{"id":123903,"date":"2025-09-01T01:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T01:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/123903\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T01:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T01:48:10","slug":"trainer-tricia-thompson-keeps-seniors-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/123903\/","title":{"rendered":"Trainer Tricia Thompson keeps seniors fit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tFeatures<\/a><\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\tNarissa Fraser
\n\t<\/a><\/p>\n

21 Hrs Ago<\/p>\n

\"PersonalPersonal trainer Tricia Thompson counts reps for Mr Ventour during a training session on August 28 at One80 Fitness Studio. – Photo by Grevic Alvarado <\/p>\n

IT\u2019S not often you hear a personal trainer say they have a 92-year-old client. But for Tricia Thompson, it\u2019s pretty common. She has been helping people 60 and over feel young again through exercise for the past 12 years.<\/p>\n

Thompson, 50, grew up in Shorelands with her brother and sister. She told Newsday she was quite the tomboy, especially during her days at the Maria Regina Grade School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing all things outdoors with my brother and with the boys on the street. I was rumbling and tumbling, running races, going into mossy drains to catch crab, swinging and jumping off trees, going on roofs,\u201d she recalled gleefully in an August 28 interview.<\/p>\n

As she moved on to St Joseph\u2019s Convent, she kept active, but her focus shifted to the field of business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI studied accounts, principles of business, economics\u2026I actually wanted to be a lawyer. I definitely wasn\u2019t going to do sciences or history, geography\u2026those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was an accountant and my sister was heading down that path, so I sort of just followed,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

She continued to pursue this interest for A-Levels at Daniel\u2019s College of Excellence as well. And then, she made the bold move of pursuing tertiary education in Miami, Florida in the US. She enrolled in Florida International University and began doing the necessary prerequisites.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then after two years, I bounced up marketing and I fell in love with it. So I came out of business and I did a degree in marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what made her switch, she said the writing aspect of the field piqued her interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a numbers girl like my sister or dad. I used to write just as a (hobby) and I fell in love with the marketing aspect of business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to shine in her field locally, she returned to TT after graduating and maintained corporate jobs for seven years.<\/p>\n

Explaining that she had met who would become her husband just before returning home, she then went back to the US \u201cto do the whole big people life\u2026to go, get married and do the whole nine yards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Personal trainer Tricia Thompson looks on during a training session with Arlene Chow on August 28 at One80 Fitness Studio, Woodbrook. – Photo by Grevic Alvarado\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said while she was always a \u201cgym rat,\u201d she began going even more frequently.<\/p>\n

She joked that fitness was in her genes as her grandfather was the late local football great Ethelbert \u201cBertie\u201d Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people in the gym started asking me, \u2018Hey, do you want to teach some classes for us?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Me?\u2019 They said, \u2018Yeah, you practically live inside the gym.’\u201d<\/p>\n

She thought about it. And then she thought about how she had been considering doing her master\u2019s degree as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to do anything with business, so I went to search for fitness-related things. I saw stuff like cardiac rehab, exercise physiology and movement science. And I was like, ‘Great!’\u201d<\/p>\n

She opted to do a master\u2019s degree in movement science at Barry University in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I signed up to start school in January of whatever year it was, and then I found out I was pregnant in November,\u201d she revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I started off my first semester with morning sickness, the works. If you think of it, I had it\u2026I almost got kicked out of the programme because you needed to have a 3.0 (GPA) or higher for your first nine credits. And, of course, with me being pregnant, I was having a hard time.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when it was time for her first set of finals, she said something \u201cclicked\u201d and she really pushed.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tricia Thompson keeps fit. – Photo by Grevic Alvarado\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for my last exam, which was the exam to decide, my advisor called me in and I thought she was going to tell me that I’m not going to be able to continue the programme, but she didn’t. She said she went in there and fought for me and told the board to give me a chance because of my grades for the exam.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I cried. I jumped in the car and sat, called my mum, my husband, everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

She completed her course of study and she was thankful and proud.<\/p>\n

She also earned certification as a pre- and post-natal trainer with the International Fitness Professionals Association and as a health fitness specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine.<\/p>\n

She returned to TT once again, this time combining her marketing skills with her love for fitness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had some business cards made and I started training people\u2026We did Mt Hololo, Lady Chancellor, the stadium, the Savannah\u2026I was mainly training people around my age group, so 30s to 40s.<\/p>\n

Her areas of focus include lower back, rotator cuff, frozen shoulder, knee, sciatica pain relief, pre- and post-surgery strengthening, hip flexor issues, exercising through menopause and perimenopause, weight gain\/loss, arthritis, balance, flexibility and general strengthening.<\/p>\n

She said she then realised a lot of overweight people had issues with exercising in public, owing to self-confidence, as well as in regular gym settings, owing to the size of the equipment.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tricia Thompson at One80 Fitness Studio in Woodbrook. – Photo by Grevic Alvarado\u00a0<\/p>\n

This prompted her to open One80 Fitness Studio in Woodbrook, a private studio that targeted the overweight and obese, providing a comfortable space for them to exercise.<\/p>\n

It was going well. But one of her clients and mentors brought her attention to a group of people most trainers weren\u2019t focused on: seniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Okay, let me think about it. He said, \u2018There\u2019s no thinking about it. I\u2019m going to start sending them to you,\u2019 and he started the ball rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cAnd he was very, very correct because if you want to maintain any type of independence when you get older, this is the time to be in the gym, not just when you were younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she still trains people of all ages, she has had clients ranging from age 60 to 92.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a 90-year-old, I now have a 91-year-old woman, and I am starting with a 92-year-old man.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, when clients come to me, they speak about their age, their health, how they don\u2019t feel as strong as they used to\u2026and I also have to help get them into that mental space to believe they can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalled a particular client who had been considering installing an elevator in his house as he \u201cjust couldn\u2019t figure out why his right leg kept getting weaker\u201d for eight years.<\/p>\n

He said he went to several other trainers, but to no avail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat man started off not even being able to lift ten pounds with that leg, now he stacks up three to four 45-pound plates for the leg rest. So I do push them, but it\u2019s very friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always say, \u2018I used to be able to, I used to be able to,\u2019 and I say, \u2018I think you still can, but you have to allow your muscles to gradually get accustomed to certain things. And the more and more that you do it, it’s going to just get easier.”<\/p>\n

She has also had comments like, \u201cI\u2019ve been looking for somebody who would train someone my age for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted, though, that there are sad moments when she may learn that a client died. And given the type of relationship she shares with them, she mourns.<\/p>\n

“I have pictures, I have their phone numbers and sometimes I just leave them in my phone, out of respect…until a couple of months go down the line, and then I go, ‘Okay, Mr so-and-so, I got to let you go now.’<\/p>\n

“The other sad part of it is that every once in a while, somebody I get close to and train and see several times a week…you start to realise (changes) and the family comes and tells you that we kind of have to stop because mummy’s going down, or daddy’s going down. And then you get, later on at some point, you’re going to get the news,” she said.<\/p>\n

But she remains thankful for the opportunity to be able to help people within those age groups, as well as the stories she hears form them and the wisdom gained.<\/p>\n

“Seeing them become more confident makes me happy. At the end of it, when you actually see them get past something, get to see them excited about their progress, or just hearing them say, \u2018When I went on vacation, I was able to do this, that and that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her clients enjoy being trained by her so much that they have even asked if they could come to training while sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I have to (playfully) scold them because no,\u201d she said as she laughed.<\/p>\n

One of her clients, 66-year-old Arlene Chow, told Newsday she was referred to Thompson by her orthopaedic surgeon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had pain all over my body, and I said, \u2018Gym? No way. But I went and never looked back. She has been an actual lifesaver for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never been a gym person. But I\u2019m enjoying this tremendously. I have improved my strength, my posture, my flexibility and my all over well-being. It\u2019s a great atmosphere, friendly and encouraging, at the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said in speaking with other clients, the feedback on Thompson is the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be able to keep up with my grandsons. This gym has given me a pathway to doing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really grateful for her dedication to me. On good days and on not-so-good days, she keeps encouraging me to be my best self.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Features Narissa Fraser 21 Hrs Ago Personal trainer Tricia Thompson counts reps for Mr Ventour during a training…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-123903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}