Testimonials

Cat Accardi

Amateur Boxer, Team BC High Performance Athlete

This was taken from a post by @cattheboxer

I started working with @coachcalado in March of 2020 just at the pandemic hit. I though it would be a great opportunity to take a step back from the pressure of just boxing and progress physically for my sport. And I can tell you, she has changed the game for me. It started a healing process with my relationship to my body as I was able to see the things I was capable of.

At first, my body was not happy with stabilizing. It hit kind of a physical wall, which revealed that I had a titled pelvis and a bulging disc in my spine at L5-S1. Having a lower back injury is no joke and is scary, but having Evelyn on my team was the reason I'm boxing today. Because of her pre-hab programs, I was able to recovery from my injury.

The thing about working with Evelyn is that as a coach, she's very progress oriented. This kind of coaching allows for a lot of patience and understanding. But it also shows the depth of her knowledge. She's able to build on a single movement as you get better and stronger in it. And before you know it, you'll be looking back a month ago and realize that you just accomplished something significant that will make a difference in your future.

In this past year I've seen and felt such incredible differences in myself. I've change those externally and internally. I move so much better and I feel stronger. And the videos you can see the difference in myself and my technique. This was done over months and months of patterning and building. My squat technique was absolutely tragic before and now it's actually pretty decent. My dead lift technique was horrible and atrocious. She had to teach me to pattern myself to bend from my hips and not my lower back.

Evelyn, I am extremely grateful for all that you do and what you added to my life is priceless. Thank you for your knowledge and all the time you've put into me and my programs. You are incredible.

Seriously, check her out @coachcalado, you will not regret it.

I have been training with Evelyn for more than 12 years and can highly recommend her.  Evelyn is very responsive to inquiries and questions and promptly responds to requests for scheduling training sessions.  I am currently training as part of a team where my teammates are distributed across the country and we get workouts as a group.   For each team workout I get, Evelyn modifies the individual exercises as required based on my individual challenges/weaknesses/injuries to ensure I get the most out of each workout without causing injury or aggravating recurrent issues.  I recently had a broken hand and Evelyn was able to modify my workouts so that I was able to continue to have a similar program to my teammates in spite of the obvious limitations.  Evelyn has also created some individual training programs for me that have been well organized, interesting and allowed me to improve on areas of weakness as well as to continue to get stronger.   I also very much appreciate Evelyn’s attention to detail when it comes to my form when doing exercises.  By working with her, I am more confident using heavier loads as I know I am doing exercises in a way that will avoid injury as well as allow me to obtain the maximum benefit.

When I first started training with Evelyn in 2015, my aim was to lose weight.  Getting healthy and strong was not on my radar.  She never challenged my request but instead made me realize I was stronger than I ever believed and the scale could never tell me that.  Before I came to Evelyn I struggled with a sore back, as well as pain in my neck and my shoulder.  I saw many physios, acupuncturists, and massage therapists to get some relief.  The relief came when I started getting stronger and lifting heavy weights. My personal best, 1 rep max deadlift is 185lbs and working weight is between 135lbs and 155lbs.  She has me going past all my mental boundaries. I always feel great when I leave my workouts. Her knowledge of the body and how to get the maximum workout with proper alignment and rest between sets have made the difference.  I still see chiros, physios and an osteo who all confirm the same advice that Evelyn gives me. My tennis friends have commented on how strong I look and I have not had an injury since working with Evelyn for more than 7 years.

Further to my testimonial, when I train at the gym on my own, people comment on my routine and how different it is to what they have been taught.  I once overheard someone getting trained by one of the resident trainers. “Is she (me) your client?” the trainer said no.  I just smiled and picked up my two 50lb dumbbells and did my suitcase carry around the gym… rest repeat … rest repeat.

Evelyn is very energetic and easygoing, but she will also make you work hard. Her sessions are super fun and it feels like time goes by really fast.  I love her teaching style as she is very technical.  She incorporates specific techniques and activities to focus on in each session and provides lots of compliments and encouragement, making the learning process again, very fun.

 I feel like I’m playing a game, and at the same time I’m improving my skills every session without really thinking about it.

 With her background in kinesiology, she has also worked on various exercises to help strengthen some of my muscle imbalances, as well as different drills to work on increased mobility and pain relief with stretching.