I can't say enough good things about Shirley Champoux who has been working with my wife for nearly 5 months to improve her strength, balance, and endurance after my wife had lost much of her strength and balance due to the sequential events of a nerve root impingement causing a right foot drop, a fractured right hip, a right knee replacement and a fall resulting in reopening that right knee wound and fracturing her right patella all over a relatively short time. Shirley, working hand in hand with my wife's physical therapists, even coming to some of the PT appointments on her own time, and calling or emailing them at other times has enabled a tremendous amount of progress to be made in her strength, balance, and endurance. Shirley has a unique ability to connect with the patient, understand how to motivate them, push them just the right amount, and make it relatively fun to do the exercises. Shirley is always punctual, goes out of spending extra time with the patient, and has a wonderful sense of humor. We always manage to have a few good laughs during the workout with Shirley. You could not find a better personal trainer.
Gordan Fall M.D.
“Thank you, Thank you Shirley for the wonderful care you extended to me over the last four months. Your massage therapy made all the difference in my recovery from several broken bones. The collaboration with the physical therapist made all the work so much more effective. I appreciated that you listened carefully and adjusted your work to meet my needs. Over the course of our work you taught me many self-treatment techniques, I am in good shape to continue on the road of recovery. Most important you were always truly supportive, caring, encouraging and compassionate.
I highly, highly recommend you, five stars!”
Pattie
Shirley Champoux, aka Exercise Specialist is top notch. I am a physical therapist and have been impressed with her wealth of knowledge on exercise and how the body works. She was able to help me strengthen my glutes in a variety of ways including balance challenges, core stabilization, and helping to get some of my smaller hip muscles firing again. This has made big difference in getting me back to running stronger and with less pain. She has a wide range of skill and is able to work with people with various fitness and age levels. She is not your typical gym “personal trainer” and stands out from the competition because as she tailors the exercises for your specific needs and goals.
I give Shirley my highest recommendation!
Mari O’Neill, PT, COMT
Shirley is a breath of fresh air when it comes to exercise programs for people who don’t want to compete for space (and attention) at a fitness club. She is energetic, knowledgeable, and wonderfully supportive and patient. Her forte is adapting a program that fits the needs and environment of her clients. We live in a small space with little storage and she was able to come up with tools and “equipment” that didn’t take over our home and were easy to pack and travel with. Everything we need to do our program while traveling fits in a plastic baggie! The variety of approaches/exercises she provides can be a bit daunting, but her willingness to keep working to hone in on what worked for us paid off with a “easy” program with lots of variety that we can do in 35-45 minutes.
Caroline, 71 y/o
I first met Shirley in 1991. At this time, I was hesitant to workout with her or any trainer because every time I’ve worked out with a trainer I got tendonitis. Shirley convinced me to give her a try….no tendonitis! In fact, in the many times we have workout together in our more than 25 years, I have never developed tendonitis or any other sports-related injury. Under Shirley’s instruction I have increased muscle mass, core strength, and have greatly improved my balance. My personalized workouts are never boring; they are creative and continually evolve. I am especially pleased with Shirley’s (holistic) fitness approach to health. She is as concerned about water intake and maintaining a healthy diet as well as consistent aerobics and weight training. Shirley’s positive attitude, encouragement – and sense of humor – help motivate me to work harder!
Bill
After having both of my knees replaced Shirley helped me understand the importance of consistent aerobics and on doing strengthening and stretching for mobility. I find that my workouts with Shirley help me maintain flexibility and pain-free movement so I can continue my regular activities. When I miss a workout because of vacation or illness I really notice increased pain and decreased mobility.
Nancy
If you want a problem solver, look no further. Shirley is your girl! I’ve had a ton of excellent massages in the past but nothing compares to her ability to hone in on an issue, get after it and stay with it until she’s figured out the root of the problem. She is skilled, incredibly intuitive and very thorough, focusing not just on providing a massage but she also gives you stretches, tips and strength training ideas to complement and sustain the work she does on your body. I am so delighted to have found her and hope she never leaves Seattle.
Linda
"Although we're in our 60's, Shirley makes our workouts interesting and tailors them to our physical abilities and interests. She adapts exercises easily to work around injuries from other sports or activities and actually helps us heal from those injuries! She goes the extra mile to make sure we understand what we're doing and why we're doing it. She's committed to educating us so that we can create our own routines, and work out on our own too."
Linda & Ken
"When I first started working with Shirley, I was 63, had chronic low back issues, was overweight and little core strength. Under Shirley's professional management I joined Weight Watchers, lost 25 pounds and increased my fitness level, core strength, balance and physical confidence! My results were so great - my husband hired her too!"
Laurie
Shirley brings a high level of expertise to our staff and patients. Her experienced observation skills can prompt a change in appropriate care for clients, or a safety observation may lead to functional intervention for someone. She is motivated by high ethics and sincere empathy for the people with whom she works."
Sallie, PT Supervisor
Before I saw Shirley for my first deep tissue, therapeutic massage:
1. I had acute pain in my lower back, hip flexor, quad, scar area, groin area in front and down my leg, not nerve but muscle every time I stood up to take my first 1 to 20 steps I was robbed of my strength and energy. (Pain level 7)
2. This pain caused me to have very low energy and I did not want to move or walk very much if I could avoid it and standing from sitting really hurt!
3. After each massage I’ve had to soak, ice, drink a lot of water and usually fell asleep on the floor.
4. After each massage it takes one to two days to recover.
5. Shirley’s encouragement to see Robert mid-week has been helpful because I keep wanting to forget about this, run away and try to avoid the pain.
6. Roberts work on my back, feet, clams, ball, core, plus Shirley adding squats in the door jam, moving clams against the wall, Robert’s texts reminding me to engage my core and bring my shoulders down has all helped me to feel younger, more energy, less pain and more strength!
It also meant a lot when Shirley texted to see how I was this week and I couldn’t really figure out how to respond. I’m not used to this kind of care and I feel so lucky to have it!
I’m at my 40th class reunion this weekend and chose not to golf, and did have pain after sitting in the car for two hours, but did enjoy our casual get together last night and do not remember muscle pain or weakness at all.
Thank you for working together with me and I’m hoping I can dance the night away tonight!!!”
Julie
I have many more testimonials, provided by request.