Ebensburg native and certified trainer writes book to help people with concerns about getting in shape
Apr. 18—Certified trainer Kim Lloyd designed an online workout program a while ago for an acquaintance, using video clips and written information.
The woman, feeling overwhelmed, contacted her about two weeks later with concerns.
Lloyd humorously recalls some of her client's questions about going to the gym:
—"Do I have to break into the boy area? Because it seems like the boy area requires you to carry some sort of jug of blue liquid, and, if that's the case, I will do it."
—"I don't know how to use the cable machine. Is this a thing?"
Lloyd said: "She just basically highlighted all of the things that were really hard about trying to figure it out — things that, if we were training in person, I could have absolutely helped her with this.
"So she fired me, basically, in the nicest way possible, and so I thought, 'Well, what would it look like if I did everything I could to solve all of her questions and concerns? What would it look like?' and so that's what I started to do."
The lost client provided the impetus for Lloyd, an Ebensburg native and 1995 Central Cambria High School graduate, to write her new book — "Start Where You Are: A Beginner's Guide to Lifting Weight and Feeling Great."
The book, available on Amazon.com, provides training tips, ranging from understanding why a person wants to begin working out to gym etiquette. It is geared toward women, but could also benefit men.
Lloyd said her client's feedback provided a good reminder of a beginner's perspective.
"It's easy to forget some of the barriers that you deal with, which is feeling intimidated or feeling like you're going to look stupid," Lloyd said. "It's hard to know what to do with a dumbbell other than endless curls. You don't know where things live in a gym. You don't know what the rules are in gyms. You just forget about all these things until you have somebody who's brand-new and you kind of try to see it through their eyes."
The lessons are intermixed with humorous sidebars, including "Life is too short to drink black coffee: A lesson in priorities," "Soreness and injuries: When you wake up walking like John Wayne" and "Take a sledgehammer to your scale."
"There's a lot of personal stories in there because that's how I felt like I could best connect with people," said Lloyd, who now lives in Maine. "That's what people seem to like about my writing style. It was a distinct voice."
Putting together the book enabled Lloyd to combine two of her passions — writing and athletics.
Lloyd was a standout softball player at Central Cambria. She holds a master's degree in sports leadership from Northeastern University and is a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and a certified level one nutrition coach through Precision Nutrition.
Her writing career includes a stint as a reporter with Mainline Newspapers. She also writes a blog — kimlloydfitness.com.
"It's been really nice to be able to find a home for two things that I really enjoy and, hopefully, something that provides some value to people somewhere," Lloyd said.
