Job closing opens opportunity for E. Cooper fitness trainer

Tina Whetzel, owner of EatFit LiveFit + CrossFit in Park West, says her clients cry together, laugh together and grow stronger together.

CrossFit is not about being skinny or being a shape, it's about being strong, Whetzel said.

When the company Whetzel worked for, a mortgage firm, closed in March 2009, she said it pushed her to become who she always wanted to be: a teacher and a trainer. She does both through CrossFit, coaching her clients through workouts and teaching them about proper nutrition.

The grueling workouts are popular among military and law enforcement officers, but Whetzel scales the exercises to all ages and levels of fitness.

Children and even her own 73-year-old grandmother have taken a class.

In a recent morning workout, participants focused on their lower bodies with box jumping, a leap from the floor to the top of a box, then dropped to the floor for a push-up, and took turns doing various exercises on a pull-up bar.

Most of the exercises mimic the movements that people would use in their everyday lives, such as squatting, Whetzel said. Everyone needs to sit down or lift things over their heads. But curl-ups? She mimicked lifting a dumbbell. How many times does someone do that in a day, she asked.

The exercise has helped to eliminate knee pain, back problems and shoulder pain, she said.

"It prepares you for anything," she said.

Whetzel coaches people through workouts and works out on her own.

She grew up in Pennsylvania, taking part in many high school sports, but said she went through a "fat" stage in her 20s until she finally decided to get fit through healthy eating and exercise.

Whetzel will share some of her knowledge through an information session called the "ABCs of Nutrition" 6-7 p.m. Sept. 8 at her studio, 1118 Park West Blvd., Mount Pleasant. The session is free.

For information, visit www.eatfitlivefit.com.

Reach Jessica Miller at 937-5921 or jmiller@postandcourier.com.