Central Austin Simply Fit

Name: John Cioffredi

Hometown: Lebanon, New Hampshire

When and why did you come to Austin?
I came to Austin in the fall of 2020 because I was looking for a city that valued health and wellness and would allow me to continue to grow as a professional and as a person. Austin has given me the opportunity to do both and so much more!

What is your background? How did you get into personal training?

As a lifelong athlete who competed in track and field at the Division 1 level, I’ve always been fascinated by the capabilities of the human body. This led me to study exercise and movement science in college and enter the field of strength and conditioning. As I developed as a strength coach I realized that in addition to working with athletes I’m passionate about helping a wide variety of people achieve their fitness goals while discovering the joy of movement. This newfound passion ultimately led me to accept a position at Austin Simply Fit as a personal trainer. 

Tell us about your current fitness goals and training. 

I was a high jumper in college and still train competitively. My goal this year is to break my personal record of 6’8” while enjoying every step along the way.

What is the most common fitness myth you work through with your clients?
That lifting weights will always make you “big and bulky”. Lifting can make you big and bulky, slim and fit, and everything in between, it depends on how you train! That’s why it’s important to hire an experienced professional with the knowledge and skills to create an individualized training program to address your specific needs using evidence based research. That’s why I love my job, I get to help people achieve their ideal state of body and mind.

What do you want your clients to take away from each training session with you?

I want my clients to come away from each training session feeling empowered and excited about what their body can do, and to recognize they’re one step closer to achieving their goals.

What sets you apart from other fitness professionals?
My advanced understanding of human anatomy and biomechanics as well as my experience working as a professional in nearly every realm of fitness sets me apart. From athletic performance, to personal training, to group fitness, to functional movement rehabilitation, I’ve got the knowledge and skills to help you achieve your fitness goals, whatever they may be, while having a great time.

Favorite quote and who said it?
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” -Seneca

1. Name  - Meaghan MacLean
2. Hometown - Valencia, California
3. When and why did you come to Austin? - I moved to Austin in February 2020 after spending the last nine years in New York City. I was in search of a slightly slower pace of life and Austin ticked all the boxes!
4. What is your background? How did you get into nutrition? - My background is in fitness and movement, but after years of being sick, dealing with gut and skin issues, and anxiety, I decided to take my health into my own hands and educate myself on holistic healing. This led me down the road to becoming a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. Now my passion is to empower my clients to empower themselves!
5. Tell us about your current fitness goals and training. - Right now I am getting back into Olympic weightlifting after a quarantine hiatus! 
6. What are the most common nutrition myths you work through with your clients? - That there’s only one “right way” with nutrition.
7. What do you want your clients to take away from working with you? - I believe every person has the right to know what their body and mind are capable of in this one life. I want my clients to know they have the power to take control of their own healing. I believe people should be thriving, not just living. 
8. What sets you apart from other nutrition professionals? - I never work with my clients with a “one size fits all” mindset. Everybody has different needs in their nutrition and wellness journey. 
9. What is your favorite thing about Austin Simply Fit? - The entire crew is incredibly knowledgeable, kind, and passionate about changing lives!
10. How do you, personally, define success? - Success is defined by measuring backwards. If we focus on steadily becoming better than we were yesterday, that is success.
11. Favorite quote and who said it? - “We do not rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training” - Archilochus

Darryl Payne, Jr. is a successful Track & Field athlete with a career that began at the age of 8 years old. Early on, an affinity to the sport became very apparent when records were being set and broken. Progressions through the years to his high school career have proven to be extremely successful in setting and currently maintaining the school record in the 300m hurdles, as well as maintaining multiple other stadium records and a Louisiana regional record. Following high school, training began under the revolutionary coach Clyde Hart at Baylor University and alongside Track & Field athletes such as Jeremy Wariner, Reggie Witherspoon and Sanya Richards-Ross.

Currently, training for the 2022 Olympic Games in China, Darryl is excited to be a personal trainer in the growth-encouraging environment that Austin Simply Fit fosters. Personally, it satiates the desire to serve and he seeks to deliver a powerful message on the bounds of human limitations.

Hometown:
Austin, TX

Greatest Health Triumph
After lower my body fat I was able to set a bench press record for my 220 lb weight class at 380 lbs.  It was 15 lbs over my previous best.

Why You Love Your Job
I have a passion to help others. Training gives me the opportunity to help others reach their goals and change their lives for the better. I love being able to help someone work through a previous injury and teach them how they can proactively keep it from happening again.

Sports and Fitness Background
At Lake Travis High School, I was a power lifter, sprinter and played strong safety for my football team. In a game against our rivals, I interception the quarterback and returned it for a touchdown. This sealed the win for my team and helped propel us to the playoffs. Over the last few years I have competed as a powerlifter and hold a state record for bench press.

Favorite Things to do in Austin
I love the summer months when I can soak in the sun by the water. I am a die hard football fan. I love watching my Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns!  I'm also a proud Husky dad.  He keeps me on my toes.

Other Hobbies
I love riding motorcycles, cooking, fine dining, playing sports, movies, concerts, races, and traveling.

John’s Certifications:
NASM Certified Personal Trainer

Training with John:
I put an emphasis on maintaining form and using proper technique in every exercise my clients do.I have experience working with all kinds of lifters, from beginners, to pre and postnatal, and even off-season training for high end athletes.  I love what I do and bring passion into every session.  

Favorite quote:

“Success is rented, it is never owned. And the rent is due everyday.”

Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist

Who do you like training most and how do you train them?
I really enjoy working with people who have made the serious commitment to change their views on their body’s ability. Physical strength breeds mental toughness, my goal is to give people the tools to find and lean into their edge.

What fitness achievement are you most proud of?
I recently deadlifted a car at a strongman competition, but that’s nothing compared to what’s on the horizon for me.

Why did you become a personal trainer?
I’m competitive by nature, and I came to fitness largely as a way to stop all of the curling in the squat rack that my college friends were doing. Initially I focused on the aesthetic rewards, but form follows function and I fell in love with the feeling of putting more weight on the bar. I found that the strength I was cultivating was not only physical but mental.

On moving to Austin, I took up a job at a physical therapy clinic. Being participant in a patient’s return to normal function highlighted the power physical ability can give a person, I chose to move into fitness as a way to support that journey. Recently I was certified as a Functional Range Conditioning mobility specialist. I like to this of this as the way to bridge the gap between rehab and training and am already seeing the benefits with my clients.

Sierra Nevels is the Director of Strength & Conditioning/Athletic Performance and Certfied Personal Trainer for Austin Simply Fit. Sierra not only works with athletes , she works with the general population, the weekend warriors, strength compeitiors, and anyone aspiring to improve overall Health & Fitness.

She has previously spent years and countless hours of coaching experience in the collegiate setting with different types of athletes and sports (Women’s Basketball, Women’s Rowing, Swimming and Dive, and Baseball) at The University of Texas serving under very respectful coaches at within the Strength & Conditioning field.

Her knowledge base has expanded enormously as her passion and drive for enhancing athletes potential, both mentally and physically, she decided to take initiative to build her own brand with hopes of building a premier Speed, Strength, and Conditioning facility for High School and Collegiate athletes in Austin and the surrounding areas. Sierra’s main sport and responsibility during her stint at Texas were with The Women’s Basketball Team. Sierra was also responsible for assisting the Head Strength coach with the implementation of the yearly periodized performance plan for The Women’s Basketball Team, and directly responsible for daily tracking, analyzing, and reporting various performance markers via Polar Team Pro Heart Rate Monitor & GPS System, OmegaWave, Catapult, and Vert. She was also responsible for Wellness Questionnaire and RPE tracking, and responsible for teaching and educating incoming/returning student-athletes and new interns on proper lifting and coaching technique, and directly responsible for red-shirts. Sierra has had the opportunity to work under Legendary Basketball Coaches in the Professional & Collegiate setting , she has also worked with the Hall of Fame WNBA legend Tina Thompson , along with numerous current and past professional athletes.

As Director, Coach Nevels aims to continue to educate, both mentally and physically, and to prepare High School athletes for Collegiate play, and to prepare Collegiate athletes for their return back to their university.  As once a collegiate athlete herself, Sierra has always had a passion for being physically prepared for the game of play. Her passion and her coaching mentality continue to inspire her to prepare her athletes to also be the best they can be not only on the field/court but in life as future Men and Women in our society today.

Hometown: Born in Dallas, Texas. Grew up in Alton, Illinois.

When and why did you come to Austin?
February of 2020! I needed to make a drastic life change and chose Austin!

What is your background? How did you get into personal training?
I’ve been seriously lifting and competing in powerlifting and now strongman for over 13 years. Friends and then strangers kept asking me questions about workouts and programming throughout the years and I realized that with my education and continuing my education I could turn my passion into my career. I’ve been training as a career for almost 6 years. 

Tell us about your current fitness goals and training.
My current fitness goals are to continue building my strength, dive back into competing in strongman, and get back down to the weight I was when I played baseball in college. 

What is the most common fitness myth that you work through with your clients?
Women believing the myth of getting bulking or looking ‘manly’ if they lift weights and men believing they have to be sore for it to count as a good training session.

What do you want your clients to take away from each training session with you?
My goal is to have them leave each session stronger than they were at the beginning of it. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. You’ll be exhausted, but I want everyone to walk out feeling great about themselves and strong in every sense of that word. 

What sets you apart from other fitness professionals?
My adaptability and the fact that I never give up or lose faith in a client. Even if you’re down and don’t believe in yourself in that moment or period of time, I do. I will, and I’ll be pushing you the entire time while you reach your goals. 

What is your favorite thing about Austin Simply Fit?
The team of trainers. I wouldn’t have moved to Austin from Illinois and given up owning my own gym if I didn’t know that my now fellow trainers weren’t all caring, professional, and just as committed to helping others as I am. It truly feels like a family and that only drives us all to be better inside and outside of the gym.

Favorite quote and who said it?
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” – Mark Twain

Name  

David Stogsdill

Hometown 

Lawrence, Kansas

When and why did you come to Austin?

After living and working in New York City for the last 10 years, I moved to Austin in March 2020 looking for a change of pace, more live music, and breakfast tacos. 

What is your background? How did you get into personal training?

I grew up playing soccer, but never really found strength training interesting until I started CrossFit in 2011. It then became clear that fitness was a collection of many different athletic abilities such as Strength, Coordination, Mobility, Balance, Stamina, etc. Once I realized the endless possibilities of what training different modalities could provide, I quickly became obsessed with learning and sharing this information with others. I have always had a passion to serve others, and developing and teaching the skills and knowledge to help people move better, get out of pain, and achieve skills they never thought possible are what get me fired up!

Tell us about your current fitness goals and training. 

I’m working on narrowing the gap of my strength imbalances, while still maintaining my skill work on gymnastics and Olympic Weightlifting. Long-term, I want to handstand walk with my grandkids.

What is the most common fitness myth you work through with your clients?

The misunderstanding that pain is normal as you age or as we age our bodies inevitably start to fall apart. We’ve all heard them...“Everything hurts, Don’t get old” “My knees always hurt, getting old sucks.” I firmly believe that movement is medicine and an intelligent, intentional program design can allow for continuous growth and progress throughout life. It’s never too late!

What do you want your clients to take away from each training session with you?

I aim to educate my clients about the difference between exercise and training. I want my clients to learn as they move, get inquisitive with the WHY of fitness, and challenge the beliefs they have about what is possible. I aim to leave my clients excited about what they accomplished as well as what is to come!

What sets you apart from other fitness professionals? 

I am able to meet clients where they are at. Training is not a one-size fits all scenario and understanding and relating to where clients are, both in life and in their training process, is essential to develop a program that serves them. I’m fascinated by how the body moves, how pain presents itself in the body, and how to develop well-rounded training to build better balanced bodies that wouldn’t hurt in the first place.

How do you, personally, define success?

Success is all about mindset. Cultivating an open and optimistic mindset, rather than putting limits on what we can or cannot do in life, allows for us to grow far beyond what we thought possible.

Favorite quote and who said it? 

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

-Henry Ford

What is your background? How did you get into personal training?

I practiced Kung Fu for 13 years growing up. Then I went to college and was quickly introduced to the freshman 15 (and then some) in all its glory. I gained weight, horrible eating habits, and a list of insecurities. My “doing something about it” was an extremely low-carb diet and pinterest workouts in my dorm because I was too embarrassed to go to the gym.

Everything changed when I started implementing small habits that compounded over time. I found myself spending more time in the gym and healing my relationship with food. Instead of doing my workout in my dorm, I spent 15 minutes on the elliptical and then ran upstairs to do my workout before I was comfortable enough to do it in the gym. The first nutrition habit I changed was dipping my fork in dressing before each bite rather than dumping all the ranch on my salad. These small victories made me successful and allowed me to take bigger risks outside of my comfort zone. 

Teaching was my dream forever, so when the thought of being a trainer came to mind in college I quickly brushed it away. I finished my degree, graduated, and started teaching. I became more serious about my training and have continued to see the positive effects in other areas of my life. I got certified in order to help others feel as confident and powerful as I do. I saw my life transform in the gym and want to help others change their lives too.

Tell us about your current fitness goals and training.

First and foremost, my fitness goals are to stay healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. My goal is to intentionally move my body everyday, while increasing strength and building muscle. My goals and training will soon be more targeted as I start preparation for my first physique competition in late 2021! 

What is the most common fitness myth you work through with your clients?

“Lifting weights makes you bulky.” Wrong - lifting makes you strong, and strong is beautiful! No matter what someone’s fitness goals are, strength training is a critical component to the recipe for success. Lifting is empowering!

What do you want your clients to take away from each training session with you?

I want my clients to feel stronger and more capable than they ever thought possible. We will work hard, push limits and have fun. My 4th graders know they are imparable, or unstoppable, and I want my clients to feel the same. 

What sets you apart from other fitness professionals? My teaching experience has provided a unique perspective on setting and achieving goals. I understand that everyone has different areas that “glow” and areas where they can “grow”, and that may not be shown directly on paper. As a coach, it’s my responsibility and pleasure to guide people from where they are to where they want to go. Fitness (just like education) isn’t one size fits all, and my experience as a teacher and technical knowledge of training compliment each other and make me a unique trainer.

Kimi Adeigbe

Hometown - Austin Texas

-What is your background? How did you get into personal training? Military Veteran turned Wellness Entrepreneur. I started by getting my own results with Herbalife Nutrition 5 years ago and coaching others through fit camps and online group challenges. I decided to hone in on my craft and add additional knowledge to the fitness side of my business. I loved what I was learning in my CPT course so took it a step forward and began personal training. 

-Tell us about your current fitness goals and training. - My goals are to prevent injuries and strengthen my weakness from many years of wear and tear. I’ve solely been focused on rehabbing my left shoulder after waking up to it being dislocated 2 years ago. Perfecting form, getting stronger and feeling good.

-What is the most common fitness myth you work through with your clients? Spot reduction of fat. (toning and losing their stomach but keeping their butts) 

-What do you want your clients to take away from each training session with you? If we get stronger physically and mentally each session while having fun and actually enjoying the session, I’ve done my part in making your day, week, month, year, life that much better. 

-What sets you apart from other fitness professionals? I enjoy the small wins and will point them out to my clients every time. They may not have felt like working out today but if they made it to their session, that's a win. I am committed to my personal growth in my personal and professional life to add value to the client. 

-Favorite quote and who said it? - “How you do anything is how you do everything” - Simon Sinek (from buddhist teachings)

-If you had a super power what would it be? My super power would be to transport. I love traveling and seeing what the world has to offer but time isn’t always on my side. I want to transport and travel the world. Magic carpet would be nice too. Hehe