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Inspired by Others
While many people struggle to make it through a workout class, Betina Gozo Schimonek has enthusiasm to spare when it comes to motivating others.
As a global fitness trainer, Betina appears in strength training workout videos for apps like Nike Training Club and Apple Fitness+. She also created a 12-week Woman’s Guide to Strength Training for Women’s Health magazine.
She and her husband Nic Schimonek, a sports performance coach and former NFL quarterback, co-host Beyond the Routine, a workout podcast where they talk about fitness, health, and life with their two children, ages 2 years and 9 months. They also own LINE UP With Us, a membership service that provides workout routines to follow at the gym or anywhere.
Health and fitness may be a major part of Betina’s life now, but it didn’t start out that way. As a bassist who made a living playing in a band, Betina acknowledges the lifestyle wasn’t the healthiest.
“Every single weekend we were staying up late, partying, drinking, eating bar food,” Betina says. “I had the energy to keep up with that lifestyle.”
One day, Betina attended a workout class with a friend. Even though she could sling a heavy bass on stage for two hours, she was surprised to see that she wasn’t in shape.
“I wasn’t very strong, and I didn’t have that strength that you have when you lift weights,” Betina says. “Once I started getting addicted to that class, I really discovered how I was feeling. I wanted to make better decisions.”
Betina started exercising regularly. She prioritized sleep and hydration and started to feel healthier at shows. Soon, she was doing warm up exercises off stage as she waited to perform. Her bandmates caught on and were soon limbering up right alongside her.
“They really were starting to be influenced by me,” she recalls.
The experience encouraged Betina to earn her personal trainer certificate, and she started working with clients on the side. Waking up at 4 am to teach class and later playing in the band eventually caught up with her.
“Obviously, something had to give,” she says. “[Fitness] became such a big passion. Not only was I doing something for myself, but I was serving others.”
As someone who never really played sports as a kid, Betina wanted to empower other women who might not know where to start or who were too intimidated to work out. As Nike’s first Filipina master trainer, Betina also wanted to inspire other members of her community,
“Having a coach is really what helps people, finding someone you connect with,” she explains. “Being an online coach, I can connect with so many people who are here with me.”
When Betina first informed Apple Fitness+ that she was pregnant, her client embraced the news and celebrated with her. She then went on to develop a series of prenatal workout routines to encourage women to stay fit while pregnant.
“Pregnancy and parenthood and fitness, it should all go hand in hand,” Betina says.
With the unique perspective of a personal trainer, Betina understands full well why some people fall off the exercise wagon.
“People are so hard on themselves to stick to a program,” she says. “People compare themselves to where they were at another time. It’s important for people to meet themselves where they are at.”
A “data-driven person,” Betina is constantly looking for ways to improve and support her health and mental wellness. It’s one of the reasons she became a BellSant client. She was particularly intrigued with BellSant’s grip strength test, which measures mobility, overall strength, and cognitive function.
“There are so many things attached to that,” she says, adding that she appreciates BellSant’s actionable steps and focus on mindset and outlook. “Health isn’t just about your blood or your sleep or your working out. It’s a holistic approach that is really beautiful.”
She’s also pleased to see that her biological age is 29, a full eight years younger and the same age as her husband.
Recently, Betina and Nice hosted a party at their house. While everyone’s kids entertained themselves on the family’s stretch cage, she noticed that her daughter was the only one who could do a bar toe-touch from a dead hang.
“I just thought it was normal because I see her doing it every single day,” Betina says. “I guess it’s making a big difference for her to see us doing this every day. I think it’s important for parents to embrace their fitness, but also know that things are going to change.”
Story told by: Millicent Skiles
