“There were many factors that drew me into Caliber and kept me,” says Iris, a 42-year-old middle school teacher and mom of two. “One of those factors was flexibility. Before Caliber, I would go to the gym after work, but I really didn’t have time to spend with my kids, so when I changed my schedule to go to the gym at 4 am, Caliber was very flexible. I liked that I didn’t have to change my schedule to suit someone.”
It’s an outlet that allows me to challenge myself, while helping me build my self-esteem."
Caliber was ideal for someone like Iris who didn’t have a ton of workout experience and had run out of ideas for how to lose weight. “Prior to joining Caliber, I had a gastric sleeve done, and I had lost about 65 pounds with it,” she explains. “And then I stopped losing weight. I tried going to the gym, and I tried doing cardio, but the doctor said my weight was not moving. So I knew I had to do something different, but I was completely clueless.”
It also didn’t help that Iris was going through a bout of depression that coincided with the passing of her grandmother, in addition to going through a divorce. She needed a program that could help her shift her focus in a more positive direction. “I started looking into strength training because I already had the drive to do it; I just didn’t really have a clue what I was doing at the gym,” she shares. “I’m also sort of an introvert to a point, so when I go to the gym, I like to go by myself. I don’t really like to work out with anybody else. That’s my alone time when I can really work through my stuff. I started looking into online training, and Caliber is the one that caught my eye.”
She signed up for the 14-day free trial and was instantly impressed. She found the app incredibly user friendly, and she liked that she was able to link her weight scale directly to it. She also appreciated the ease of communication with her certified coach. “Whenever I had questions, he answered,” she says. “He worked every day, so when I would text him on the weekend, I’d expect an answer the following Monday, but he pretty much would answer me within two to three hours.”
She began working with her coach to carve out a workout plan that she would seamlessly fit into her busy schedule. “When I signed up for Caliber, they asked how many times per week I’m willing to work out, at what times, so when my coach planned my workouts, he built them with the hours in mind that I gave myself,” she says. She also appreciated the videos and written instructions that her coach attached to each exercise, as they helped her to understand how to do the workouts properly and illustrated what her form should look like.
As she had hoped, Caliber became an incredible way for her to push through her depression. “I needed something as an outlet and a focus and a challenge, and working out gave me a perk,” she shares. “It helped me build up my self-esteem. It was my time to get my mind away, and I didn’t have to sit and think about what I was going to do.”
Iris has been able to harness her increased energy to constantly push herself and set new goals. “I’ve focused on the challenge,” she says. “Pushing myself every time I go. I do my sets and then I challenge myself to do one more than I did last week. They’re not big challenges but they help.”
Caliber has also helped her focus on other important wellness areas. Her strength coach helped her set parameters where her nutrition was involved. But for Iris, it was important that those parameters were realistic. “As a mom with kids, what I can eat sometimes doesn’t match with what they want to eat, and I’m Hispanic, so our culture eats a lot of things like rice,” she explains. “And I like that they didn’t push a nutrition plan, but I still have my parameters and I stay within them.”
It’s now been nearly three years since she started using Caliber, and she’s stronger than she’s ever been. “Let’s just say I’m way more fit than when I was younger,” she says. “I laugh because my daughter’s a cheerleader — she’s very fit, and I can outrun her.” She’s even had women in the gym approach her to find out more about her fitness routine. One of them has even started mimicking hers.
She credits much of her success to the strong rapport with her coach, who always keeps her specific needs in mind. “Sometimes as women, we go through hormonal changes,” Iris explains. “Our weight goes up, our weight goes down. Stress causes a lot of issues. But I never feel pressure from my coach.” Instead, he’ll suggest ways she can switch it up to ensure she starts seeing the results she wants, but he’s never negative if she doesn’t meet her goal. And because she likes to challenge herself, they’re always finding ways to make sure she’s pushing herself, but always on her terms and in a way that suits her schedule. It may not look like a conventional fitness commercial, but we’d argue it’s better.
