Anna Aquino

(pronounced AHHHH-nah)

Anna has been an ACE certified personal trainer for 14 years.  When not cooing over her dog, Oliver, or reading any number of the books that fill her house, she is here working as a trainer and spreading her love of fitness.  Exercise has been a passion of hers for quite a while, and as your trainer, she will be able to share her knowledge with you to help you experience the physical and emotional benefits of fitness.  She has some background in yoga and Pilates and likes to integrate ideas from these and other disciplines into creative workouts for clients.  Her goal is to educate and motivate and to help you define and achieve your fitness goals to feel better, stronger, and more able to live life the way you want to.

Trainer Tip: “If I had a nickel….”  How many times do you hear someone say that?  If I had a nickel for every time I see someone using incorrect form, I might be a rich woman.  But seriously, form is vitally important when working with weights.  Using proper form when weight training can help us get the most out of each exercise, while utilizing the correct muscles. When using incorrect form, you will increase your risk of injury and target the wrong muscles.  Paying attention to our form when moving through the exercise will help us create strong muscle contraction, while keeping the body aligned and protected.  Sometimes people find when they use correct form, they need to use much less weight and get even better results.  And who wouldn’t want that?  To sum up, proper form when exercising is the foundation to a successful workout.  Start right to finish well.

Minerva Badar

Minerva is an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer with over 10 years of experience. She started out teaching boot camp style classes because of her background in the martial arts (blackbelt in Shorei/Goju style off karate) and throughout the years she has added other certifications to expand her knowledge base to help clients achieve their fitness goals. Minerva takes a personal approach in working with her personal training clients- tailoring workouts to suit the individual as well as provide encouragement and support throughout their fitness journey. She is very passionate about her job and strives to give her clients the results they are looking for. Minerva’s certifications include: AFAA Personal Trainer, PKC Black Belt, Les Mills Bodypump, Jillian Michaels Bodyshred, Bosu, Ikick, Zumba, Zumba Step, TRX, TRX Rip Trainer, YMCA Diabetes Prevention coach.

Neil Deatrick

Neil (he/him) has a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Kinesiology along with a minor in Nutrition and another minor in Coaching from Michigan State University. He is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and has over 14 years of experience in training Martial Arts. Neil is a Certified Master of Taekwondo and has experience in Judo, Jujitsu, and Kumdo; and was the head coach for the Michigan State Taekwondo team during his senior year at MSU. Since graduation, he has been focusing on developing his skills in functional strength, HIIT, and athletic performance training to help his clients reach their goals. Neil is energetic yet patient, and always wants his clients to know that he has their back when they are training with him.

Heather Grier

Heather has been working as a personal trainer for over 20 years. She loves working with people of all abilities including average recreational exercisers, elite athletes, seniors and people with special needs. Heather is a six-time Ironman finisher, a former competitive bodybuilder and a mother of 6. Her philosophy about health and fitness is that “nothing comes easily”, and the glass it always half-full. She loves what she does and loves that her job changes people’s lives.

Jim O’Connell

Jim is a NASM certified personal trainer and also has his BS in Physical Education and Health Education. Jim started his health and fitness career at the Kroehler Family YMCA in 2009. For over five years, he taught group exercise classes and personal trained a wide range of clientele. He has a wide range of coaching experience in addition to his health and fitness background. Jim was formerly the cross country coach and head coach of the track and field team at Naperville North High School. Jim is currently a traveling PE teacher working in several different school districts focusing on the special needs population. Jim loves incorporating every piece of fitness equipment available and strives to provide the best functional workouts for his clients.