THE START OF A NEW YEAR can be a catalyst for change for many people. Some people are determined to lead healthier, stress-free lives by exercising, changing their diets and enjoying life.
Fitness specialist, nutrition coach and personal trainer Renee Crichlow is there to help both men and women, although she focuses on the latter.
From her days at primary school right up to university, the owner of REAC Fitness has always tried to remain fit and active. It was during a summer internship that she got the idea to start her own fitness business for pregnant women.
“I like working out and I was thinking that when I get pregnant I would have to stop. I did some research and I realised that women can exercise through pregnancy and that’s when it all started.
“I only got certified about two years ago, around 2011 or 2012, for dancing ahead during pregnancy. Prior to that I had certification from the American College of Sports Medicine to be a certified personal trainer,” she told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY.
Working primarily with women, whether it is the prenatal Mum-mes 2 B classes, post natal After Baby, the danced-based Rhythm Par-Tay, or nutritional coaching, Crichlow said through her various programmes she is giving back to the community.
“Growing up around females and hearing the stereotype about how the body should look, the media are not helping either, then they are a lot of women who struggle and do need help. I don’t just provide fitness; it goes beyond that and a lot of my clients say it is more of a family-based environment where they can share anything that is going on with them and I’m there to help them.
“I really like helping people to get to better points in life because everybody struggles and we all need help,” she said.
While she does not have her own studio she is working towards this. She conducted outdoor classes at Browne’s Beach for a couple of months but then decided to move but “finding a location on my budget was not easy”.
It was daunting but she never gave up and moved around a lot before teaming up with a former mentor at his studio. They had to relocate from there too but have since opened at the Aquatic Centre.
Crichlow’s classes tend to be smaller and she offers small group training, individual and group nutrition training, having obtained her precision nutrition certification. One of the more recent offerings was a three month programme started last summer which had four people.
“All of them have learnt so much from that, especially the nutrition aspect. I never gave them a meal plan to do. I would always give them lessons such as what is protein, what is carbohydrates, what are the good fats, how you would make this particular diet better, etc.
“One of the participants said not only was she able to change her eating habits but she was able to change her mindset and she is not as aggressive or upset about things that happened to her in the past. Going through the programme and talking to the other ladies she was able to release a lot of those things and she was a better person.
“Not only do I transform your physical [state] through exercise and nutrition but I also transform your mental aspect as well,” she said.
The fitness trainer intends to offer lifestyle coaching later this year after recognising that sometimes there are stumbling blocks preventing people from achieving their goals.
“Sometimes there are things your body perceives as a threat and you go directly into threat mode; you would never get to the goals that you’re looking for and every day you are a different person. One day I might be happy and chirpy, the next I might be depressed and changing my mind about different things. This is one thing that I really want to push because sometimes people just want to talk about different things.
“Sometimes when you’re drilling down to help people come up with a solution, it’s not about me telling them they should do this, or they should do that because they’re going to back off and going to fight, flight or freeze and you don’t want to that. This is one of the things I really want to expand on,” she said. (Green Bananas Media)