Image Courtesy of JennaPhillips.comTry jogging up 189 concrete steps. Your lungs and legs burn, begging you to stop, but a friendly voice from behind you encourages you to keep going. That voice belongs to Jenna Phillips, personal trainer to celebrities like Ben Stiller and Jeremy Piven and leader of the outdoor training group, Mission Possible. Phillips and her crew of ten agents (as she calls her clients) alternate training six days a week between the Santa Monica Stairs and Runyon Canyon. The goal is to escape the stuffiness of the indoors and enjoy the LA scenery while getting fit.
During the 90-minute sweat sessions, Phillips leads her agents through a series of squats, lunges, crunches, various resistance band exercises and even some martial arts-inspired moves. Contrast this hurt-so-good muscle fatigue with views of the Pacific Ocean from the top of a staircase or the spread of downtown LA as you gaze down from the hilltop, and exhaustion gives way to motivation.
It all started after Phillips was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Convinced she needed to change her lifestyle in order to get healthy, she lost 30 pounds and gained a passion for holistic living and a desire to inspire others. Even though she expects her clients to push beyond what they think they can achieve physically, she considers herself a workout buddy rather than a drill sergeant. As such, she has banned the phrases “I can’t” and “It’s too hard” from her sessions.
Phillips incorporates nutritional consultation into her training that accommodates both diabetics and non-diabetics, vegetarians and carnivores, and posts a weekly grocery lists on her website. Her sessions cost $25 each but will most likely cost a bit more than that in morning-after soreness, especially if your idea of a workout is carrying bags of groceries into the house. JennaPhillips.com
rachel grice 