West End Resident Finds Success as Personal Trainer

Bruce Willingham says he likes to put smiles on people’s faces. He’s doing that, and more, through his career as a personal trainer and with his new business, Banner Lifestyle, which open about a month ago in Bailey’s Crossroads.

Willingham, a 31-year-old West End Alexandria resident, got into fitness “by accident.” He was exercising some but not getting the results he wanted when he went for an interview in 2008 at Bally Total Fitness at Plaza of Landmark.

He thought he was applying for a management position when he learned the interview was for personal trainers. He was ready to walk out, but the interviewer encouraged him to stay and try it out. Willingham decided to give it a shot and got the job.

“I really fell in love with it — just the one-on-one contact with people, that’s just my thing — customer service,” he said. “But it’s really one-on-one, and it’s really somebody putting their lives in your hands and trusting you. So, their body is in your hands, so you need to take care of that person and make sure they get results. You motivate them, stay on them and give them what they want, at the end of the day.”

Willingham educated himself about fitness through books, online training and through seminars. He hustled to build up his clientele to about 15 people, then 20. Clients began to tell him he should offer his own personal training business, and he listened.

“I really liked being a personal trainer and getting to know my clients, and when you have people coming to see you, it’s really just you and that customer, so they’re used to you and like you, and the reasons they come to the gym and work out is because of the personal trainer, not because of the gym,” Willingham said. “So, once I realized that, I felt like it was time for me to branch out on my own.”

He left the gym in May 2011 and began training clients at the private gym at his apartment complex off Edsell Road. Willingham moved into the new location, in an office building on Leesburg Pike, about six weeks ago. He trains about 30 clients, and new phone calls and emails are beginning to come in steadily.

Willingham offers weight loss, toning and definition. He focuses on plyometrics, using your own body weight and resistance to train, which he says is effective and reduces the chance of injury. His small gym includes a room for plyometrics and a room a second room for cardio workouts.

“I was ready to do it,” he said. “Thank God for my clients telling me, and giving me support, and being willing to move to a different location, even though it isn’t that far from Edsell Road to here, but it’s a transition, and I had the courage to do it. So right now I feel extra confident, and I’m ready to start here in the D.C. area, and I’m looking to expand out of state.”

Willingham has earned a ringing endorsement from client Kim Conner of Springfield, who first trained with him when he worked at Bally. Now, she has her mother training with him, too.

“I think that Bruce is amazing,” Conner said. “He’s very sweet and very patient and very encouraging. He’s always smiling, and he has a really good attitude. And he has so many different ideas and exercises that are already in his head. So, if you’re doing something and you’re like, ‘This hurts my knee,’ he’s like, ‘Try this.’ … So, he always has an alternative plan for whatever exercise or routine, and he keep is it exciting.”

Client and Springfield resident Andrea Villalta trained with Willingham when he was at Bally and reconnected with him earlier this year when she wanted to lose weight for her upcoming wedding. The results were great, she said.

“He’s a good trainer,” she said. “He’s easy to work with. He’s very reliable. He’s very flexible, which is really great for me. You’ll get your goals done, if you’re dedicated, and he’s very dedicated to his clients.”

Details about Banner Lifestyle, including contact information, is available at www.putthecupcakedown.com.