Nick Diaz is passionate about wellness, self-care and helping people maintain personal health.. As Loyola Marymount University recently participated in Body Image Awareness Month, the junior biology major answered five questions about being a personal trainer at the Burns Recreation Center and how fellow students can stay healthy.
What inspired you to pursue personal training at LMU?
When I was younger, I had an illness that prevented me from most physical activity. Being a swimmer, I had developed a love for sports, so having them not be a part of my life for five years was hard. When I was finally able to return to athletics, I began playing water polo and eventually moved onto rowing, which is something I would end up doing at LMU.
One of my coaches was a personal trainer, and I looked up to him more than anyone. His knowledge of how to train someone to reach their goals influenced me a great deal, not to mention as a biology and science major I was also obviously very interested in how the human body works.
As I began to climb the boat ranks, my parents hired a personal trainer for me and I got to see the way I which trainers interact with their clients and how they can help people. My goal is to be a doctor someday, so being able to work one-on-one with people to help them improv their health and reach their goals.
These factors ultimately pushed me to get certified right before I came to LMU, and now I work not only as a personal trainer but I also tech group exercise classes as well.
Everyone who leaves the gym always looks a little happier than they did walking in.
As a personal trainer, why do you believe physical exercise to be an important part of college life?
A lot of students don’t realize that the shape we’re in right now is going to determine how healthy we are for the rest of our lives. We are sitting in desks or at home doing homework for hours a day. So it’s important to exercise on a regular basis. Yes, it is good for your body and your physical fitness, but there are countless other benefits.
There are so many chemicals in our brains that are important for not only keeping us healthy, but also for de-stressing and relaxing us. I’ve seen many instances where people develop a habit going to the gym, and usually after a certain time, it becomes less of an obligation and more of a therapeutic or relaxing part of their day. Not to mention, the gym is a great place to make friends and find other people with similar goals of you. Group classes are a great and short escape from the academic environment for many people because group classes are designed to be fun but also give people the maximum results.
Everyone who leaves the gym always looks a little happier than they did walking in.
What advice to you have for busy students who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle in college?
If you have trouble getting to the gym on your own, try to find a way to build it into your schedule. If you have class from 10-2, try to plan to go to a fitness class from 3-4. This has always worked for me in achieving my goals and usually when people build exercise into their daily routine, they can reach their goals much faster.
The FitWell Center is another great resource, especially if students have questions about anything regarding wellness. At any given time, there are multiple personal trainers in the office who are more than happy to talk to you or give you advice.
How do you plan to take your personal training experience here at LMU with you after college?
When I’m a doctor, I will be doing very similar things in the medical field. I’ll be connecting with patients daily, and I hope that I’ll be able to use things I’ve learned about personal health and holistic wellness to better help my patients in whatever they need.
Being a personal trainer here has helped train me to study the ins and outs of how to maintain a one-on-one personal relationship with clients. It continues to teach me how to be sensitive to people’s struggles. A lot of my clients have struggled with their body image, so it has shown me how to help people work through those concerns and to never be judgmental.
How has working as a trainer for the FitWell Center shaped your LMU EXP?
Although it is hard work, it is amazing to be able to walk to class and have three or four of my clients say hello to me. It makes it fun to be on campus because I have made so many great relationships with the people I work with, both in the gym and outside of it. While it makes my schedule extremely busy, for me it’s so fun and rewarding to teach a class or go through a session and see my hard work pay off.