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My love for sports started in childhood. I was on the swim team, threw shot-put & discus, played softball and found my ultimate favorite - volleyball. I played volleyball throughout high school and was recruited from Delaware to play for Elon University. Being an athlete I was accustomed to exercise and drawn to studying the abilities of the human body. My degree is in Health Education with a minor in Leisure Sports Management from Elon University. My own experience, interest and education led me to become a personal trainer. After college, a fellow personal trainer and I teamed up to form our own business called FitnessPeak Personal Training. Together, we partnered with corporate wellness centers in RTP to provide one-on-one personal training, fitness seminars and programs that coincided with the company's existing wellness programs.
Rebecca brings over 20 years of experience as a wellness professional and personal trainer. Her passion is helping people adopt a doable, rewarding fitness program that can be continued throughout their live
Just like you, I have a story. One that was life changing for me. I'll be honest, I always enjoyed sports, recreation and well, just living an active lifestyle. That came easy for me and I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I should have. Until 5 years ago. I was expecting my 2nd child and noticed my left knee was in a lot of pain. I figured it was the pregnancy weight and tried to deal with it, limping along. I had my beautiful daughter via c-section and was recovering from that surgery. I tried yoga as soon as I was cleared and noticed more and more problems. Both my knees began to hurt and now both elbows. Yoga definitely requires you to be weight bearing on your elbows! I went directly to the orthopedic doctor and he x-rayed my knees and elbows. He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, you have AVN." I had no idea what that was but I could tell from his expression he felt sorry for me. So I researched it more and discovered it stood for Avascular Necrosis or "bone death." Here is the Mayo Clinic's definition, "Avascular necrosis is the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply. Also called osteonecrosis, it can lead to tiny breaks in the bone and the bone's eventual collapse." My doctor figured that prednisone was the culprit since I had some heavy doses to treat my Ulcerative Colitis four years prior.
I had to come to the realization that I didn't know my body anymore. Little did I know all the surgeries and pain that lie ahead. Starting a span of 4 years in early 2013, I had core decompression on my right knee (they drilled holes in my knee to re-vascularize) and then surgery on both elbows to remove dead bone, bone graft surgery for my left knee (for which I had to wait a year for a donor), and a total hip replacement on my right hip. All the leg-related surgeries required 6-8 weeks non-weight bearing (and no crutches due to my elbows) so I spent quite some time in a wheelchair and wearing immobilizing leg braces. Thank God for my friends and my parents who were able to help out with my 2 young daughters during this difficult time for our family. I lost a lot of muscle and the ability to walk "normal" or without a limp. And of course spent many hours doing physical therapy where I had my scar tissue aggressively massaged, was dry needled and poked. So fun! Ha, ha.. I am grateful though, however difficult it was. The physical therapists and doctors did excellent work and I knew it was my turn to WORK HARD!
I wasn't sure I would be able to do personal training again. It's been a roller coaster ride of emotions and challenges but I did it! I still have some pain but nothing like I did prior, where it hurt to just sit. I no longer take for granted the little things we often just don't think about until it's taken away. The ability to walk or lift groceries out of the car, drive, ride a bike, lift weights, exercise, or most importantly, to be able to play with my kids.
I still am what I call " a work in progress," but aren't we all. :)
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