Soft-spoken Dustin Bateman isn't like the loud, in-your-face trainer yelling and screaming as featured on a certain weight-loss TV show. His spirit and goals, which come across as knowledgeable, encouraging and steady, are embodied in the New Hope name of his business.
"I have been in recovery from drugs and alcohol since 2009," he said. "When we were coming up with a name for the business, we wanted to inspire new hope. It means more than heavy dumbbells and lifting iron." Bateman works to help people feel better, physically and mentally.
His favorite thing to hear from clients is: "I'm able to do so much more!" Bateman is serving all ages and stages in his new gym, Armor Fitness in Auburn, with individualized programs that continually and safely challenge performance. "We put 'personal' in 'personal training,'" he said.
"Trainers can get boxed in to just training power lifters, or athletes or geriatric clients. I didn't want to do that," he said. He currently has clients ranging from age 9 to 82 who are young athletes, middle-aged women wanting to lose weight and feel better, the Silver Sneakers senior crowd, and more. He varies programs individually so clients are always challenged and can move safely from, as he says, phase one to phase two and so on.
"If people aren't challenged, they're not going to come back. And they'll do what I ask them to do, if it's five more reps or whatever they need, because I listen and they trust me," Bateman said. "Trust is the most important thing."
