Clients In The Spotlight: Eden & Michael Sosa

We love to celebrate our clients at Fitness Quest 10. Check out the story of our clients Eden & Michael Sosa in our latest edition of clients in the spotlight.

What is a quote you live by?

Michael: “Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford
Eden: “Strong is the new skinny.”

What brought you into Fitness Quest 10?

Michael: Eden brought me to FQ10.
Eden: I was heavy most of my life but remained active even playing varsity volleyball in high school. Hard to believe, right? I was the short, defensive specialist who could get to the ball quickly. But after graduating college and business school, my sedentary work lifestyle came to a head and I was the heaviest I had ever been. I didn’t realize how much it had impacted me until I found myself shying away from pictures. I didn’t like the way I looked nor how I felt, and what I was really shying away from was myself.

My (real) fitness journey began in 2012. Like everyone else, I made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. I started a diet program, I watched what I ate and the first few pounds just seemed to drop effortlessly. But I knew I had to factor exercise into the equation to achieve further success. I researched local gyms and found Fitness Quest 10. I was so impressed but far too intimidated not having done any serious physical activity in years. I couldn’t imagine myself even walking into a gym where they train athletes like Drew Brees! The timing wasn’t quite right then.

I started slow and worked with a trainer in a big box gym who had me stretch for the first week (that’s all I was capable of) and then graduated to focus on big, compound lifts like squats, deadlifts (my personal record before coming to Fitness Quest 10 was 215 pounds!), overhead and bench presses. After five months of working together my trainer relocated to Chicago, and I was a girl without a trainer and a gym. I felt abandoned, but he told me it was time and I was ready to revisit Fitness Quest 10.

So I made the next step in my fitness journey into Fitness Quest 10 and it was like coming home. My first visit went so perfectly from Jeff Bristol’s genuine, friendly smile welcoming me, to the silver haired foxy couple who stopped their workout to ask me if I was interested and joining the gym and then proceeded to give praises of the people and the place, to Julie Wilcox taking the time to learn about me and my fitness history and goals, to meeting the Todd Durkin, to finding my awesome trainer Charleston DeLa Cruz  – it was almost like it was staged. But after days, weeks, and months, I experience that same feeling of coming home time and time again. There’s a sense of belonging at Fitness Quest 10.

What do you enjoy most about Fitness Quest 10?
Michael: I enjoy the persistent positive nature, how the gym promotes competition but you only compete with yourself in terms of what you can do.
Eden: On top of the atmosphere of real, hard work and fun subverting the pretension and confusion common in a traditional gym, what I enjoy most about Fitness Quest 10 is working with Charleston. I thought Charleston and I were kindred spirits bonded by our shared love of Filipino food and Tupac Shakur, but it extends further than that to the work he puts in and gets out of me in each and every session. Charleston recognizes my challenges, pushes me beyond my self-imposed limits, and achieves results. I’ve seen him work with clients of all levels, ages, and backgrounds, and it speaks to his innate ability to truly connect and engage. He is a world-class professional who helps me master skills, keeps our workouts fresh introducing new exercises, and always has me leaving the gym panting, “That was a good workout!”

What are some health and fitness goals you have achieved since training here?

Michael: A better frame of mind to tackle every day. Reading “Think And Grow Rich” from Napoleon Hill (recommended by Todd) has been fun.
Eden: I like to brag that my biggest accomplishment other than losing over 90 pounds is having pushed a prowler with 180 pounds of plates AND Charleston sitting on it for reps! But the biggest goal I’ve achieved since I’ve been at Fitness Quest 10 is a renewed sense of independence and confidence. I no longer shy away from pictures nor myself. I feel like I can do anything from lifting a futon onto a cart at Costco (that’s functional fitness, right?) to doing a 15 mile midnight bicycle ride shortly after learning how to ride a bicycle to zip-lining in Mexico.
 
What is your favorite exercise?

Michael: Bench press but really pogo hops.
Eden: I like ladder runs, battle ropes, or any exercise that Charleston says, “Just one more set and then we stretch.”

A Note From Eden & Michael’s Trainer Charleston DeLaCruz

Eden and Michael Sosa will literally run through a wall for me if I told them it would add 30lbs to their squat. Yes! they really would! Eden and Michael are an amazing couple to work with, and they definitely trust their trainer. They are a very coachable, encouraging, positive and caring couple that works together as a team. They push and motivate each other through the greatest of obstacles in and out of the gym. You can see their enthusiasm in each and every workout. Their A-game is brought into the gym and by the end of the workout nothing is left behind. You can tell they are all in every time, you can’t ask for much more as a coach. I am proud to be Eden and Michael Sosa’s trainer! — Charleston DeLaCruz FQ10 Trainer