You know us as the people who make you do one more rep. But what do we eat after a workout? What would our mascot be? Who on the team is scary before coffee?
This series lets you get to know us without reading our resumes. We sent our coaches and physical therapist four rounds of questions and asked them to be honest, funny, and a little weird. They delivered.
Meet the contestants:
Garrett McLaughlin. Owner, licensed athletic trainer, running coach, and strength coach. If you’re in Building Better Bones, he’s the one cheering for your latest DEXA scan.
Kaela Frailing, PT, DPT. Our physical therapist and pelvic health specialist. She has run a half marathon and reads more books than the rest of us combined.
Valarie Bader. A personal trainer certified in Pilates, Barre, yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong. She’s also a chef and teaches at Kalamazoo College. We’re not sure when she sleeps.
Jake Luyendyk. An NASM-certified personal trainer who coaches our Monday/Wednesday 5pm Functional Strength & Conditioning class. He’s also a student.
Let’s play.
My go-to warm-up song is…
Garrett: “Victory” by Puff Daddy and The Notorious B.I.G., left over from my high school hockey days.
Kaela: “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. She crossed the finish line of her half marathon to it.
Jake: “Everlong” by Foo Fighters.
Valarie: “Might Not Like Me” by Brynn Elliott.
If I had a workout theme song, it would be…
Garrett: I’ve never been creative enough for these questions… I’ll go with “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore.
Kaela: “I Just Wanna Run” by The Downtown Fiction. Shocking pick from the runner.
Jake: “Till I Collapse” by Eminem.
Valarie: “Barracuda” by Heart.
The exercise I secretly love programming (and clients secretly hate) is…
Garrett: Split squats, which hit strength, stability, and mobility all at once.
Kaela: Single-leg squats.
Jake: Single-leg squat variations.
Valarie: Dead bug presses and crunches with a Swiss ball.
That makes three out of four coaches who chose a one-leg-at-a-time squat. If you’ve trained here, you already know this. They’re sorry. Mostly.
My “I earned this” post-workout meal is…
Garrett: Everything! I don’t think of food as something you earn. I try to eat well when I can and enjoys the occasional/often treat.
Kaela: Pizza. Definitely pizza.
Jake: A dinner box from CoreLife.
Valarie: Anything I ever want to eat. Food is life!
If Pure Movement had a mascot, it would be a…
Garrett: An octopus.
Kaela: A cheetah.
Jake: A polar bear.
Valarie: A hawk!
So a cheetah, a polar bear, a hawk, and an octopus walk into a gym. That’s not a joke. That’s our staff meeting.
My pre-coffee personality can be described as…
Garrett: The same as my post-coffee personality, because I don’t drink coffee.
Kaela: A zombie.
Jake: Quiet.
Valarie: Intimidating. Lol.
We’re still processing that last one.
The most underrated thing in fitness is…
Garrett: Free play! Adults should still hang, jump, skip, crawl, climb, and balance, with no sets, no reps, and no exercise names.
Kaela: Mobility work.
Jake: Sleep and proper nutrition.
Valarie: Alignment, BREATH!!!!!!!, isometric holds, and SLOOOOOWWWWWW movement.
When I’m not at the gym, you can usually find me…
Garrett: With my wife and two boys, both under two years old. We’re usually out in the yard or walking the neighborhood.
Kaela: Reading a book, probably with a coffee.
Jake: Hanging out with friends and family, or doing schoolwork.
Valarie: Feeding the deer, digging in the garden, or teaching at Kalamazoo College.
Want the credentials behind the cheetah, the polar bear, the hawk, and the octopus? Visit our Meet the Team page.
Next up, Round 2: Would You Rather. Find out who would happily throw their phone in a lake, and why two of our coaches couldn’t care less about coffee.