Local Personal Trainer Says Workout Offers Restorative Benefits

     “Hello Cupcake” may not be a typical greeting one might expect when entering a personal training studio. Yet, once you see the bright, friendly smile of the person offering the greeting, you realize that rather than a statement of physical attributes, it is a warm, welcoming gesture on the part of personal trainer Anika Porter.

   That initial warmth is a first step in knowing that you have come to the right place to achieve weight loss or fitness goals. Fitness with Anika opened last April in its new location at 612 North and South Rd., in University City. The studio fits well within the family-friendly neighborhood that is lined with a number of small businesses, eateries and shops. Prior to its move, the studio had been located on Washington Ave. in midtown St. Louis.

    Porter says she specializes in the “curvy” woman. “I’m a curvy woman,” she says. “I recognize that not everyone is meant to be model-sized; bone structure and genetics don’t allow it. Just because you have curves, it doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy.”

    Porter helps clients drop barriers to fitness. “I have clients ranging from size 2 to 20. Regardless of your age or size, I offer a place for restoration of spirit. Women have enough stress in their lives. Here, we say the truth of who we are as women and offer practical steps for achieving a renewal of spirit.”

    Porter offers personal and small group training and incorporates a weight loss program for meeting individual goals. The studio is equipped with free weights, bosu balls, the TRX Suspension Trainer system, boxing bags, steps and weighted hula-hoops. She mixes weight training with cardio workouts. On any given day, she can be spotted leading devotees on a run around the neighborhood. “I build everybody up to increasing their endurance. And yes, we run. It’s all about increasing our cardio vascular and endurance levels. And through incremental steps, you can increase your self-worth and self-value by looking and feeling your best,” she says.

    One of her clients, Brooke, had the ambition of running a half-marathon. After six months of training, she achieved an incredible amount of weight loss and has since completed two half-marathons. “When I started working out with Anika, I was a size 14; now I’m a size 4,” Brooke says. “Anika helped me begin my fitness journey, change my eating habits, and develop a plan I could stick to in order to become successful.”

    Another client, Trina, lost more than 100 pounds and went from a size 24 to a trim10/12. She is studying to be a trainer. Porter says clients’ goals are as varied as are their lives. Some are students, homemakers, professionals, and “they are great and powerful women and men accomplishing some amazing results,” Porter says.

    Porter, a master trainer, has more than 10,000 hours of fitness training in her 20-year career. She has conducted fitness sessions for some of the area’s largest corporations, including Monsanto, Wells Fargo, and Anheuser-Busch; organized a fitness challenge for Washington University students; and was invited to lead exercise sessions for the St. Louis Business Journal Women’s Conferences in 2010 and 2011.

    By now, that new year weight-loss resolution may have been forgotten. Self-esteem, self-worth and finding a place for positive, restorative affirmations are not just for a season. Fitness with Anika offers a supportive environment where fitness goals can be met. For more Fitness with Anika information, call 314.226.5985; email anika@fitnesswithanika.com, visit fitnesswithanika.com or join the fitness conversation on Facebook.