with, Kim Kasem Pride Strength Training
Who is Kim Kasem?
Kim is the epitome of health; strong, focused, and driven. Kim had spent her life battling the same old diet routines and could not find success. She had earned a degree in hospital administration and worked alongside her husband, an endodontist canal specialist, helping him open and run his medical practices. In 2016, Kim was introduced to a program that would ultimately change her life, balance her health, and inspire her to open a gym to help others achieve the same success she had. Her now good friend, and Director of Operations, Jeoffrey Walters, opened this door. Jeoffrey is a military veteran and certified personal trainer with 40 years of experience.
I met Jeff in 2016. He was one of the trainers at a gym I was going to. He was there doing his internship. He recognized that I was overtraining and decided to introduce me to Dr. Campbell at USF, where I became part of a research team that changed my life. I quickly learned that you must eat to lose weight, and you can overtrain. I took everything Dr. Campbell did for me and built my gym around that.
I built the gym on my own. I hired independent contractors, but other than that, I built it. When Jeff returned from a contracting job overseas, I begged him to come and help run the gym. I’m not a trainer; that’s not my field whatsoever. Jeff is the Director at Pride Strength Training and runs everything. Jeff runs the classes, the programs, everything.
Missions
When I started this gym, I wanted it to be a place where people could come and learn; this is how you eat, this is when you eat, this is how you work out. If you dedicate three hours a week to coming here and training, there is no way your body isn’t going to change.
You don’t have to go to the gym daily; your body doesn’t need that. People just get lost in their minds and ideals of how to work out. Home gyms are a good example. People go into their home gym and do cardio for an hour. That’s the worst thing you can be doing because you’re not building your body up.
Assessments run everything in the gym. You can pay for a standard gym membership and use the facility to work out independently. To get the program’s full impact, our assessments dive deep into what your body actually needs. Everything here is catered toward each person, even the group classes. We have personal training, which is the way to go, at least initially, to learn the right things for your success. For those who can’t afford a personal trainer, we can also create a program for them based on their unique needs.
Programming
We design a program one month at a time. During the program’s first week, you receive personal training to learn the exercises and methods. After that, you are on your own for the next three weeks, but a trainer is always on the floor to assist you. These personalized programs, or plans, definitely get results, which is why people stay with our gym. These plans are designed for you. You’re not just going to the gym to do whatever. There is a process to everything.
Group Classes
We have group classes that meet at 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. These are typically people who come in before work. Moms usually come to the 7:30 a.m. class after they have dropped the kids off at school. We offer a Saturday class at 8:00 a.m. as well.
Technology: The Dari Motion-Capture System
Our DARI Scan System are these eight cameras on the ceiling. They can depict where a person is prone to having problems. We have a person go through 18 motions: hands overhead, lunging, squatting, jumping, etc. The system analysis allows us to tell what’s happening with your body from your head to your toes. A good example is someone telling me they have back pain, and the DARI system identifies that your pain has nothing to do with your back. The DARI analysis takes about 20-to-25 minutes to complete. Jeff then analyzes the results and provides a report on the findings. We then have you return to the gym, where we review the findings and identify the best workout program for you.
Body Composition
Body composition is an ultrasound of the body. It allows us to tell, from your skin to your bone, what your composition is, i.e., how much water you have, how much fat you have, how much muscle you have, etc. Body composition analysis is a crucial part of the diagnostic because though we want you to loose weight, if needed, we want that weight to be fat, not muscle. Muscle burns fat, so we want to preserve as much muscle as possible.
RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate)
With this system, we have you come into the gym as soon as you wake up. We mask your face and have you breathe in and out of the machine. It then tells us exactly how many calories your body needs to sustain life. The truth is, if a person undereates, their body will store fat.
*CALL OUT*
I think we make life simple. A lot of people want to change the way they feel. They are tired all of the time, not motivated, and sluggish. We have the answers for all of that. When it comes to your body, the only thing we require from people is to drink a gallon of water daily and get some sleep.