Katie Gray Yoga & Fitness

There is a bit of paperwork that must be filled out prior to any kind of physical activity, particularly for clients who do personal training. Once all their forms are filled out and they are medically cleared for physical activity, there are two different processes the client will go through depending on if they are choosing to do private yoga or personal training. If you are doing private yoga, you will have a yoga session with me where I ask you to follow my lead and go through a specific set of asanas (poses) to watch how your body forms these shapes and any noticeable areas of needed improvement or areas where you excel/show great proficiency. From that point, I will come up with a plan of daily or weekly asana practices that focus on your desired improvement areas whether it be physical areas (core, arm toning), or areas like overall mood elevation and greater relaxation, while emphasizing your stronger areas as well as working on your areas of needed improvement. If they are doing personal training, their first session will be an administration of an ACSM standard fitness test. While there are different ways to administer this test (especially based on clients with special needs), the most basic form is: 1) taking resting heart rate and blood pressure 2) recording height, weight, and using calipers or a fit bit scale to determine total body fat percentage 3) push up test 4) some type of sub-maximal cardio test, like the Rockport walk test or the Queen step test 5) flexibility test using the sit-and-reach box method

Testing these 5 basic areas, along with your filled out forms and a face-to-face conversation/interview about personal training and what your goals and expectations are should give me a better idea of how to plan your workouts and come up with an exercise prescription detailed completely to your body's abilities and what your health and fitness motivation and desires are.

I am an experienced 200 Hr-Certified Yoga Instructor with a Vinyasa Specialization (from Yoga Six Gold Coast Chicago) and Registered Yoga Alliance Teacher (Designation ERYT-200 and YACEP - Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider), with well over 1,000 teaching hours experience. I'm also a Certified Gymnastics Instructor (USA Gymnastics) and Professional Member of USA Gymnastics, and will be finishing my ACSM Personal Trainer Certification this month. In terms of formal education, I have a bachelor of science degree in Biology from Loyola University Chicago.

$75/hour for private yoga instruction and $75/hour for personal training. I have a special for new clients where they can purchase TWO one-hour sessions of yoga, personal training, or one of each for $100 (savings of $50!). I also have a detailed price list for purchases of duo, trio, and quad semi-private lessons, packages of sessions (saves a LOT of money to buy sessions in packages), and large (more than 4 people) group class pricing. Email me if you are interested in that list and I can send you the PDF.

I have always been involved in physical activity and teaching in some form. I was a gymnast from the age of 5-17, then when I retired from the sport, I started working as a gymnastics coach and ballet instructor for over seven years. I discovered yoga about four years ago and fell in love with it and have been practicing ever since then. I became a certified yoga instructor last year and started doing both group and private yoga classes, and now I continue to do those as well as personal training sessions and group fitness classes in downtown high-rise residences.

In both my group and individual classes I have worked with clients who have a wide range of fitness levels and physical abilities, from complete fitness beginners, to athletes looking to enhance performance by increasing flexibility and strength while improving alignment and muscle balance, to older adults looking to prevent or treat arthritis, low back pain, improve posture and reducing the risk of falling. My youngest client is a 3 year old who does private gymnastics classes and my oldest client is 86 who takes part in one of my weekly group fitness classes. I have worked with both male and female clients of all ages and abilities, including ones with illnesses or injuries that I was able to tailor a fitness program to meet their special needs while improving their overall health.

Recently, I was able to teach a class to the housekeeping staff of a hotel, and despite some initial hesitation due to religious beliefs and language barriers (none of them had ever done yoga before), I was happy to see that eventually so many were willing to at least try and participate, and it truly seemed to make an incredible impact on them. It often seems that the people who need yoga the most are the least likely to have access to it, so I found it incredibly rewarding to observe savasana during that class and see the total relaxation and softness come over them and know that no matter what else was going on in their day, at their job, or in their life, they had a few brief moments of peace and meditation for themselves.

I would first look the instructor up online on the official websites for Yoga Alliance, ACSM, NASM, or other similar accredited certifying agencies to make sure they actually have the certifications they are claiming to. After that, I would ask for at least one phone or email reference from a current client asking what they thought of the instructor. I would then either read up on their bio or talk to them on the phone or via email to get an idea/sense of what their training philosophy and style is, and if you think it would be a good fit/match for you.

You should definitely decide beforehand what YOU are looking to get out of the yoga instruction or personal training before seeking out instructors. Write down your thoughts, ideas, goals, and what you think your personal strengths and weaknesses are before even talking to an instructor. That way you have a set list of your expectations beforehand, and start your search from there. Also, put some serious thought about how much time realistically (how many days/wk and hrs/day) you are willing to commit to both training with the instructor AND on your own, and if that amount of time is commesurate with what goals you want to accomplish. I often have seen clients come in at the beginning over-eager and overdo it in the first few weeks, then completely drop off because of burnout, injury, or frustration with not seeing immediate results. It's better to commit to a realistic amount of time and work out with your trainer the best schedule for both of you and that keeps you on a steady track of progression instead of a rollercoaster of highs and lows.