Melissa Shanes saw the health and fitness industry as a positive step for her career after spending fifteen years as a nurse working with end stage congestive heart failure patients. Today, her passion for helping people comes alive at her fitness club, where she strives to help members improve their health and prevent illness, disease and injury.
MELISSA SHANES HAS BEEN INVOLVED in the health and fitness industry one way or another for over 20 years. During her teen years she started to exercise regularly, became more aware of what she ate, and even experimented with being a vegetarian. As an adult, Melissa worked as a nurse for 15 years, until her passion for fitness became greater than her passion for nursing.
“My favorite part of nursing was teaching patients how to live healthier. I continued to strength train and tried to learn as much as I could from books and trainers at the local YMCA,” she says. Eventually, Melissa decided that she would much rather teach people how to incorporate proper nutrition and exercise into their lifestyle to prevent injury, illness and disease, than continue to spend her days treating patients who were already suffering from a disease or injury. So, she opened Physique Fitness Health & Wellness – a fitness facility in Bedford Heights, Ohio that offers free weights, circuit training, cardio machines, and various classes including yoga and boxing.
The social and creative aspects of fitness are especially appealing to Melissa, and she finds the positive energy that everyone brings to the gym particularly invigorating. “We greet our clients and members by name and introduce them to other people in the club so they feel they are a part of something the minute they walk through the door,” Melissa says. This could be why her clients often wind up becoming friends as well. Melissa has hosted healthy dinner parties for several bariatric members, and has even helped members grocery shop for healthy meal options.
Melissa enjoys creating fitness and nutrition regimens to meet a person’s specific needs for lifelong health and wellness. “I enjoy that each client is a unique individual and I can be creative with his or her nutrition and fitness regimen so it meets their specific needs for lifelong health and wellness,” she says. To do this, she is always trying to learn new things and frequently assesses her own routine, tweaking it in places when necessary to make sure she’s getting what she wants from her workouts.
“Our clients and members see that I live the lifestyle that I teach. They see that I train consistently, and the meals I bring to eat every day. They know that I face some of the same challenges they face and still make a commitment to taking care of myself,” Melissa says. And this commitment has paid off in all aspects of her life. From each day spent helping members at the club, to her amazing and supportive husband and two children, Melissa is definitely on the right track.
NUTRITION: “For me, nutrition is 80% of the health and fitness equation. I always eat within an hour of waking, and then every three or four hours throughout the day. My meals typically consist of lean protein, quality carbs, and some healthy fat. For protein, I eat fish, legumes, and small amounts of chicken breast or white turkey. Carbohydrates include a variety of vegetables, fruits, yams, brown rice, quinoa, oats, and occasionally sprouted bread. Ground flax seed, avocado, olive and walnut oils are my healthy fat staples. I strive to eat foods in their most natural state, and avoid most dairy, eggs, added sugar, sugar substitutes, alcohol and energy drinks. I eat what I know will help me feel good, and supply me with the most energy to support my workouts. I enjoy a small portion of ice cream, frozen soy dessert, or a small piece of quality dark chocolate from time to time. When I enjoy foods and practice portion control, my nutrition is balanced and I know I can maintain this way of eating for the rest of my life.”
FITNESS: “I work out five days per week, taking Wednesday and Sunday off. I rarely repeat the same workout twice. I work in supersets or circuits to keep the pace fast, sometimes combining two or three resistance exercises with jump rope or a plyometric move. Currently, my week looks like this: Monday: Legs/Core/Light Cardio (elliptical or cycle); Tuesday: Chest/Back/Cardio (run 2-3 miles); Wednesday: off; Thursday: Legs/Core; Friday: Biceps/Triceps/ Shoulders/ Cardio (elliptical or cycle 10-12 miles); Saturday: Cardio (cycle to track, run 2 miles, sprint 100 Meters 4-6 times, cycle back)/Core; Sunday: off. I also do yoga at home on off days and mini sessions when I can.”
MOTIVATION: “If people can see in me what I am trying to teach them, I know I am doing the right things for myself and motivating them to be healthier at the same time.”
PHILOSOPHY: “I want a workout regimen that evolves with me so I can maintain it for life – I’m not interested in crash dieting for a special event.”
HEROES: “The real heroes to me are the average people who show up at the gym, go into their basements to work out, or put on their running shoes regularly. They are not striving for perfection, they are striving to be a little better every day. When people face the challenges of everyday life without using them as an excuse to skip a workout or eat fast food, that is admirable to me. If we take care of ourselves, we are better able to take care of the many people and things we love in our lives.”
