2020 Fittest Loser Challenge: Push Fitness trainers share secrets to staying in shape and healthy – Chicago Daily Herald
The Push Fitness trainers are known for helping Fittest Loser contestants achieve amazing results. They help clients make life-changing diet and exercise choices every day. But have you ever wondered how they stay healthy themselves?
This week, the trainers share how they stay committed to a healthy lifestyle, even in the face of adversity.
Joshua Steckler
If Joshua Steckler misses a workout, he just doesn’t feel like himself. As a husband, a father and the owner of Push Fitness in Schaumburg, making time for his personal workouts can be challenging, but it doesn’t stop him from following through on his commitment to a healthy lifestyle.
He now makes a habit of scheduling his workouts every week to ensure he gets them in. Steckler works out six days a week, focusing mostly on total body strength training as well as moderate- to high-intensity cardio. He enjoys incorporating dead lifts, squats, pullups, overhead presses and planking movements into his routines, as well as rowing, biking and running. Most of his workouts are in the gym, but he said he never misses a chance to get outside when he can.
Joshua Steckler enjoys when his sons, Tristan, Preston and Dawson, hang out with him at his gym, Push Fitness in Schaumburg. – Courtesy of Joshua Steckler
Steckler, who is training Daily Herald writer Dick Quagliano, drinks about a gallon of water a day and his typical eating plan includes lots of fresh meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits and nuts, as well as a few protein shakes throughout the day. He avoids gluten and dairy because of an intolerance to both and stays clear of processed foods and sugary drinks.
Steckler, who has personal training certifications through the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Academy of Sports Medicine, has been working out since he was 14, so his healthy habits are pretty set. If it’s ever challenging to squeeze a workout in, wanting to keep up with his boys as he gets older and setting a good example for them is highly motivating.
He said his sons love coming by Push Fitness to work out with their dad. Steckler makes it fun and engaging by turning their time in the studio into a game or competition.
“My wife and I share the same values with exercise and nutrition, and we’ve taught our boys the importance of eating well and staying active, so practicing what we preach is very important,” Steckler said.
2020 Daily Herald Fittest Loser trainer Steve Amsden at Push Fitness in Schaumburg. – John Starks | Staff Photographer Steve Amsden
If Steve Amsden isn’t thinking about quitting while working out, then he’s not working hard enough. For Amsden, being uncomfortable, and oftentimes miserable, in the midst of a workout or run is extremely important to his training.
“It’s easy to do what is comfortable or what you like. The hard thing is doing what you don’t want to do, when you don’t want to do it,” said Amsden. “I find it builds character, mental toughness and a sense of satisfaction that is rivaled by few other avenues.”
Amsden’s workouts vary depending on the goals and challenges he’s set for himself. On non-strength training days he’ll run five or more miles. He incorporates all the staples — pushups, pullups, squats, dead lifts, shoulder presses and plyometrics — into his routine.
“I’ll set specific goals around doing a certain number of pullups and pushups in a row or even a specific number of reps in a workout,” Amsden said. “Choosing higher volume — more sets and reps of the same exercises — is another way to challenge my mental toughness.”
Instead of relying on motivation, which Amsden said is unreliable and fleeting, to get him through tough workouts, he sets lofty goals, tells a few people about them for accountability sake, and then works out even when he doesn’t feel like it.
“Without goals, you don’t have a reason to train hard, which can lead to monotony. That in turn leads to less drive and motivation to train,” said Amsden, who is training contestant Jennifere Lux.
Whether he is striving to run a certain distance in a certain time, jump higher or pass the Army physical test at the same standard he was held to as a 19-year-old recruit, a lofty goal is never far out of reach.
Amsden, a NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist and American Council on Exercise (ACE)-certified Personal Trainer, said roadblocks and real or manufactured excuses are always present when trying to achieve a new goal or form new habits, but the key is to “suck it up” and move forward anyway.
“It’s fine to have bad days here and there, but the difference between success and failure is getting up the next day, and starting again. It’s allowing days and weeks to go by before getting back on it. That halts our progress,” he said.
His advice? If you do fall off the wagon, acknowledge the slip and hit it hard the next day.
2020 Daily Herald Fittest Loser trainer Michelle Jeeninga at Push Fitness in Schaumburg. – John Starks | Staff Photographer Michelle Jeeninga
ACE-certified personal trainer Michelle Jeeninga uses every spare minute in her day to work toward maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She lives over an hour away from Push Fitness, so she rises at 1:30 a.m. to hit the gym by 3 a.m. to get her workout in prior to seeing her first client. Her workouts consist of five days of strength training plus running 30 miles each week. She’s always changing her weekly strength-training regimen, but said her workouts usually include CrossFit, timed workouts, circuit training, boxing or traditional strength training.
“Some workouts are high reps and low weight or low reps with heavy weight, or just plain killer body-weight exercises to keep my body guessing,” said Jeeninga, who is training contestant Van Dillenkoffer.
Jeeninga follows a high clean fat and protein diet with low carbs. She eats between five and seven meals a day that include items such as a chocolate protein shake for breakfast; salad with chicken, avocado and two tablespoons of olive oil vinaigrette for lunch; string cheese, a pickle, half an avocado or one cup of riced cauliflower for snacks; and eggs and one slice of sharp cheddar cheese for dinner during the week. On the weekends, she enjoys almond pancakes with peanut butter and shrimp taco salad that she makes with fresh pico de gallo, cilantro, scallions and lime for lunch.
Jeeninga stays motivated to lead a healthy lifestyle by constantly trying new workouts, diets and recipes.
“I’m always trying new ways of eating to see how my body reacts,” said Jeeninga. “Naturally, I don’t have a high metabolism. I seriously have to work hard to stay in shape, so I try to stay motivated by trying new things.”
With such a demanding schedule and managing reoccurring injuries, Jeeninga said she’s often hit roadblocks to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. When her injuries flare up, she’ll replace running with the stair mill or rower machines.
Jeeninga also keeps herself accountable by meeting up with a workout partner or running with fellow trainer Nicole Caliva when she lacks motivation to train alone.
Personal trainer Patrick Stille is an avid outdoorsman, which helps him stay in shape. One of his favorite activities is snowboarding. – Courtesy of Patrick Stille Patrick Stille
When Patrick Stille isn’t training his regular clients at Push Fitness or Fittest Loser contestant Barb Simon, you can find this self-described “outdoorsy” trainer taking advantage of good weather to exercise outside.
“In the summer, I love hiking and riding my motorcycle and in the winter I’m an avid snowboarder,” said Stille, who hits the gym seven days a week and has personal training certifications through NASM and ACE.
Stille does yoga once or twice a week and regularly switches up his gym routine. He tends to focus on the traditional powerlifting style of training, meaning his workouts include plenty of squats, dead lifts and various forms of pressing.
“I’ll train a certain muscle group two or three times a week with one day focusing on heavy weight and less reps and one day of lighter weight and more volume,” said Stille.
Stille said his eating plan is a little different from what he might recommend to clients, as he’s trying to put on some weight and muscle. On days he’s in the gym, he eats a high protein and carbohydrate diet consisting of around 4,000 calories split among six meals. On yoga days, he eats about 2,800 calories, consisting of the same amount of protein, but fewer carbs. Stille follows a mainly paleo diet using unrefined carbs such as brown rice, potatoes, oatmeal, fruits and vegetables and lean protein.
Maintaining the motivation to stay healthy is easy for Stille. He knows that everything he loves to do — snowboarding, hiking, sports — is made better by exercise. Last year, a motorcycle accident forced him to spend a month away from the gym and some nerve damage sometimes makes working out a challenge. Stille hasn’t let it stop him from leading a healthy lifestyle and turned to exercise to get back on track. Even though he felt like he was starting from ground zero, he said strength training really helped him heal and come back stronger. His daughter is also a huge motivator.
“I want to be the fun dad who can do all the fun activities with her,” said Stille. “And, when she and her friends have the whole ‘my dad is stronger than your dad’ (discussion), I want to give her solid evidence to back her claim up.”
2020 Daily Herald Fittest Loser trainer Nicole Caliva at Push Fitness in Schaumburg. – John Starks | Staff Photographer Nicole Caliva
ACE-certfied personal trainer Nicole Caliva uses marathons to maintain her motivation to exercise and follow a healthy diet. She’s completed multiple marathons and said training for these races help keep her moving toward a goal.
Caliva, who is training contestant Neil Madden, works out six or seven days a week. Running is always in the mix, but Caliva’s latest workouts have been more focused on lifting heavier weight, which is one of her current goals. Like her fellow trainers, she mixes up her workouts quite often. She and her husband also enjoy doing yoga or mobility abs-stretching on active rest days.
“My husband keeps me motivated because we both love to work out and push ourselves,” said Caliva. “A little workout competition in a marriage never hurt anyone!”
Caliva maintains a consistent nutrition plan, which helps her identify food groups that may have a negative effect on her body. She eats fruit including apples and berries throughout the day and her meals are full of vegetables and lean protein sources.
“I eat a lot of salads with peppers, onions, spinach, carrots and chicken. I also love a good turkey chili,” Caliva said.
Caliva believes in using moderation as a method for healthy eating to avoid feeling deprived or guilty. That said, she enjoys an occasional bowl of popcorn or ice cream.
Like the other trainers, staying healthy and active is just Caliva’s way of life. However, she said there are times when maintaining this lifestyle is challenging. Motivation to be healthy so she can enjoy life with her husband and family keep her going on tougher days. Understanding that the road to good health is a marathon, not a sprint, helps too.
“I think going into living a healthy lifestyle with the mindset that it is a forever thing, not a quick fix, helps. It keeps me going when the workouts seem tough,” said Caliva.