• You Might Like

• Coming Soon!

Fit on Both Coasts: An Interview with JeeForce

August 18, 2008 | in Fitness | 1 Comments

Check out our interview with trainer JeeForce, a fitness expert keeping it real in the gym made famous by Bravo TV's show WORKOUT.

Jump to: Interview » Credentials » Contact Info »

New Yorker Jeraldine Luque—aka "JeeForce"—has brought her East coast attitude and training expertise to California. She now trains clients amid the madness at Sky Sport Spa, the location for Bravo TV's reality show WORKOUT, starring Jackie Warner. JeeForce, a pal of ours on Twitter, took a minute to talk with us about her training philosophy, and what it's like in the (in)famous gym.

Interview

Hella Sound: How long have you been a trainer?
Jeraldine Luque: I have been a trainer for nine years. This is my ninth year.

HS: You moved to LA three years ago?
JL: Yes, from New York City.

HS: How is being a trainer in New York different from LA?
JL: I think the pace of New York City relative to Los Angeles is different: New York City is a lot faster. I think clients have a little bit more of consistency because New York doesn't have the weather factor like LA does. People in NYC, because we have weather, the gym is another outlet for them to get out and enjoy training, getting out and having interaction with other people. Even if it's just for working out or socializing, you have group exercise classes so you have that whole dynamic. In LA it's a little different: the weather's good, for the most part, year-round, so I think people have more of a leisurely approach.

HS: So people in LA are more into it? Or...?
JL: I think they're more consistent with it in New York. Also, with NYC being a faster-paced city, you have a higher stress level, so I think people make more of a point to get to the gym. They make it more of a factor during the work week.

HS: More of a ritual.
JL: Yeah, because you have a lot of people that, you know, if they're in finance, they're working ten to twelve hours a day, and New York with the majority of people that work in finance, if there's a gym within that area, that's their hour to step out of the office and sort of decompress, work out, train, and then get back into the office. It's not like here in LA where a trainer can train his client outside and if the client misses their appointment they can always go outside and do something on their own. In New York it's not really like that.

HS: Was Sky Sport Spa the first gym that you started training in LA? Or were you in other places?
JL: No, I actually was with the Sports Club/LA in Rockefeller Center, and after being with them for almost two and a half years I transfered to the Sports Club/LA in Beverly Hills. And that's where I was able to transition from New York to LA. And then from there I thought I was ready to leave the Sports Club, and a good friend of mine knew a trainer at Sky who recommended me. She's actually one of the trainers on the show—her name is Erika. We spoke and I let her know I was looking for something more independent. I was looking to get out of the corporate environment.

HS: It must be a trip to work out in a gym that has a reality show filming in it.
JL: It's different. All of my personal training career was in the city; I trained in the West Village, which is a very artsy area. And from the West Village I went into a corporate environment and stayed until I moved out to LA. The majority of my clients were in finance or business. Working at Sky, it's very different, because you have very different personalities and people from all over. There's a wide range of fitness backgrounds. And also, when you see where you work on TV it's different. When you get to work and there's a camera crew, it's a whole different experience. And Sky is not a huge gym—it's a training studio, like a boutique gym. So when you're walking in on a Saturday morning and there's a whole camera team and lights, and you have to sign your waiver to make sure that you're okay with being shot on TV if you're not part of the TV staff... It's very glam, very glam.

HS: In general I bet the whole move from New York to LA has been a big culture shock for you.
JL: It's very different. They're both amazing cities, and each one of them has amazing things, but very different from one another.

HS: Have you always been an athlete?
JL: I wasn't an athlete when I was young. I played mild sports in high school, and I got into fitness when I was in my early twenties. That's how I got into fitness. I joined my local gym and started taking group exercise classes, and from there I fell in love with fitness.

HS: What areas do you specialize in? I know we've talked about kickboxing before (on Twitter).
JL: Kickboxing is something I just started taking about six or seven months ago on my own. Prior to even getting into kickboxing the Sports Club gave complementary sessions for each trainer to work with another trainer—whether it was pilates or yoga, each trainer was swapping sessions. One of my colleagues did Muay Thai and boxing, and I took my sessions with him and loved it. It's a good workout, a good way to sweat it out and relieve stress.

HS: Yeah, Muay Thai is awesome.
JL: Yeah, it is. My specialty for what I like to teach clients, if they don't have a specific goal, is flexibility training. Flexibility training can lead to other areas of fitness depending on the goal of the client. It can benefit the runner, the cyclist, the avid speedwalker. Someone even like myself who has just picked up a sport like kickboxing. Someone who works a 9 to 5 job who doesn't get a lot of physical activity during the day and complains about stiffness and rigidity, daily aches and pains. It can even go into strength.

HS: So is this like joint mobility training? Or...?
JL: Flexibility training has a joint mobilization component. Depending on their goals, you can go through movements which will help mobilize the joints in three planes of motion. So when they're ready to work out, the body is all ready to go. I call it "clearing the runway." You clear the runway and make sure they're dynamically warmed up, so when you train them they move much more efficiently to maximize their workout.

HS: How would your clients describe your approach?
JL: I would say I'm a kind of a smart-mouth—not in a negative way. Sometimes I say things and people will say "that has to be Jee!".

HS: (laughs) Are you a little sister?
JL: I'm an only child! So I kind of have a smart mouth in a funny kind of way.

HS: Who inspires you as a trainer?
JL: Oh wow. I have had two personal trainers in my career that have really inspired me and expanded how I look at fitness in a different way. First, my friend Delma Olivers, who's an independent trainer in New York. Also, my mentor in California, Lenny Parracino. Their work ethic and their passion for fitness and their outlook—looking at it as a lifestyle change from a holistic point of view. They really love what they do in helping their clients, as well as bettering our industry and educating trainers to improve the lives of their clients. And they're both really, really smart.

HS: Do you have a favorite exercise—something you like doing, or something you have your clients do?
JL: My favorite exercise is squats. A million variations.

HS: What do you recommend for clients that are stuck for time or are traveling?
JL: They can find out what gym facilities the hotel has, and take 20 to 30 minutes to keep their body mobile, get a good sweat, and to keep everything moving and circulating. Especially if they've been on a plane for a long time. If the hotel doesn't have a gym they can get resistance bands that they can use in their room. And there are plenty of movements they can do with just their body weight in just 15 minutes.

HS: A previous trainer I spoke with mentioned the Athletic-Minded Traveler site, which has a ton of resources for fitness-oriented people who are on the road. It has hotel gym reviews, as well as food recommendations for the area you're traveling to so you're not stuck eating burgers and fries.
JL: That's really awesome!

HS: What's the single best piece of advice you can give to beginners?
JL: Really stick with it. Take the time and go to the gym and train with a trainer—even if it's only once—so you can get an idea on what you can start with. You don't even have to stick with one trainer—you can try a variety of trainers. If you join a gym, get into group fitness and take a class just to get an idea what you like and what you don't. Beginning fitness is like going to a candy store: you have all these candies, and there's so many to pick from. You can always try a few at a time, and you don't have to eat all of them!

HS: (laughs)
JL: Mix and match and see what you like. And just stick with it. Stick with it for at least six to eight weeks. You'll feel the difference, as long as you decide to stay consistent with it.

HS: Right—as long as you decide to be dedicated to it for the six to eight weeks.
JL: Right. Because in the long run it'll come back to you ten-fold. It's an investment.

HS: Do you have any special projects you're working on?
JL: I went to a training workshop in Santa Barbara and was able to meet an awesome group of trainers as well as man who created the Spin Cycle, Johnny G. I met with fifteen trainers who are all avid runners, cyclists and spinners, and the workshop was about a new piece of equipment called the Krankcycle. It's an awesome piece of equipment. It's sort of like a spin bike, but for the upper body. Spinning isn't my primary activity, and it was awesome to be involved in an area of fitness that's not my normal area.

Credentials

• Powerplate Instructor, Level I from National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
• CPR Certified
• Functional Movement Science Hands On Workshops at Kinetic Conditioning in Montrose, California
• Personal Trainer at the Sky Sport Spa in Beverly Hills, California
• Eight years training experience for all fitness levels
• Bi-Lingual, Spanish and English

Contact Information

If you are interested in contacting Jee for training you may via the following:

• Gyms:
  • Sky Sport Spa — Trainer Profile
  • Gym on Nemo Nemo Street, West Hollywood
• Email:

Consult with a physician and/or fitness expert before beginning or altering your training program. Please review the Terms of Service for more information.

Find this interesting or helpful? Share it!

blogmarks

Blue Dot

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Furl

Google Bookmarks

Ma.gnolia

Netvouz

Reddit

Spurl

StumbleUpon

Technorati

Windows Live

YahooMyWeb

Related Articles

• Hella Sound Announcing GoRun: Twitter + Runners
• Fitness Respect and Devotion: Interview with Ivan Salaverry
• Fitness Ask “Crazy Legs” — Aging, Hills and Knowing When to Say When

Comments

Leave a Comment

Let’s keep it polite and on topic. Email address is required but will never be shared, sold or used for nefarious purposes.

Name Email Address URL Comment Type this word: