Jessica Ekstrum-Trainer at YCRC

When you first start talking to Jessica, you immediately notice her beautiful smile and spark for what she does. She has such a warm personality and makes you feel like you can achieve your goals. This attitude and perspective comes from a hard fight herself, and now she uses her own experience to help those around her.

In her senior year, Jessica suffered from some issues that the doctors could not readily identify. She gained 30 pounds in 3 months, despite a healthy diet and regular exercises. In order to work through this, she finally had to take matters into her own hands. Once she learned more about fitness, she was able to connect with people who could identify her condition and helped her overcome it. In the process, she fell in love with fitness, lost weight and continued to do well. Because she was able to learn and overcome her own hormonal imbalance, she has a unique connection to her clients. Jessica finds that it helps her relate to people, understand their struggles and be a very non-judgmental trainer. Jessica sees nutrition as being one of the biggest challenges her clients face. This is important because it’s key for both general fitness and weight loss goals. Most of her clients want to achieve some level of weight loss, so they talk about nutrition and their daily diet. Jessica is currently working towards becoming a registered dietician as well, so she can prescribe a personalized diet plan to clients, help them understand it and make it easier for them to implement it more in their life. Another reason why Jessica feels this is so important is because every person makes dietary choices for different reasons. Sometimes, it can be hard to share these with your trainer. However, as a trainer, the diet of her clients affects their workout and the results they achieve, so she can talk to them about their meals that day to help find out why someone might be feeling sluggish, tired or just “not into it. Jessica’s philosophy on fitness is that it’s a lifelong lifestyle. That doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in your favorite cheat meal once in a while. It means you need to moderate it with good decisions. In Jessica’s case, her favorite is Buffalo wings! Clearly though, she balances this out with healthy choices during her days and eating foods that make her feel good also. One interesting fact about Jessica is that she recently won a pageant for 2015 Miss Golden State CoEd--Miss California! These pageants are based on personality, community and education. In order to do well in these, you have to be a genuine person and she uses the interview skills she gains to connect better with her clients. It lets her feel more comfortable and have a conversation that will build a relationship. She is certainly beautiful inside and out and a pleasure to work with. Jessica has a long relationship with Yuba City Racquet Club, as she’s been a member since she was 7 years old. Growing up in the club, she’s seen it transform both physically and with the people who visit regularly. In her words, “it’s definitely home for me.” She has tried other gyms but felt uncomfortable. One of her favorite parts about YCRC is that there are corners and shadows you can choose to work out in if you wish, without having to feel like you’re being watched or judged. It’s her home base where she feels the most comfortable and we are blessed to have her here. When I asked Jessica what she would like to say to anyone considering training with her, here is what she had to say: “Come see me …..I’m non-judgmental. You can be who you are and tell me the truth. I’ve been where you’ve been, I understand why you’re at the place you are, and why you can’t get to where you to go on your own. I’ll show you how to make it a lifelong journey and make it a permanent lifestyle, not just giving temporary results.” If you’re thinking about getting in shape and you want some expert help, go to the club and ask for Jessica! You will love the results you get and she is a pleasure to train with at the same time!