Bigger picture: Courage Fitness is a community gym. You see business owners and teachers and parents from school here. You see people of all ages, ability, gender. The gym and coaches have an overwhelming attitude of WELCOME.
Personal picture: Coach Nic Ilijic changed my life. Before coming to Courage Fitness, I had hip and back pain every morning and after even gentle exercise, and just HURT. I was so discouraged, especially after a running injury earlier this year. Coach Nic and I met for a Discovery Call appointment and mobility evaluation. My spouse had worked with Nic previously, and that helped me with this initial appointment, which really did require some trust. As a primary caretaker and someone with CPTSD, it means a LOT to receive care and attention—especially physical training— that doesn’t raise fear or anxiety.
Coach Nic and I established goals at the beginning of our session, and I am still laughing about him reading back to me that my primary goal was “…not to feel effing old in the morning.” I also can’t even say how amazing it felt to have Coach Nic look me in the eyes and say: “We are going to fix your hips!” This felt life changing in a way doctor appointments and PT have not for me, which have tended to target a specific problem without considering my whole body and mobility.
Coach Nic is patient, kind, responsive, attentive, and upbeat. He noticed how I was holding my hips at one point, and showed me a stretch specifically for that tension. He has a great sense of humor. I felt comfortable telling him when my knee hurt during an exercise, and he adjusted cushions when I worried about backward lunges and my knee placement, etc. He was gentle when I was afraid of lowering my body during movements—for an anxious person, this is everything! After 11/12 sessions completed with Coach Nic, I am physically moving through my life with greater ease and strength. I’ve noticed my anxiety has decreased, and I feel—oh wow, proud of myself?! Again: that’s a big deal for someone with my history!
Early in our sessions, I learned I was quad dominant when walking and running, and really couldn’t squat well anymore. Ten years of working out at home and on my own had really led to some poor form and weaknesses. I felt such a huge boost of confidence and optimism when Coach Nic and I started working together, and that feeling has just continued to grow as the weeks have progressed. I feel energized and really better than I have in years after working with Coach Nic. I can’t recommend him and Courage Fitness team highly enough. Thank you, Nic and Courage Fitness.
Melissa DeStefano
May 29, 2023
5
Excellent personal training and energizing group classes. The coaches go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals. Highly recommended!
Olivia Conetta
May 24, 2023
5
Courage is one of the most inclusive, friendly, and attentive gyms I’ve ever been to. Coaches pay attention to form and correct you during workouts; you’re never encouraged to work until you puke. I was about to move, and they worked with me to find a plan that would work for my short time horizon. The other gym-goers are friendly and fun to talk to as well. I’ve loved Courage and am sad to leave!
Jack Corelli
Oct 31, 2022
3
After a couple years as a member, I was largely disappointed with what the gym offered. They cancelled the power lifting program that was coached, and lost that space in the covid shuffle. I don't know at the time of this review if they restarted it, but I moved and have been pretty happy with a different location.
They have billed me incorrectly four times throughout covid and after. I supported the gym even though most of the equipment was not available because of the pandemic. Throughout this they have consistently over-charged, double billed, or otherwise incorrectly charged me. This amounts to almost $1,000 in cancelled and refunded charges. They were always apologetic and quickly refunded the charges, but still. Folks paying $1600-1800 a year for access to a gym, getting billed the monthly charge on top of that is problematic.
