Donna Russo knows what’s expected of her.
As soon as her Gilroy Health and Fitness Trainer Cristina
Lorente-Jurevich told her
”
Let’s get started,
”
Russo started right toward the elliptical machines at the back
of the gym.
Donna Russo knows what’s expected of her.
As soon as her Gilroy Health and Fitness Trainer Cristina Lorente-Jurevich told her “Let’s get started,” Russo started right toward the elliptical machines at the back of the gym.
Russo has been working with Lorente-Jurevich for seven months, so she had a pretty firm grasp on what she is going to do each day. Although she has been set up on a program and probably could handle doing her exercises herself, she stays with Lorente-Jurevich because she gets much more from her than simply what exercises to perform.
“Where’s your book?” Lorente-Jurevich asked.
“I’m going to be in trouble,” Russo said.
Russo forgot to bring her nutritional diary book with her, so she was told to get off the machine and go get the book, which is filled with everything Russo eats is monitored by Lorente-Jurevich, who keeps track of protein, carbohydrate and fat intakes.
“If you don’t hold your clients accountable, they don’t make changes,” Lorente-Jurevich said. “Seventy percent of getting any client healthy is their nutrition.”
Besides monitoring her diet, Russo’s trainer also helps to motivate and inspire her while making sure she stays on track on her health goal.
“Everything is customized for my client,” she said. “There’s five components to fitness.”
Proper food intake and the right amount of cardiovascular exercise are among the five components of health that the trainers at Gilroy Health and Fitness base individual programs on.
“There’s not an average Joe answer because there’s no such thing as an average Joe,” Lorente-Jurevich said.
Russo, who has 80 to 90 horses at her family’s stables, called Woodmyst Farm on Crews Road Gilroy, has a goal to stay in riding shape for years to come.
“Personally, I have four to five horses I have to ride,” said Russo, who added that many of the hunting and jumping horses she rides haven’t been fully trained and dislocated shoulders, groin pulls and broken vertebrae are among the injuries she’s had. “I want to ride 20 years more, and I’m 50 now.”
Because Russo was nursing a groin pull, Lorente-Jurevich told Russo that she would be doing circuit training on her upper body to give her legs a rest.
Within a few minutes, Russo was sweating and struggling through an eight-exercise routine.
“Isn’t this fun?” her trainer said as Russo fought to do push ups. “I’m having a great time. … C’mon ‘D,’ let’s do it!”
Once Russo was finished, she was sent back to run on the elliptical machine. The one-hour session with Lorente-Jurevich was over, but Russo certainly doesn’t get the next week off. She is responsible for eating right, keeping her book and stretching at home.
“It doesn’t end here,” her trainer said. “I always give them homework.”
Russo said her diet obviously has changed since she started at Gilroy Health, but she doesn’t feel like she is on a diet.
“I eat all day long, but little meals and I eat constantly,” she said. “I feel like I’m eat the right stuff.”
But if doesn’t eat right, Lorente-Jurevich will find out.
“I have a very precocious 10-year-old, and she snitches on me if I don’t eat the right things,” Russo said.
Russo’s 21-year old son, Michael Sposito, also works with Lorente-Jurevich.
“He was very disciplined with his horses but not with his diet,” Russo said. “So I also snitch on him. … He really treats her like a coach.”
The family now, instead of fighting over candy bars, can fight over protein bars.
“I pay for my son to come because I think it’s important,” Russo said about the cost of paying for two training sessions a week.
The two have completely different training needs, which Lorente-Jurevich balances out.
“It’s not just about lifting weights and not just about the cardio,” she said.
According to David Jurevich, the general manager at Gilroy Health and Lorente-Jurevich’s husband, said that the training staff at Gilroy Health can make a difference for anyone trying to get in shape.
“When they first come in, they don’t know what they’re doing,” Jurevich said about newcomers to the gym. “People will get a little results right away, then it drops off. They hit a plateau and they get discouraged.
“About 90 percent of people who start with a trainer are successful; 50 to 60 percent that don’t just fall off.”
Lorente-Jurevich also said people often incorrectly assume they can get in better shape through a diet.
“They’ll see all those fad diets and go for it,” she said. “The best thing is to get the right education for your body.”
Lorente-Jurevich, who has 40 to 50 clients at any time, said her average client comes in twice a week.
“It’s not just for the people who can exercise but for people who need help with doing daily activities,” she said. “I always have room for more.”
The six trainers at Gilroy Health hope that more people will take the step to make exercise an important part of their lives and to begin to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
“That’s all we do, is change people’s lives,” she said. “What you get is education for a lifetime.”
For more information on the training staff at Gilroy Health and Fitness, call 848-1234.
