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I began taking a beginner class at 4 pm.  My instructor was Tina.  Those of you who are here as long as I am may remember that we started the class with some vigorous toe-tapping back then!  Well, that toe-tapping didn’t do too much for my physique, but it did start to build the connection that I credit for my success.  I loved that class and the people in it!

Laurie Gilfedder

Laurie and her grandson Jack
The Secret to Success

In my role as PT Manager at FI,  I often contemplate about what makes members successful so that I can help people to better succeed.  Now you would typically think that I would be speaking about the personal training program, the array of classes, the various equipment, fitness education, etc., but that is not what comes to mind.  Yes, of course, all of those things are a part of the many FI success stories, and they ’re a vast improvement upon what was available when I first became involved in the fitness industry in the early 1970s.  Back then equipment offerings included vibrating belts and rollers.  It’s hard to believe that we believed that shaking and vibrating on those belts would firm and tone our muscles!

But the thought that resonates in my mind when I think of all the FI success stories is that a simple connection creates success.  I think I am fairly typical in that my connections to the people and places in my life direct my forward motion.  And since 1984 I have been moving forward at FI!  1984 was a big year for FI…it opened on Grove Street, but it was also an important year for me.  I had just moved here from Florida and had given birth to my third daughter just eleven months after the second.  To say I was out of shape is an understatement.  I had been pregnant for almost 20 months!  I was too busy to think about exercise, but my husband knew I needed a break and bought me an FI membership.

Toe-Tapping Time

An hour to myself sounded like heaven!  At the outset, that was all the motivation I needed, and so I began taking a beginner class at 4 pm.  My instructor was Tina.  Those of you who are here as long as I am may remember that we started the class with some vigorous toe-tapping back then!  Well, that toe-tapping didn’t do too much for my physique, but it did start to build the connection that I credit for my success.  I loved that class and the people in it!  I hated missing it…and slowly but surely I plodded along through the weeks and years of life and FI.

The Journey

Fast forward to 1989, my girls were growing and in school when FI moved to Main Street and me along with it. But life does get in the way, and it’s difficult to manage and schedule all that we need to do every day but being connected to my FI classes, my classmates, my instructors, my gym kept me going through all the complexity that is life.  FI became my home away from home, and it still is.  We moved again in 2001, this time to our present location on Deer Park Avenue. Now my daughters are all adults, and it is my grandson who comes to FI with me.   The beginning of my new generation at the gym.  “They” say fitness is a journey, not a destination and that’s certainly true for me.  A 30 + year trip through all the phases of my life.  And through them all, I’ve been fit, less fit, unfit,  heavier and lighter but always happy to be here!

Get Connected!

So if I can offer any advice to you…get connected…to a class, to an instructor, to a trainer, to other members!  And if I don’t know you, stop at the front desk and introduce yourself…chat with me….I will help connect you!   And as a wise man (Ken Brown) once wrote, “It’s more than a membership, it’s a relationship.”  No truer words were ever spoken!  Love my gym!

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Laura Gilfedder

Custom paintings and drawings by Laura Gilfedder

About the Author

Laurie Gilfedder

Laurie Gilfedder

Laurie Gilfedder is the manager of FI’s Personal Training Department.

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