BLAINE BRIGNELL
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"There's rarely a dull moment when training with Blaine. If you are someone who prefers exercising outdoors and finds gyms confining and boring, training with Blaine is a good solution. He is knowledgeable and genuine in his practice. He knows how to motivate clients and capitalize their strengths while listening to their concerns. He develops individual programs that address whatever each client needs/hopes to achieve. I highly recommend training with Blaine to anyone who would like to see improvement in their overall strength, stability, and agility."
Jen Roser
"Training with Blaine has been a life-altering experience for me. I came to training after several years of ignoring the health of my body and mind. I knew I needed a change, but more importantly, I needed guidance. I was nervous about finding a personal trainer because I didn't want to be pushed too hard, sustain an injury or feel intimidated by a gym environment. Now, I can safely say that hiring Blaine was some of the best money I have ever spent. Blaine listens carefully and is incredibly responsive to my needs on a session-to-session basis. He does not push, but encourages. He is a teacher at heart, taking time to explain and demonstrate in detail. And he does it all with a contagious exuberance and sense of humor. After three weeks of training, my chronic hip pain disappeared. I feel stronger and more capable in everyday tasks, like walking, bending or lifting. My mood has improved and I just feel good, period. Most surprising of all, the gym has become my happy place--a little oasis in the hustle. I wish I would have started training years ago."
Caitlin Sills
"Blaine Works With Every Body (even old and fat ones).
I've been working with Blaine for over a year now. I have myriad joint complaints. Knee replacement is in my future and I want to be as strong as possible going in. When we started, I could not get up off the ground without assistance. I'm much stronger and more mobile now--up and down without issues. Some days are better than others, and Blaine has been very good at finding things I can do. He's also great at finding cues that help me figure out how to do movements correctly. I feel very comfortable at the gym (words I never thought I would say). No shame for being who I am in the shape I'm in."
Karen Anderson
"Personal training with Blaine has helped me benefit from strength training for the first time in my life. Training has helped me recover from injury and get back running on the trail. Blaine will annoy you and motivate you but most importantly will work with you where you are, through his extremely close attention to your movements and body."
David Ross
"Blaine’s training has transformed my relationship to my body and expanded my understanding of my own limitations and abilities. For four years, I’ve trained weekly with Blaine. During that time, I’ve observed his development as a trainer. Blaine has always brought enthusiasm, boisterous energy, and engaging programs to his training sessions. But as his experience has grown, he’s added an instinctive understanding for how intention, effort, and mechanics converge to create movement. With each client, he explores how movement is generated in the body, how our repetitive patterns can restrict it, and how—with training—we can move in novel ways again. Through his clear and emphatic demonstrations of exercises, he communicates not only how the body should move but how it should feel when it moves.
I’ve watched Blaine work with many people. He accepts them as they are, with whatever strengths and challenges they bring to their training. His adaptability to each client, not only to their general needs but to how they feel today, shows his commitment to creating a genuinely personalized experience for everyone he works with. Blaine knows that long-term positive change requires a commitment to daily movement, beyond what's done in the gym. He strongly encourages this life-wide intentional practice in his clients, and embodies it himself in his own life.
Blaine has taught me how to find the opportunity in every movement. I now look for ways to be more relaxed, more aligned, more balanced. He’s shown me how to generate strength from the parts of my body that are best at doing that.
I am very satisfied with my ongoing progress under Blaine’s guidance. If you’re willing to put in the effort, he can teach you how to impress yourself."
Sally Coulter
I began working with Blaine in November, 2014. At that time I weighed 315 lbs. At that time I had no concept of functional movement, only those espoused in commercial guys. Over the course of 2 years Blaine helped reduce my body size and, as equally important, integrate into muscle memory the dynamics of functional movement so the body could gradually reclaim its natural strength and awareness.
Blaine also helped me understand the need to shift my diet to a whole food based diet. Prior to that time I had been eating an abundance of processed foods, little raw fruits or veggies. I also began drinking a lot of water.
With Blaine's encouragement I began enjoying cardiovascular exercise in outside activities such as swimming, cycling, hiking, climbing and mountaineering. Occasionally, Blaine even joined me on some of my out of town hiking adventures.
Blaine is a uniquely dedicated, thoughtful, passionate, "no-nonsense" style trainer. He continuously motivates you to your goals but also spends time connecting to you as a person. Since working with Blaine I now weigh 165 lbs. and feel great.
I highly recommend Blaine as a trainer and wish there were others like him in this world.
Darren Aboulafia
I am an English teacher and usually a reluctant gym-goer. I also have pretty regular low back/pelvis pain. Recently, I wrenched my back while working with a kettlebell, and had to stop working out for a while. My acupuncturist recommended Blaine because, while my chiropractic and acupuncture treatments were helping, I was still moving with a great deal of pain. I also wanted to be able to eventually go back to working with kettlebells, but wanted to do it right. Blaine has been amazing. On days when I wanted to cry out of pain and frustration, he swiftly and calmly taught me new motions to stabilize my back. His assessments are quick and spot-on. His experience is evident in everything he does. I am almost ready to go back to my kettlebell gym, but this time I will go knowing proper form and knowing what my body needs. To whom do I recommend Blaine? Nerds. Misfits. Music lovers. People who are serious about moving their bodies with intention.
Dawn Patrick
Blaine's instruction is top-notch. He integrates humor, play, and social community to keep the work fun and engaging. Yet underneath the levity is a deep personal commitment to understanding the science of movement. He pushes me to make gains that I never would have accomplished on my own, without using boot-camp style abuse or pressure to push past the wisdom of the body. For instance, for my goals and body type, it's less useful to do a bunch of reps at a low weight. Rather, I should do the highest weight that I can do safely and with correct form. At that weight, I might only be able to do 6-8 reps and that's perfect for signalling to my muscles that they need to grow and get stronger. Every 3-4 months Blaine creates a new program customized for me. Each program builds on my previous gains but also challenges me in new ways so that my fitness is more well-rounded over time. He adjusts to my goals for each season of the year - skiing in winter, swimming in natural water in the summer. My program includes elements to support each of these activities, not just to improve performance but also to improve safety so that I can prevent injuries when I'm doing the things I enjoy.
Karin Wagner
I started working with Blaine in September 2016, and continued after I got pregnant that Fall. My program goals were centered around building core and upper body strength and stabilizing old injuries, in order to carry my pregnancy well and be more prepared for labor and becoming a mama. As a 40 year old dancer and first time parent, this felt so important.
To say Blaine helped me reach those goals would be an understatement. His ability to meet me with enthusiasm, humor and compassion for where I was throughout the year helped me push further whenever I could, and kept me showing up when I was tired out from making another human. I was able to have a great experience of my body throughout my pregnancy, and to keep working out (and even beat personal bests) through 39 weeks. I also credit this work with helping me through 30 hours of labor and making my postpartum recovery relatively easy. My birthing team were all impressed.
Blaine brings a clear knowledge of the body to his work with clients, and demonstrates how to reach movement goals in a way that cares for where each person's body is currently. I'm so grateful for the work we've done and for the chance to move in new ways with my daughter. At 7 months postpartum, I've even achieved a new movement goal I had never been able to do before, and I am stoked to keep going.
Erika Stanley
I came to Blaine as a highly motivated amateur athlete in the small and specific sport of bouldering. Blaine helped me understand my movement patterns, my physical deficits, and how to train both effectively. Rather than focus on physical adaptation, he helped me develop my knowledge, attitude and framework for improvement. As I healed from old injuries and improved my patterns, the physical advances came automatically. Blaine's guidance was integral in my development as an athlete and I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't come to work with him.