Hi! I'm Cynthia.
My name is Cynthia Portugal and I am a NASM certified personal trainer, NASM Senior Fitness Specialist, AFAA certified group exercise instructor, and a certified Silver Sneakers and Enhance Fitness instructor. I am also a health and wellness coach and certified Schwinn spin instructor.
After a brief career in Human Resources Management, I chose to stay home and raise my 3 kids, which was and probably still is one of the hardest jobs I have had to date. I loved being at home with my kids, but when they were all teenagers I began to feel as if I had lost a part of my own identity and what made me light up as an individual. I began to have a very strong need to reclaim some of what was important to me as an individual and make these interests a priority as well as find work that I felt meaningful. Thus, I began the process of “reinventing myself” in 2015, when my kids were 14, 16, and 19.
Exercise has always been my therapy of choice. I am a fitness addict who loves the mental and physical challenge a great workout can provide. So this is where I began my journey of following my heart and where it might take me. I began to teach spin classes to all ages and group exercise classes to ages 50 and beyond. Soon after I began teaching these classes, some class participants began to ask me to be their personal trainer as well. It was at this point that I continued to follow where my heart led me, and I realized my next steps in my journey of “reinventing myself” was to also begin personal training and health and wellness coaching.
I specialize in working with any fitness level for ages 50 and beyond. This would range from a strong 50 year old who has lots of experience working out to an an older person who might be using a walker, in a wheelchair, or bedridden. I have lots of experience working with clients who have osteopenia or osteoporosis, have balance issues, or need a fall prevention program.
I am also a personal trainer for a beginner to intermediate level of fitness for any age, and I specialize in working with people any age who are recovering from an injury (back, knee, shoulder, etc.).
There are certain things we need to be mindful of as we age and recover from an injury, and safety is my priority with all my clients. My hope is for all of my clients to get stronger safely, and learn how to embrace daily healthy lifestyle habits to carry them throughout their life. In order to age as gracefully as possible and live a long healthy life, it’s important to keep our bodies and hearts strong.
Life is full of many challenges, and in my own life fitness has played a major role in helping me deal with the stressful times. Also, many of my hobbies require a lot of physical activity, and despite many injuries, staying strong through fitness has enabled me to continue hiking, spinning, biking, and swimming through the years.
Fitness has always helped me stay on track mentally and physically. It is the one constant in my life that is directly correlated to my positive attitude. The stronger I am mentally and physically the more capable I am in handling what curve balls life throws my way, and I sure have had my share of curve balls!! I truly believe this and embrace this as a way of life for myself. I get such a “high” whenever I workout and I love to share this positive feeling with others.
I firmly believe that there are only 2 things in life of which we have complete control: effort and attitude. When life gets rough, trying my hardest and staying positive is the choice that keeps me going, or I would fall apart. Life WILL throw us curve balls and I genuinely feel that fitness can help us stay mentally and physically strong to handle the roller coaster ride in life. I hope to make a favorable impact in your life, both physically and mentally, through personal training, health and wellness coaching, and fitness classes.
Just keep moving! Movement is medicine!