Central YMCA | San Jose
Annalea O'Halloran
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Central YMCA
Annalea ('Anna-Lee') began as a personal trainer and wellness coach in early 2024. Her philosophy towards health is centered on building a lifestyle that makes reaching fitness goals sustainable and efficient. She enjoys helping people increase their strength and confidence at the gym. Her areas of focus include strength, cardio and beginner fitness. On a personal note, Annalea has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and has worked as a healthcare data analyst.
Zach Polianos
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Central YMCA
Zach is a kinesiology major from San Jose State University with an emphasis as an Exercise and Fitness specialist. Ever since he was a kid, helping people has always been a drive for him to pursue a profession. Tying that with his love for the gym, he determined being a personal trainer was best suited for him. He creates workout programs for clients who want to achieve their fitness goals. Ultimately, Zach would like to become a Strength and Conditioning coach for a collegiate or professional sports team. On a personal note, he loves playing basketball and completing Spartan Trail Half Marathons.
Sean Pollock
NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
Central YMCA
Sean has been educating and training members since 2015. He is certified in various areas including personal training, fitness, strength coaching, sports nutrition, low back specialist, and LIVESTRONG at the YMCA coaching. He teaches a wide range of classes from adult PE to youth sports and games, and even works with those suffering from chronic diseases. In addition, Sean has a passion for lifting, rehab techniques, and routine building. If you're looking to get in shape and reach your goals, Sean is the perfect choice! He believes that exercises should not be a punishment for what you ate, but instead an achievement to see what you can do with your body. And when he's not training, he loves to build legos, play musical instruments, and throw a Frisbee!
Erica Saffirio
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Central YMCA
Erica has been a group fitness instructor since 2018 and a certified personal trainer and LIVESTRONG at the YMCA coach since 2024. She is passionate about helping people achieve their fitness goals and loves seeing them become more active. Erica has a special affinity for working with seniors, focusing on helping them improve their mobility and overall well-being. She is committed to creating a supportive environment for all YMCA members. Erica enjoys building relationships, engaging with everyone, and making fitness a fun and rewarding journey for all. On a personal note, Erica was born and raised in Italy and has lived in Switzerland, Asia and the U.S. She is an animal lover and enjoys traveling, especially to visit family in Italy. In her free time, she loves hiking, cycling, snowboarding, dirt biking and cooking for her loved ones.
Susan Schultz
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Central YMCA
Susan joined the Central YMCA Health and Wellness team in 2009 as a Certified Personal Trainer, and has nearly two decades of experience in the fitness industry. Susan began as a Group Exercise Instructor specializing in the martial arts field, with a focus on boxing. Since then, she has evolved in various strength, flexibility, injury prevention & recovery coaching as well as healthy nutrition and mindfulness practice coaching. She uses five basic principles to structure her member's training programs: injury prevention, body-shaping, strength, conditioning, and food management. Susan’s passion is to inspire your discovery and confidence in health, while safely meeting and exceeding personal goals. On a personal note, she loves anything culinary - farmers' markets, baking, cooking, Top Chef, Master Chef, Tournament of Champions and she's mastered roller skating (quad skates) indoor and outdoor for many years, as well as cartwheels.
East Valley Family YMCA | San Jose
Hector Castaneda
NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
East Valley Family YMCA
Hector is a dedicated Personal Trainer in constant growth, always learning new skills to implement with his clients. Available at Central YMCA, Lewis and Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA, and El Camino YMCA, Hector specializes in weight loss, toning, and circuit training. He will be able to teach you how to enjoy physical activity and create healthy habits while enjoying your favorite food! He will also bring out your love and passion for music and guide you to enjoy the love for dance. On a personal note, he loves eating and dancing.
Steve Marchana
Certified Pickleball Trainer
East Valley Family YMCA
Steve is a Certified Pickleball Trainer for East Valley Family YMCA. He offers both singles and doubles pickleball lessons. Whether you’re looking to learn the game, or progress to a higher skill level, Steve can help get you there. Beginner and intermediate players can reach their pickleball goals safely with Steve’s help. Steve has a passion for the game, and has competed in singles tournaments, winning a medal in the Palo Alto Senior Games in 2022. He will teach you the basics to advance play. So, when you play with friends and family, you will know what you are doing and have more fun.
Dylan Martin
NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
East Valley Family YMCA
Dylan, a Bay Area native, focuses on exercises that support functional movement and activities of daily living so that you can easily build your foundational fitness and achieve long term success. As a Wellness Coach and Certified Personal Trainer, it is his joy and life's passion to spend collaborative time with individuals as they map out their healthy living goals and begin or continue exercise and daily activities. Dylan graduated from Cal State East Bay with a B.S. in Recreation Management. He is a NCSF Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Mat Pilates and Zumba Instructor.
Dylan is trained in adaptive fitness, working with seniors & active adults, and working with those living with chronic pain or in various stages of a physical health recovery. He focuses on exercises that support functional movement and activities of daily living so that you can easily build your foundational fitness and achieve long term success. Dylan is available to train at East Valley Family YMCA and Northwest YMCA. On a personal note, dancing is his favorite thing to do.
Dylan is trained in adaptive fitness, working with seniors & active adults, and working with those living with chronic pain or in various stages of a physical health recovery. He focuses on exercises that support functional movement and activities of daily living so that you can easily build your foundational fitness and achieve long term success. Dylan is available to train at East Valley Family YMCA and Northwest YMCA. On a personal note, dancing is his favorite thing to do.
Beth Mondry
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
East Valley Family YMCA
Beth believes that exercise can change lives, helping to relieve stress while promoting stronger mental and physical health. She will coach you on your fitness journey to keep you motivated and on the right track to reach your fitness goals. With her extensive knowledge of the human body, she will become an essential partner in your health journey. Beth holds a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Human Movement. She specializes in weight loss, muscle toning, strength training and balance. Exercise changed Beth's life and now she wants to help change yours. On a personal note, she lobes to go swimming with her daughter.
Misty Yoon
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
East Valley Family YMCA
Misty specializes in circuit training, core training, balance training, cardio endurance training and youth fitness. She is the perfect trainer for a health seeking individual, or someone looking to rebuild their fitness after an injury or time off. She is also a LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA coach. When you work out with Misty, you will focus on your goals and monitor your progression to modify and incorporate different options as necessary to optimize your results. This will make your training session more fun and enjoyable and help keep you motivated. On a personal note she has a passion for cooking, baking and gardening.
El Camino YMCA | Mountain View
Jennifer Baumann
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Jenn joined the El Camino YMCA over 15 years ago as a Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor and has worked more than two decades in the fitness industry. She believes in functional training and develops strength and resistance programs based on the activities that her clients do in their everyday life, from sports like golf and skiing, to basics like carrying groceries and pushing strollers. She likes to work with clients that are motivated to challenge themselves. Her focus is on cardiovascular endurance and strength training, and weight loss, if needed. She uses the Rate of Perceived Exertion scale and heart rate monitoring to help clients make their cardiovascular workouts as efficient as possible. And most especially making each workout FUN! Jennifer is here to coach, motivate and encourage you to succeed. She will help you attain your fitness goals, whether it is losing 10 lbs on the scale or adding 10 lbs of muscle. In her free time, she enjoys running, cycling, cooking, reading and spending time with family.
Ricky Character
Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Ricky is a certified personal trainer who specializes in sport-specific training and youth fitness. His training sessions include HIIT and Circuit Training where the goal is to keep the heart rate high while burning fat and calories and simultaneously building strength and endurance. He enjoys working 1:1 or with small groups. His primary objective is to make goals with clients and to create a path to achieve those goals.
Hugh Daniels
NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach
El Camino YMCA
Hugh has spent the last few years working in the health and wellness industry and he is an NASM certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. Hugh’s training philosophy is to help clients achieve their goals by promoting both cardiovascular fitness and resistance training supported by an optimized, sustainable nutritional strategy while having fun at the same time! A scientist by training, he believes that these types of quality lifestyle choices will lead to quantifiable improvements in fitness and body composition. On a personal note, Hugh has been a lifelong endurance sport enthusiast taking part in distance running, triathlons and mountain biking.
Ryan Eckford
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Ryan is a NASM certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. His primary aspiration is to help people reframe “health” as several small choices made each and every day, instead of an overly complicated concept. He enjoys encouraging others to pursue healthy choices in life for the benefits that they can feel today. On a personal note, his favorite hobby is juggling.
Mercy Forde
NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Mercy's passion for fitness began long ago through her love of sports, movement, and music. As an ACE certified group exercise instructor and youth fitness specialist, she has taught strength, bootcamp, and dance classes for many years, working with adults and youth. As a personal trainer and strength coach, she enjoys working 1:1 or with small groups, helping members of all backgrounds and abilities to achieve their fitness goals, mitigate injury, and integrate exercise into activities of daily life while having fun! On a personal note, she loves dance, sports, and baked goods.
Elizabeth Heath
Certified Personal Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist
El Camino YMCA
Elizabeth has spent over 20 years in the health and wellness field helping her clients become more comfortable in their bodies, with a special focus on those who struggle with high stress, chronic pain, or chronic illness. Beginning her career in Massage Therapy she found that movement was the most powerful medicine and expanded into teaching Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and corrective exercise. Her goal is to help her clients maintain health and fitness for life by improving ease of movement, balance, posture, and mobility.
Patti Miller
Certified Personal Trainer, Adaptive Fitness Therapist
El Camino YMCA
Patti is a seasoned personal trainer, adaptive fitness therapist, post & pre-rehab water therapist, balance specialist and Feldenkrais practitioner. She has a gentle, therapeutic approach to meeting fitness goals and specializes in stroke victims, herniated or ruptured lumbar discs, sciatica, shoulder replacement, knee replacement, hip replacement, and posture and balance. Patti is your physical therapist’s best friend. On a personal note, she is a former dancer, cheerleader, soccer player and marathon runner.
Laura Norris
Functional Health Coach
El Camino YMCA
Laura is an ADAPT Functional health coach (A-CFHC) and supports clients in reaching their health and wellness goals by tapping into their strengths, values and overall vision. When it comes to health and wellness, many people often know WHAT to do. They just need some extra help on HOW to do it. Using motivational interviewing, positive psychology and the stages of change, Laura listens and supports individuals along their journey (wherever that is) in taking those small steps to create bigger, more long-lasting changes. Laura has been a group fitness instructor since 2004, teaching cardio dance, Les Mills Body Attack and U-JAM Fitness. Laura enjoys meeting new clients and is often inspired hearing their stories and learning from them as well. She looks forward to working with you.
Lisa Schouten
Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Lisa is a certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist. She specializes in functional fitness and rehab fitness and enjoys working with seniors, people with chronic illnesses, and people with aches and pains from living. Lisa works collaboratively with her clients to achieve their goals. Her style is to encourage and instruct versus demand and expect. Exercise is her passion and she strives to make it fun (or, at least, less of a chore). She employs a variety of exercise equipment, based on clients' needs, to keep sessions fresh. On a personal note, she loves to travel, run, hike, knit and read.
Brittany Taylor
ACE Certified Personal Trainer, Health & Wellness Director
El Camino YMCA
Brittany is a high-energy trainer passionate about health and wellness. As a previous college athlete and competitive weight lifter, she loves the process of supporting clients through their wellness journey. With a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology, she specializes in sports performance, strength and conditioning, HIIT, circuit training, and youth fitness. She has a passion for physical activity and finding innovative and fun ways to achieve your goals! On a personal note, she coaches girls' basketball and has a cute dog named Creed.
Leslie Young
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Leslie has always been passionate about fitness. Her career started as a Group Fitness Instructor, teaching Les Mills Body Pump (Advanced Certification), Body Attack, and Les Mills Core. This led to becoming a NASM certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist. Her style as a trainer is professional but engaging, and her number one priority is helping clients meet their goals using efficient and creative exercise programs. On a personal note, she loves to cook and bake. Ask her abut the '12 days of baking!'
Philip Zozobrado
ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
El Camino YMCA
Certified trainer and passionate about fitness since 2009, Philip began his professional personal training journey at the YMCA in September 2022. He focuses on helping clients build strength, confidence, and healthier habits in a way that feels approachable and sustainable. As a proud member of the LGBT community and a devoted dog dad, he brings an authentic and supportive energy to every session. On a personal note, Philip is a software engineer and tech enthusiast who grew up around the world as a military brat. Now based in California, he enjoys balancing his love for fitness, technology, and plenty of fun along the way.
Lewis & Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA | East Palo Alto
Northwest YMCA | Cupertino
Alexis Achilleoudis
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Alexis' NASM certifications include corrective exercise, performance enhancement, virtual coaching and nutrition. He specializes in strength/performance training with an emphasis in building overall muscle for clients. Alexis enjoys combining this training style with more intricate circuit/superset training to build toned dense muscles at the same time.
On a personal note, he enjoys taking his parents’ labradoodle for brisk walks.
On a personal note, he enjoys taking his parents’ labradoodle for brisk walks.
George Cheng
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
When you train with George, you'll take time to build a foundation which includes proper core training, proper form in everyday movement and strength training, and calming the nervous system through stretching and Qi Gong, This, in return, gives us a holistic approach to be aware of one's stability, how well you are moving, and how much is too much when it comes to exercise and movement. Available at Northwest YMCA and Southwest YMCA, George specializes in corrective exercises, proper alignment, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and Qi Gong and meditation. On a personal note, George has two cats: one guard cat and one rodent hunter.
Angela Chochon
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Angela is dedicated to helping clients build a solid foundation through workouts focusing on stability and body awareness in order to enhance everyday movement and promote longevity. With a background in wrestling and powerlifting, she specializes in strength training techniques while prioritizing injury prevention and functional movement. Together, we will create a personalized plan that empowers you to achieve your fitness goals and enriches your life inside and outside the gym.
Her approach focuses on exercises that enhance strength and functionality, making everyday movements easier and more efficient. For those interested in powerlifting, she incorporates techniques that develop strength while emphasizing proper form and longevity. Whether you are new to fitness or looking to refine your skills, Angela is committed to creating a supportive and effective training experience that aligns with your goals.
On a personal note, Angela is always outdoors in her spare time, spending summers backpacking and winters skiing.
Her approach focuses on exercises that enhance strength and functionality, making everyday movements easier and more efficient. For those interested in powerlifting, she incorporates techniques that develop strength while emphasizing proper form and longevity. Whether you are new to fitness or looking to refine your skills, Angela is committed to creating a supportive and effective training experience that aligns with your goals.
On a personal note, Angela is always outdoors in her spare time, spending summers backpacking and winters skiing.
Marie Hernandez Alva
ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Marie fell in love with fitness when she did her first weight lifting class in high school. She became a Wellness Coach at the Y shortly after joining and taking boot camp classes. Marie continued her Y career as a Health & Wellness Coordinator before taking a break to start her family. She is back where she is meant to be at the Y; Marie is certified and ready to help members achieve their goals.
Marie's main areas of focus are weight loss, gaining muscle, and creating healthy habits to achieve your goals.
On a personal note, she loves to dance! Future weightlifting class mixed with dancing? Yes!!
Marie's main areas of focus are weight loss, gaining muscle, and creating healthy habits to achieve your goals.
On a personal note, she loves to dance! Future weightlifting class mixed with dancing? Yes!!
Oleksii Holubiev
ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Oleksii is an experienced trainer who has worked with people from all over the world in different countries. He has personal training certifications from Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. Oleksii believes that we must work on our weak zones first, so the body is healthier and more mobile. He prefers using simple effective moves that correspond with the tasks our bodies meet in life. To work with required minimum of muscle work instead of possible maximum level of intensity preached by the fitness industry. We train to live and not live to train. So training has to be reasonable.
Oleksii's areas of focus include weight loss, weight gain, trauma recovery, posture correction, and fun from having a productive training process!
On a personal note, Oleksii's hobbies include basketball, reading, cycling, and gym training.
Oleksii's areas of focus include weight loss, weight gain, trauma recovery, posture correction, and fun from having a productive training process!
On a personal note, Oleksii's hobbies include basketball, reading, cycling, and gym training.
Joni Lindenstruth
NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Joni is an easy-going trainer with a sense of humor. Burpees + Brownies = Life Balance. She has two young kids, so mainly works during the school day. Her expertise is in core training, stretching and TRX. Joni wants to help you meet your fitness goals in a low-key, body-positive environment. Joni's areas of focus include core training, stretching and TRX.
On a personal note, she is also an educator for breastfeeding with Nursing Mothers Counsel.
On a personal note, she is also an educator for breastfeeding with Nursing Mothers Counsel.
Josh Meza
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Joshua's NASM certifications include corrective exercise specialization and performance enhancement specialization. His areas of expertise are in youth sports training, sport specific training, circuit training, cross-training and boxing. He will motivate and encourage you as he educates you in your training.
On a personal note, boxing is a great passion of his, whether it be training, teaching or watching it.
On a personal note, boxing is a great passion of his, whether it be training, teaching or watching it.
Lamar North
ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Lamar grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been training martial arts for the last 16 years, He is a fifth-degree black belt. His areas of focus include sports performance, functional training and tactical training. Lamar's goal is to educate and motivate all his clients to reach their highest potential.
On a personal note, he loves to learn. Currently, he is studying stoic philosophy and psychology.
On a personal note, he loves to learn. Currently, he is studying stoic philosophy and psychology.
Nathan Perkins
ACSM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Nathan has over twenty-five years experience working in the fitness industry. He is a Certified Inclusive Fitness Trainer, has an M.S. in Kinesiology and Doctorate in Education. In addition to working at the YMCA, he is an adapted physical education instructor at a local community college, teaching classes such as strength development, cardiovascular training, and total fitness. He also coaches wheelchair basketball and youth wheelchair sports for community programs in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties and teaches a virtual seated exercise class for individuals with physical disabilities.
Nathan's focus areas include total fitness, strength development, cardiovascular training, core training and flexibility/stretching. On a personal note, his hobbies and interests include working out, going to the beach, indoor rock climbing, pickleball, kayaking, sailing, movies, concerts, listening to music, and reading a good book.
Nathan's focus areas include total fitness, strength development, cardiovascular training, core training and flexibility/stretching. On a personal note, his hobbies and interests include working out, going to the beach, indoor rock climbing, pickleball, kayaking, sailing, movies, concerts, listening to music, and reading a good book.
Ruth Schreiner
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Ruth believes everyone regardless of age or current physical condition should learn to move their body in a way that allows them to maximize range of motion under optimal load/resistance. Ruth has training certifications in pain-free mobility, functional kettlebell, kickboxing and spinning. Pain-free mobility, proper form while lifting, and executing athletic movements are her specialty.
On a personal note, Ruth loves cooking, hanging out with her kids, visiting museums and rock climbing.
On a personal note, Ruth loves cooking, hanging out with her kids, visiting museums and rock climbing.
Matthew Segal
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Matthew believes exercise should be fun. If you are having fun with your workouts, you are more likely to reach your fitness goals. If you work out with Matthew, he will do his best to align your fitness goals to a fun workout program. With NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist and ACE Youth Fitness Specialist certifications, Matthew has expertise in youth strength training, strength training, balance and plyometrics.
On a personal note, Matthew is an avid book reader. Some of his favorite genres include fantasy and science fiction.
On a personal note, Matthew is an avid book reader. Some of his favorite genres include fantasy and science fiction.
Jamie Tsai
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Jamie grew up as a dancer and trained competitively in ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop for 15 years. She is a certified personal trainer through NASM and a certified yoga instructor through CorePower Yoga. Jamie specializes in building strength and muscle through resistance training, and incorporating yoga into her programs to provide optimal range of motion and balance for her clients. She strongly believes that incorporating functional strength training, cardiovascular exercises, and yoga is the trifecta for her client’s long term physical and mental health. Jamie's areas of focus include bodyweight training, resistance training and yoga. Her philosophy as a trainer is to guide her client’s sessions with compassion and kindness, allowing them to build confidence in exercising while working with her. Her #1 goal is to find enjoyable ways of movement that will be sustainable for all of her clients.
On a personal note, she loves to read, travel, bake, spend time with her loved ones, dive into self-development and spirituality, and hike with her mini poodle, Jules!
On a personal note, she loves to read, travel, bake, spend time with her loved ones, dive into self-development and spirituality, and hike with her mini poodle, Jules!
Kyle Will
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Northwest YMCA
Kyle is pursuing a fitness and exercise kinesiology bachelors degree at San Jose State University, He has always had a passion for learning about the human body and how it works. As a trainer, he wants to use his knowledge to help his clients understand how their own body works to achieve results. Kyle's areas of focus include general fitness, balance and flexibility.
On a personal note, Kyle has been studying Shotokan karate for the better part of a decade and will eventually want to pursue teaching this discipline.
On a personal note, Kyle has been studying Shotokan karate for the better part of a decade and will eventually want to pursue teaching this discipline.
Palo Alto Family YMCA | Palo Alto
Juana Navarro
Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor
Palo Alto Family YMCA
Juana has been a Personal Trainer at the Palo Alto YMCA since 1995. Whether you are training for something special or working on your general fitness, she looks forward to working with you to achieve your goals. On a personal note, she loves hiking, spending time with her daughters and grandkids, traveling, dancing, cooking and walking her dog.
Yaser Rawashdeh
ACSM and NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
Palo Alto Family YMCA
Yaser has more than 28 years of experience in health and wellness. His career in physical therapy has focused on clinical sports therapy, strength conditioning, adaptive fitness therapy and sports recreation. Yaser's areas of expertise include weight loss management, full body transformation, core strength, corrective exercise and myofacial release, and Senior Fitness (post recovery, balance, gate, strength and cardiovascular reconditioning). On a personal note, he loves gardening and outdoor recreation.
Ralph Walker
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Palo Alto Family YMCA
Ralph is a single father who understands life and the constant demands that keep us from our fitness goals. He has a very positive mindset, enjoys his job and gives his best at everything. Ralph puts together exercise programs that will best achieve the goals of whomever he is training. Ralph is currently studying nutrition and weight loss, but has extensive knowledge with general fitness and strength training.
On a personal note, Ralph is putting together a workout competition at the nearby park that includes his son selling lemonade and snacks from his lemonade stand, while entertaining everyone else with the competition.
On a personal note, Ralph is putting together a workout competition at the nearby park that includes his son selling lemonade and snacks from his lemonade stand, while entertaining everyone else with the competition.
Terrence Witt
NCSF Certified Personal Trainer
Palo Alto Family YMCA
Terrence loves to help others progress and meet their fitness goals. He specializes in endurance training, free weight, strength training and weight loss. He's trained all different aged clients from ages 12 to 80. On a personal note, Terrence is passionate about sports, especially baseball and football. He is a huge animal lover.
Craig Young
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Palo Alto Family YMCA
Craig has been an avid member of the YMCA community for over a decade. A few years ago, he decided to build upon his interest in fitness and exercise in order to become a certified personal trainer. He hopes to leverage the journey through his own fitness challenges (body composition, strength training, injury/surgery rehab), to help you achieve your fitness goals. On a personal note, Craig is a physics teacher at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto. He'd love to discuss the biomechanics of exercise and the human body, or the latest advances in quantum mechanics if that's more your thing.
Sequoia YMCA | Redwood City
Vyacheslav Goncharuk
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Sequoia YMCA
Slava's areas of focus are weight lifting, building muscle and weight loss training. On a personal note, he likes bicycling, hiking and traveling.
Tina Helmer
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Sequoia YMCA
Tina is a native German who has traveled to and lived in many places. Although she had always been an active person, she used the years of motherhood to thoroughly fall in love with fitness. Her instructor career started with kickboxing, followed by Les Mills BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT and CORE and then Certified Personal Trainer. Tina rounded out her general fitness background with nutrition specialist and restorative exercise certifications.
Tina has three school-aged children so she understand the challenges of being a mom and staying fit. She also speaks three languages fluently (German, English, Spanish) and has thorough knowledge of French, which helps welcome various ethnicities into her workouts. She always makes sure to offer options to cater to various levels of fitness. Let her enthusiasm motivate you to reach your next level of fitness! On a personal note, she loves Spartan races, church, friends and spending time with her children.
Tina has three school-aged children so she understand the challenges of being a mom and staying fit. She also speaks three languages fluently (German, English, Spanish) and has thorough knowledge of French, which helps welcome various ethnicities into her workouts. She always makes sure to offer options to cater to various levels of fitness. Let her enthusiasm motivate you to reach your next level of fitness! On a personal note, she loves Spartan races, church, friends and spending time with her children.
South Valley Family YMCA | San Jose
Chelsea Chan
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
South Valley Family YMCA
Chelsea joined the South Valley Family YMCA as a member in 2018. Her active and regular attendance in group exercise classes inspired her to become a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. Her advocacy for healthy living for life and mental positivity pervades her philosophy for health and wellness. She uniquely designs her clients’ workouts to be safe, effective, and challenging. She strongly believes that a functional strength and resistance program, combined with cardiovascular conditioning and proper recovery, enables an individual to have the tools necessary for long-term physical and mental health. Chelsea will guide, encourage, and motivate you to achieve your fitness goals. On a personal note, she enjoys nature and exploring new places, especially hiking trails, with her family.
Pete Gradowski
NCEP Certified Personal Trainer
South Valley Family YMCA
Having been a "heavy" kid through high school, Pete needed a turn around and tried many gyms. He relates to and applauds anyone who is trying to better themselves. Personal training can help anyone new to their fitness journey, or help augment the regular gym attendee. Pete specializes in functional fitness. On a personal note, he's been a magician for over 30 years. He enjoys hiking on the weekends with his dog.
Ethan Sunseri
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
South Valley Family YMCA
Ethan started personal training in 2019 to deepen his knowledge of human performance. He has a BS in exercise science and a passion for helping the everyday person achieve a more balanced lifestyle with exercise and movement that will be both enjoyable and long-lasting. Ethan has a background in endurance sports, and played a wide variety of sports growing up. On a personal note, Ethan spends his free time training for triathlons. You'll probably find him in the pool most days of the week.
Steve Taylor
NASM and NCEP Certified Personal Trainer
South Valley Family YMCA
Steve has been a personal trainer since 1998 and loves energizing, educating and empowering people to a higher quality of life, physically and beyond. He particularly likes helping clients understand their body better and how to move in ways that will keep them fit and active. Steve's expertise is in anaerobic resistance training for improving proper movement, mobility, flexibility, power, strength and endurance, as well as injury prevention. On a personal note, he has 5 children and 10 grandchildren that keep him pretty busy. He has coached many sports over 35 years, specializing in Pole Vaulting in track and field.
Southwest YMCA | Saratoga
Gini Bellawala
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Gini has been teaching group exercise for over 25 years and yoga for nearly 10 years. Her emphasis is on proper form, breathwork, core strength, posture, stretching, mental health, holistic healthy living and FUN! Gini's training is designed to help you create exercise and other healthy living habits that will support your well being beyond the one-on-one time together. Her expertise is in posture, facilitated stretching, yoga and green exercise. She incorporates breathwork, meditation and habit creation into training sessions to support both physical and mental health. On a personal note, she loves travel, baking sourdough bread, gardening, spa weekends, massages, horse back riding and dancing.
Adriana Chandler
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Adriana is a bilingual Spanish speaking personal trainer with a professional fitness/ wellness background that spans over 20 years. She trains diverse populations including children, athletes, older adults and special populations, successfully helping them reach wellness goals such as weight loss, athletic performance, and improving quality of life. She brings her passion for movement and physical strength while helping clients foster courage and self confidence within themselves. Adriana caters fitness plans to clients' physical and emotional needs while keeping each session fun and engaging. On a personal note, she runs three miles everyday at 4 am when it is dark and quiet. She loves baking extravagant cookies and brownies to enjoy with different, delicious ice cream flavors.
Octavio Flores-Mendoza
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Tavi is a firm believer that there are endless ways to train effectively. As a trainer it is our job to find the form of training that will not only deliver the desired outcome, but create programming that clients will actually enjoy. Tavi specializes in sports specific and hypertrophy training. On a personal note, he is a fan of wood working and electrical engineering.
Christine Hayes
Southwest YMCA
Christine has been active her whole life, including sprinting, playing basketball and swimming in her youth. She found that lifting weights and pushing her limits made her feel strong not only physically, but also mentally. Her training approach focuses heavily on compound movements at the beginning to make sure her clients know the importance of basics. Then, she adds weights depending on an individual's progress. Increasing in total resting metabolic rate is super important in her workout plan to maintain a long-term health journey. Outside of weight training, which is her passion, Christine loves to try different cuisines, travel, and shopping. She also enjoys singing and listening to music, especially Country music!
Clarence Lau
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Clarence is a recent college graduate who has a passion for fitness. He played football and competed in track & field throughout high school. He is energetic, patient, and knowledgeable when it comes to fitness. Clarence's training areas of focus include hypertrophy, power lifting and isometrics. These are more commonly known as building size, strength and speed. On a personal note, Clarence is a Middle School Science Teacher. He loves watching Anime and sports.
Pam Laughlin
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Pam has over a decade of experience working as a personal trainer. Her clients range from their twenties to ninety years young. Her expertise is in strength, balance, flexibility and functional exercises. Pam is eager to help her clients to improve and feel better while they achieve their goals. On a personal note, she enjoys working in her garden.
Eric Summers
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Eric became a personal trainer in 2019, and has been in corporate fitness for the last 4 years. He has worked with clients ranging from middle school age to 80+ and every one in between. Eric's main objective for all clients is to help you move better, feel better, and gain confidence in your movement abilities. His areas of focus include strength training, mobility & postural positioning, and movement quality. On a personal note, Eric enjoys going to comedy shows and playing disc golf, and he loves sneakers!
Iwona Warraich
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Southwest YMCA
Iwona is a dedicated certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and yoga teacher who uses a combination of low impact, low-intensity resistance, strength, and HIIT training techniques with focus on safety and exercise technique before taking the training to next level. She fell in love with fitness early in herlife, and genuinely enjoy sharing it with others. She loves helping people see and experience what their bodies are capable of with just enough hard work. It does take motivation, determination, and consistency to succeed, and while it may not always be easy, you can be sure that you will eventually look at your body in a whole new light. Besides looking good, more importantly, you will feel better, happier, and more confident. When you feel good, you excel in life.
Iwona's expertise is on safety, optimal technique, injury prevention and stabilization. Consistently modifying exercise routines and training modes for enhancing muscle adaptations leading to improved stabilization, endurance, and muscular hypertrophy. On a personal note, Iwona eats honey and chocolate hazelnut spread with a spoon. Each time she tells herself "I'll have just one," but one spoon always leads to several more with no regrets.
Iwona's expertise is on safety, optimal technique, injury prevention and stabilization. Consistently modifying exercise routines and training modes for enhancing muscle adaptations leading to improved stabilization, endurance, and muscular hypertrophy. On a personal note, Iwona eats honey and chocolate hazelnut spread with a spoon. Each time she tells herself "I'll have just one," but one spoon always leads to several more with no regrets.