Spotlight on Chris Berger
Title: Club 1 General Manager
How he got here: Chris has eight years experience in the fitness field. He joined Club 1 as its Membership Director four years ago.
Family: Wife Megan, son Landon, 2, and they are expecting another son in March.
Education: Two years of athletic training at Barton Community College and a Bachelor of Science in health and human performance from Fort Hays State University. He has ISSA (International Sports Science Association) Certification.
What brought him here: “I’ve always been into health and fitness and sports.”
Hobbies: He enjoys all kinds of physical activities: “I love riding my bike, camping and hiking.”
What you may not know: He’s a music lover. In school, he was always into sports (basketball, cross country, weight lifting and power lifting), but he joined Ellinwood High School’s Mystic Blues singing group his senior year. That led to a scholarship at Barton. Chris met his wife in BCC’s Hilltop Singers. “I love going to concerts.” Some of the bands he’s seen of late: The Rolling Stones and the Foo Fighters.
The staff at Club 1 Fitness, 3806 Broadway, are here to help make 2016 the best year yet for health-minded members of the community.
General Manager Chris Berger said the staff emphasized taking a team approach to fitness this past year.
“We sat down as a team and designed the new weight room and new gym,” he said. Club 1 employees provided much of the labor for a remodeling effort that included new paint, flooring and ceilings, as well as rearranging all of the equipment.
“We wanted to make the experience better — the best it could be” Berger said. New equipment was added, including stair mills, a rowing machine, ellipticals and adaptive motion trainers (AMTs).
The team approach is serving Club 1 well. “We each have a gift and a certain personality type,” Berger said.
Matt Edwards, Club 1’s personal training director, agrees. “We’re the only ones in the area that offer group fitness like we do,” he said. A Sterling College graduate, Edwards enjoys all assets of fitness. He leads three other full-time trainers.
Stormy Rios specializes is nutrition, although currently she’s often busy coaching one of the daily boot camps offered during the 2016 Battle of the Bulge going on this month. Tandy Herman’s specialties are yoga and senior conditioning; her classes include Mix Yoga, which combines three types of yoga to improve flexibility and range of motion. K.D. Hancock teaches a class called TKO, added this past year, which is an hour of interval training that includes everything from mixed martial arts training to boxing, jiujitsu and weight lifting.
As for Edwards, his speciality is strength and conditioning. His Body Fit class consists of explosive body weight exercises and resistance band training combined to create a total body sculpting experience.
“Our variety of specialities makes us more effective by far,” Edwards said. “We never worry about asking another trainer for advice.”
Other teammates
This past year Front Desk Manager Niki Helfrich revamped the Refuel Zone, where members go for a protein shake or other nutritious treat after working out. “We’ve seen a lot of great results,” Berger said.
One of the tanning booths was replaced by Angel Care Massage, operated by Susan Phillbern, massage therapist. She schedules massage sessions ranging from 15 minutes to 2 hours long. She has heart-shaped gift boxes for anyone interested in giving a gift certificate to a special someone for Valentine’s Day.
A new class instructor, Lelsie Klug, has taken over the Pure HIT class. This popular group fitness class combines strength training with a fast pace to create a killer workout.
Dustin Wheeler is the tennis director and in charge of marketing. He has 10 years coaching experience and specializes in 10 and Under Development. Wheeler has coached multiple players that have attained Div 1 NCAA tennis scholarships and has coached numerous players who play at Div II and Div III NCAA schools. He is USPTA Certified.
Club 1 Fitness was started by Martin Casey in 1974. Today it is owned by his daughter, Caron Zager.
