout Trainer app as a valuable training tool wherever I’m at. I really love this app. I’m not just saying it, I actually use it about 5 – 6 days a week. I found Workout Trainer to be an invaluable training tool for everyone; beginner or serious athlete, client or coach, as it assists the user to stay goal-oriented and organized while having access to the newest training modalities and exercise variations. Being able to create your own workouts and add your own pictures and video are other great features. Let’s not forget about the social aspect. You can learn tremendously from and get motivated by others on here, just by following the right people. I also love the integrated heart rate feature. After many years of logging over 22k workouts on this app, I have yet to find a better one.

Do you have any recommended training gear?

Heidi: My Go-To-Tools are Bands (TRX) and a lightweight yoga mat when traveling or when I find myself without gym access. They fit in every suitcase!

Got a secret health tip?

Heidi: What is worse than bad posture? The answer is: training with bad posture.
If in doubt, choose good form and posture.

Moreover, I regularly detox and maintain optimal immunity by observing my ph levels. I also stay clear from pharmaceuticals. Mother Nature provides all I need. The result? I rarely get sick and have more vitality than when I was in my 30s.

One more thing: do you have any role models?

Heidi: Since you asked, some of my personal heroes are Nikolai Tesla, Dr. Judy Mikovits, Dr. Robert Young, Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, Sasha Latipova, to name a few of my favorite experts in the field of medical science and research.

There you have it! Heidi is your go-to guide and all-around inspiring super human! Follow her to see what she’s doing and dishing out to stay motivated on this journey towards a healthier, fitter you.

Download the free Workout Trainer app for Android & iOS to tap into our follow-along coaching and fitness community today!

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Are you a fitness professional and also want access to our online coaching tools, just like Heidi? Get started for free on Skimble’s Trainer page.

 

 

Meet Mark Bryant, Skimble‘s latest featured Trainer! If you check out Mark’s profile, you will immediately notice his wealth of coaching specialties. He has over 20 fitness certifications under his belt. If that wasn’t enough, Mark’s a World Class Powerlifter. An 11x World Champion Powerlifter and 2x Powerlifting Hall of Famer 😉  We got a chance to chat with Mark and learn about how he got his start and the challenges he had to overcome to get to where he is today.

Tell us a bit about yourself – where are you from?

Mark: I was born and raised in New York City. It was a very bad area and my upbringing was hard, to say the least. Being premature and in a difficult environment, I was put in special education classes and was labeled retarded as a child. At home, there was abuse, which I endured for over 10 years. It was also very hard having to deal with gangs in the streets.

In my twenties I decided to move to Seattle, Washington. That’s when I really started to focus on fitness and personal growth, on my own terms. Years later I became a fitness professional. I believe through all the hardship I went through as a child I had a huge desire to help people, especially through fitness.

What inspired you to become a trainer?

Mark: I had a good friend back in New York. I heard him name all the bones of the body by heart and I thought that was so cool. I wanted to be able to do that, and he taught it all to me. One day I was able to name all the bones of the body as well. I just felt great after that and have always enjoyed exercising…push-ups, sit-ups, you name it. When I moved to Seattle I continued my fitness education and eventually got into powerlifting. That’s how it started, that’s my passion, and it’s not going to end 😉

We heard you can lift! When did you get into powerlifting and what do your training plans look like?

Mark: I started Powerlifting later in life, when I was living in Seattle and 33 years old. I got into Powerlifting after talking to a great coach about the sport of Powerlifting and decided to give it a try. Training is normally an 8 or 12-week cycle. If it’s a 12-week cycle the first 4 weeks is for conditioning and the other 8 weeks are for competition training. The last week of the training cycle I take off so my body could fully recover. Overall, my training normally takes me about an hour to finish and I train three days out of the week (every other day).

We train on the three major lifts: Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlift. Because our main focus is to train heavy we keep our reps low such as sets of five, three, and two. As the training cycle gets closer to the end our reps are even lower, two and sometimes one (single max rep).

In addition, I eat pretty healthy…proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and vegetables. Everyone is different when it comes to eating food for competition. I get plenty of rest each night and I also try to take a nap during the day if I can.

What’s your favorite Workout Trainer feature?

Mark: I like having the option to do online training with clients I also see in person. I have clients who are far away and some who have to travel a lot so to be able to stay in touch with them anywhere is very beneficial.

Do you have any recommended training gear?

Mark: I have clients who I train for national and world meets. So, the gear I use are thick powerlifting belts, wrist wraps, knee wraps, chalk. When training my general clients who are not into specifically powerlifting, I recommend regular barbells, dumbbells, and sometimes gear belts and gloves. It depends on the client, that’s how I roll.

What fitness tips do you have to share?

Mark: Train smart and take your time. Do it slowly and focus on form. Then, REST, lie down, go to sleep! When you churn your body hard, when you break down the muscle tissue, you have to have the nutrition and hydration to feed it…and then to recover. So the ‘secrets’ to being your best self are to eat healthy and to get enough rest. Nap if you can!

Mark, thanks again for taking the time to share with us, . If you hop over to his profile, you’ll see some of Mark’s latest training certs (such as Certified Personal Trainer, Elite Trainer, Master Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist, Senior Fitness, Sports Medicine, Biomechanics, Stretching & Flexibility, Functional Aging, Orthopedic, Barbell Rehab, Precision Nutrition, etc.) from many of the popular fitness training organizations.

Get the latest Workout Trainer app (Android & iOS) and be sure to follow some great trainers like Mark for inspiration and motivation.

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Are you a fitness professional and want access to our online coaching tools? Get started for free on Skimble’s Trainer page.