Gabe Vivas hasn’t lost a single pound since joining Steelworks Strength Systems back in March 2023.
From the outside looking in, it would seem that Steelworks was a pretty bad investment for Gabe.
After all, results speak for themselves, right?
Why would he continue to train in a program that doesn’t help move him towards his goals?
“I wanted to stay because I was seeing results. I lost 15-20 pounds of fat, but gained 15-20 pounds of muscle).
I look slimmer, my clothes fit better (went from a 36 to a 34 – goal is a 32), and I gained a lot of strength.
In the past I’ve lost weight, but I haven’t gained strength. Now I feel a big difference,” says Vivas.
After his girlfriend, Karen, joined Steelworks and started to see results and make connections with new friends, Gabe was intrigued.
He had looked into Steelworks before, but just didn’t think he was ready for the functional nature of the training programs.
For starters, Gabe never considered himself to be very athletic. In past gyms, he’d stay away from the free weights and barbells and gravitated towards machines instead because he was afraid of hurting himself.
Eventually, the machines got boring.
Training by himself was dull and uninspiring.
It became a lot easier just not to go.
And so….he stopped training.
Until he gave Steelworks another look.
Gabe thought about his grandfather, who just turned 100. He also reflected on his work in medicine, seeing the devastating effects strokes, cardiac problems, and diabetes had on people’s well being.
“I didn’t have anything to lose….I didn’t want to end up being old and inactive.”
He signed up the Steelworks free class and was hooked.
“People were really nice. It made me feel encouraged that I also had a teaching environment to help me get over my fear of weight training. I felt safe to try new things,” said Vivas.
Flash forward to now and Gabe feels and looks the best he ever has. However, he isn’t done improving!
“I want to get to a point where I’m physically and emotionally happy….I also want to be able have endurance to be able to run a Spartan race and obstacle course races of five, ten, even 20 miles!”
For Gabe, Steelworks Strength Systems has been a place where he has found community, empowerment, and satisfaction.
“Every time I go a coach will always greet me when I walk through the door. Seeing people training with you often pretty soon makes a stranger a colleague through shared suffering.
“Everyone is very nice and welcoming, and supportive of you. I had a low blood sugar attack and another member ran next door to get orange juice without hesitation.”
“I feel like we constantly create an environment to do more and better. Everyone is there for each other. Folks motivate each other. I’m able to see things differently from a team perspective, able to respect everyone’s space and way of approaching things.”
“It’s also incredibly satisfying to do really hard things but be able to conquer them!”