Personal Trainer &  Aging Strong Coach

(517) 290-0305 *

deepersists@gmail.com 

 Face/Insta #persistfit  

Asheville, North Carolina. 

Virtual/Remote Available  

*What is with the (517) area code?  I am from Michigan!  My wife and I moved to Asheville in 2022.

Strength & Conditioning for Everyone

Personalized fitness and wellness services designed to help you build strength, preserve muscle, move confidently, and stay active throughout life.

Areas of Focus

• Strength & Conditioning for all ages and fitness levels

• Senior Fitness & Wellness

• Exercise support for medical and orthopedic considerations within the scope of personal training

• Nutrition Education to support fitness and wellness goals

• Fitness and performance assessments with ongoing progress tracking

• Muscle-Mass Development for healthy aging, body composition, aesthetic goals, gender affirmation, and preservation of lean mass during GLP-1-supported weight loss

• Walking & Hiking Fitness, including Nordic Pole Walking instruction

• Mindfulness & Meditation Coaching

What Makes My Approach Different?

I Can Come to You

Fitness doesn't have to happen in a traditional gym. I offer mobile training and can bring portable equipment appropriate to your program. Train at home, at work, outdoors, or in another appropriate community setting.

Highly Personalized Training

Private training provides an efficient option for busy professionals, caregivers, and anyone who values individualized attention. Your program is built around your goals, abilities, environment, preferences, and available time.

Build—and Keep—Muscle

Muscle is about much more than appearance. I place particular emphasis on developing and preserving muscle mass for strength, function, healthy aging, body-composition goals, aesthetic body sculpting, gender affirmation, and maintaining lean mass during weight loss, including GLP-1-supported weight loss.

Fitness Walking & Nordic Walking

Walking can be serious fitness. I provide individual and small-group fitness walking instruction and am a Certified Nordic Pole Walking Instructor. Learn proper technique to transform walking into a more effective full-body workout.

Fitness Support for Older Adults

For older adults who need more than a workout, I offer fitness-focused companionship and activity support designed to help maintain strength, mobility, confidence, and capacity for independent living.

When appropriate, I can also help clients practice exercises that have been prescribed by a physical therapist or other healthcare professional. I do not provide physical therapy or rehabilitation, but I can help clients remain consistent with their established exercise program.

This service may also provide caregivers with valuable respite while their loved one participates in safe, engaging physical and wellness activities.

Mindfulness + Movement

As a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, I can incorporate mindfulness practices into fitness training to develop body awareness, concentration, movement quality, and a healthier relationship with exercise.

Individual meditation coaching is also available upon request.

A Welcoming, Trauma-Informed Approach

I bring extensive professional experience working with survivors of sexual violence, abuse, and trauma. My approach emphasizes choice, personal agency, communication, boundaries, and respect.

I particularly welcome people who have felt uncomfortable, judged, overlooked, or out of place in traditional fitness environments, including people living in larger bodies.

You do not have to look like a "fitness person" to become stronger.

Strength belongs to everyone.

*NOTE -I am not a physician, physical therapist, registered dietitian, psychologist, counselor, or other licensed medical or mental health professional, and I do not diagnose, treat, prescribe for, or attempt to rehabilitate medical, orthopedic, nutritional, or mental health conditions. 

As a mid-century modern woman, I have transformed my own life, and the lives of others, through mindful living.

Informed Nutrition.
Thoughtful Movement.
Rooted in Joy.

I enter my clients' homes with an open heart, more than 30 years of experience in health promotion, and boundless creativity. We will make immediate improvements in quality of life while building sustainable systems that support longevity, independence, and strength.

One of the central ideas in Atomic Habits by James Clear is:

"We do not rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems."

Clear points out that winners and losers often share the same goals. What differentiates them is not ambition, but the systems that support that ambition. "Lose 30 pounds" is simply a goal. A repeatable system for strength training, nutrition, sleep, and daily movement is what ultimately creates lasting results.

A Different Approach to Personal Training

I help men and women build functional strength, preserve muscle mass, and improve their quality of life through practical movement and nutrition.

Long-term dependence on a private coach is unrealistic for most people. Instead, I focus on education, empowerment, and skill-building. While working together is an investment, the return grows over time as you develop your own knowledge, confidence, and ability to adapt as your body changes throughout life.

My goal is to help you become your own best coach.

You Don't Need a Gym to Get Strong

Perhaps the most damaging myth the fitness industry has promoted is that fitness only happens in a gym.

That belief leaves countless people feeling as though something is wrong with them when they dislike gyms, feel intimidated by them, or simply cannot fit them into their lives. Many people dread exercising under fluorescent lights, surrounded by mirrors and strangers. Others do not have the time or desire to maintain a gym membership indefinitely.

The truth is that strength can be built almost anywhere.

I can come to you.

Your home. Your workplace. Your favorite park. A neighborhood trail. A quiet corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We will build your wellness practices around the reality of your life, not around somebody else's ideal schedule.

Make It Easy

Another principle from Atomic Habits is:

"Make it easy."

Together, we'll design movement habits around the immovable parts of your life.

Instead of asking:

"How can we force three workouts into your week?"

We'll ask:

"What already happens every week that can naturally support movement?"

Your morning coffee. Walking the dog. Grocery shopping. Commuting. Dropping off a child. Arriving home from work. Existing routines become opportunities for strength, mobility, and health.

When movement is woven into the rhythm of daily life, consistency becomes much easier, even on the days when motivation is nowhere to be found.