People

FIT FINESSE

For the health & wellness gurus you’re about to meet, working out is an artform — one that requires the perfect mix of intensity, dedication and sweat. If you’re willing to put in the effort, the physical fitness strides you’ll achieve are endless.
Text by Stacy Wynn photos by Antonio Eli | June 4, 2018 | People

Alex Cure
Cure Fitness
1800 SW 1st Ave.
786.286.2480
Cure-Fitness.com

“It’s extremely fulfilling to see a client’s body transform and know that they put so much effort into seeing results. It’s a very rewarding experience to know that you help people change their lives!”

As a young boy growing up in Brazil, Alex Cure was always very active in sports. When he moved to the U.S. at 8, he continued to be very active. As he grew older, he went to college where he started to study cinematography, then tried architecture, then moved on to explore advertising. “It was 2 years after that that I realized my true passion was what I had been doing all my life…and that is fitness,” he says. He has since studied Exercise Physiology at Florida International University and has been in the fitness industry for almost 12 years now, with the last few years at Cure Fitness establishing a new way for locals to work out and stay healthy. “When I started Cure Fitness in 2009, I wanted to create a unique environment where people can come in and feel that they belong to something different, not just an ordinary gym,” he explains. He wanted to establish a place where people feel motivated to come and get away from their daily stresses — where clients could get personal training that’s specifically designed for them. It’s a unique place that has a very different approach than other gyms. “One of our clients who is a well-known TV personality tweeted before he came in for his session,” he reports. “Needless to say, the paparazzi followed him and waited outside of the gym during his session.” During the celeb’s cardio routine, the cameras expected him to go a certain direction but Cure and his client had other plans. “Of course the paparazzi started following and couldn’t keep up with us because of their cameras,” he quips. “Some of them even got tangled up and fell!” Definitely not a typical day at the average gym. For now, Cure says he’s going to continue what he’s been doing. “Don’t be too surprised if a few more Cure Fitness locations pop up around the city,” he says. “We have fun while we train. We keep the atmosphere light — and humor is a big part of that.”

Lina Vallejo
Skanda Yoga Studio
1800 SW 1st Ave., Ste. 102
786.567.8124
SkandaYoga.com

“It’s hard for me to call this a service a job because it fulfills every part of my life. My students and teachers are now my family. It’s not a job, it’s a blessing!”

To say that Lina Vallejo is an interesting person is a understatement. She grew up in Columbia and studied business administration while working as a professional bungee-jumper. She moved to Miami 14 years ago where she started working as a personal trainer before discovering yoga. “Yoga transformed my entire being and I wanted to share the magic with others,” she says. Today, she teaches yoga full-time and owns Skanda Yoga Studio in Brickell. Skanda Yoga is an alignment-based power yoga practice that incorporates modern scientific stretching techniques in a traditional format. It also infuses Mayan mysticism to establish a spiritual intention for the practice which ultimately brings the student into a harmonious relationship with nature’s cyclical patterns. The positive results can’t be denied. Lina had one student come to the studio who had never done yoga before. She was overweight and took pills for her heart condition, cholesterol, depression, anxiety and joint problems. Within 3 years, she had lost 40 pounds and was off all of her medications. “It was very impressive to see how dedication to the practice can optimize health and well-being,” says Vallejo. And this is more than just the average stretch-before-rushing-home-to cook-dinner yoga studio. “We are a very healthy and lovely community,” she says. “I’m constantly around very kind and open people.” As one would expect, all of this positive energy has to move forward. Future plans include the publishing of an upcoming book about the practice, an asana card deck and a mobile app. Additionally, Skanda Yoga Studio will continue to offer amazing retreats and workshops nationally and internationally, with plans to open another studio on the horizon. After 15 years of working on herself and others, Vallejo has found yoga to be the most powerful platform to enhance the experience of freedom and happiness. “It doesn’t matter if you’re strong or flexible, but only that you are open to a greater possibility of living your life more fully in all of its aspects,” she says. “I believe from my heart that if every person in the world practiced yoga, we could change the world with just one om.”

William Cameron
Cure Fitness
1800 SW 1st Ave.
508.409.8781
Cure-Fitness.com

“I love training and all the aspects surrounding it, but the freedom to create effective exercises and instruct with your own plan is a blessing. I have a great connection with conditioning and with people!”

“We are a serious private training facility that strives for long-term progression to increase sport economy or activities of daily living (ADL’s) for athletes and the general population,” William Cameron, “Coach Cam”, Strength & Conditioning Specialist/Personal Trainer, says of Cure Fitness. “We’re not a quick fix like some of our competitors. We take the time to identify deficiencies and the needs of the athlete/client and strive to keep them injury-free.” Several factors led Coach Cam to a fitness career in addition to being involved in sports from childhood. He began training himself intensely his senior year in high school and then over that summer. “Attending the University of Rhode Island in September 2000, I met Jay Souza,” he recalls. “He was the director of Fitness & Wellness as well as a fitness competitor. He quickly became my mentor and an inspiration who influenced me in changing my major from Pre-Med to Kinesiology. To this day, he’s the foundation of my training which incorporates attention to detail and perfection in techniques.” After graduation, Coach Cam moved to Miami to be closer to his newborn daughter and worked in several corporate offices. “I realized that wasn’t where I fit,” he says. “I had too much energy to be sitting at a desk looking at a computer screen and listening to customers or bosses complain about who knows what.” He soon fell back into training by combining his educational background and techniques from his mentor. He practiced, continued to learn, and now uses it all to create new ways to assist athletes/clients to perform better in sports and life. “Cure Fitness works on power/speed/quickness, strength/endurance/flexibility, using compounding, complex, contrasting, open-close chain, circuits and unconventional training methods,” he explains. “We train movement and not just muscles — we understand the human body as a whole and not separated segments.” As such, he works with all ages, athletic or not, fit or unfit, to improve their ability to function in their daily activity or sport. The focus is on flexibility, muscle imbalances, balance, system connectivity and everything in between. “I see myself as a regular person, learning everyday and keeping up with the changes of the body as it continuously transforms,” he says.

Bernadette Bassiouni & Kerri Bender
Pilates & Movement Center
Of Brickell
40 SW 13th St., Ste. 504
305.381.9641
PilatesMovementBrickell.com

“It’s very important for us to maintain a high standard of excellence for our classical, authentic Pilates studio. Movement is about purity and we don’t want anything to get in the way of that.”

Bernadette Bassiouni and Kerri Bender come from very different parts of the world — Melbourne, Australia and Charleston, South Carolina — respectively…yet they share a similar background. Both were members of prestigious ballet companies — The Australian Ballet Company (Bernadette) and The Charleston Ballet Theatre (Kerri) — where they developed a strong understanding of movement and body awareness. Through the course of their dance careers, they found Pilates to be the most beneficial exercise and the best way to improve strength, stamina and performance, which ultimately led them to Pilates as the perfect career track. “My life in movement began when I was 8,” says Kerri. “When I retired from performing professionally, I was unclear as to my career path.” It was while performing as a fill-in dancer with a modern dance company outside of Washington, D.C., when one of her fellow performers owned a Pilates studio and had trained with Romana Kryzanowska, Joseph Pilates’ distinguished protégé and disciple. “After my very first lesson, I knew I had to gain certification,” she says. Both Kerri and Bernadette trained under the late Romana in New York City but didn’t meet up until years later. “Romana inspired us to become strong teachers and ultimately we were certified as teacher-trainers under Romana’s Pilates…2 out of just 100 teacher-trainers worldwide who hold this distinction,” they say. The duo joined up in Key Biscayne in 2009 when Kerri came to work at Pilates Center By Bernadette. When the right opportunity came up, the duo knew they could form a strong partnership, and subsequently opened up Pilates & Movement Center of Brickell in 2013, a sister studio to the popular Key Biscayne location. The new studio follows the same Key Biscayne blueprint with a focus on a strong, authentic Pilates foundation. New clients are advised to take on private sessions initially. “This is essential since each body moves and learns differently,” says Bernadette. “In order to change a client’s body, we focus on the specific needs of the individual. Once our clients have completed the initial private (evaluation) sessions, they can then select from a wide range of wonderful group classes.”

Michael Faddis
Thrust Health, LLC
2 S. Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 3760
974.584.7878
ThrustHealth.com

“Thrust is like an all-natural Viagra for men and women with exercises and meals proven to supercharge your body’s performance — both in and out of the bedroom — heighten libido, lose fat, build lean muscle and enhance sexual performance.”

It’s no secret that many of us strive to maintain healthy lifestyles and intimate relationships. Michael Faddis, Executive Director of Thrust Health saw the opportunity to create a comprehensive wellness package designed for both men and women to lose fat, build lean muscle and enhance sexual performance. “On a daily basis, our society is fully exposed to the benefits of high-powered pharmaceutical solutions to sexual dysfunction,” says Faddis. “Unfortunately for women, there’s no pill.” He’s setting out to change the way we perceive preventative care and personal health maintenance with Thrust Interactive Guides for fitness, diet and intimacy. “With the assistance of a team of experts in exercise science, nutrition and sexual health, we’ve created the most scientifically advanced exercise and lifestyle system ever,” affirms Faddis. After 8 years of building a wellness enterprise to deliver preventative healthcare and chronic pain management, Faddis shifted his business focus to better sex & health. Under his management, the company completed its first round of financing, and is ready to deliver a cutting-edge lifestyle program with interactive technologies for video, social media and apps across all technology platforms in the 4th quarter of 2014. “Our core values are healthy, sexy and fun,” he says, mentioning that Brenda Lowe, a former Dolphin’s cheerleader and Survivor contestant experienced the benefits of Thrust first-hand. “During Thrust filming, she was concerned she couldn’t continue due to her pregnancy. Not only was she able to complete filming, she also continued the program throughout her 2nd and 3rd trimester. She’s now the proud mommy of a beautiful baby boy — Eren.” Faddis loves hearing the success stories from the coaches and test groups regarding relationships, pregnancy and health improvement. “They are living proof that we’re not just another fad — we’re making a difference in real people’s lives.” Pre-order of the entire program and registration for an invitation to the Thrust Detox Weekend and Launch Party on Nov. 14-16 is available at ThrustHealth.com.