Private Instruction

Scheduling Appointments
Once registration at the main desk of the A or Z Center is complete, your Personal Trainer/Fitness Consultant will contact you to schedule your individual appointments. Trainers/Consultants are assigned based on availability and client/trainer compatability. All client information is strictly confidential. For futher information contact: PersonalTraining@mit.edu

Personal Training Prices

Personal Trainer Bios

** Aaron currently has limited availability**

Name	Aaron Benson
Certification(s)	NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, USRowing Level III Certified Rowing Coach
Experience	Aaron holds a master’s in exercise physiology from Ithaca College in New York, and a bachelor’s in exercise science from Willamette University in Oregon. Certified since 2004, he also has over five years experience coaching and training varsity rowers. He is currently a coach for the MIT women’s crew.
Area(s) of Expertise	Core training, functional fitness, sport-specific conditioning
Philosophy	“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” --Aristotle
History/Background	Originally from Seattle, Aaron grew up running, cycling, skiing, and snowboarding with his family. He played soccer for over ten years, learned to row in high school, and was a varsity rower throughout college. Academically, he focused on biomechanics and human physiology, and has published research and presented at conferences of the American College of Sports Medicine and International Society of Biomechanics covering topics ranging from hiking to maximal oxygen uptake, and of course rowing.
Hobbies	rowing, running, cycling, reading

Name	Shawn Biggs
Certification(s)	NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist
Experience	4 years of personal training
Area(s) of Expertise	Sports specific training, functional training, motivation
Philosophy	The human body is the most amazing machine ever created! The body was designed to work. Muscle is for work from work. There are no short cuts, no silver bullets. You must love to train, run, jump, lift, etc. Set your fitness goal and get to work! Live to train and train to live. To me training hard is fun, I love to work out and play sports. I live for it.
History/Background	High school, college, and semi-pro football. BS in Sports Medicine/Athletic Training. 6 courses of Graduate level course work in health and fitness. 3 years of personal training experience within the corporate and academic setting. Clientele include both men and women, young and old, ultra fit and unfit.
Hobbies	Basketball, softball, running, mountain biking, swimming, diving, roller hockey, lacrosse, golf, tennis and weight lifting. Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.

Name	David Bond
Certification(s)	NASM Certified Personal Trainer with Specializations in Prehabilitation, Rehabilitation and mature adults.
Experience	5 years Personal Training
Area(s) of Expertise	Strength, stability, training for sport and optimum athletic performance
Philosophy	"emphasize the positive qualities in yourself, others, and life experiences". If you believe as David does, that "you are what you do", then treat yourself to a total body experience.
History/Background	Track, baseball and tennis coach.
Hobbies	music, playing the saxophone, performing, teaching.

Name	Chris Daly
Certification(s)	NASM - Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES), Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES)
Experience	5+ years of personal training experience. In the process of finishing up a BA in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania.
Area(s) of Expertise	Functional training (training for a specific purpose), sport specific training, improving posture and core strength.
Philosophy	I train movements not muscles. Based on equal pressing and pulling exercises, working vertically/horizontally and hip/knee movements. I am familiar with Olympic lifts and love to incorporate them along with plyometrics and conditioning drills.
History/Background	I am originally from Boston but spent 4 years in Colorado skiing, biking and playing golf.
Hobbies	Playing hockey and golf as well as working out. I'm also involved with Big Brothers of Mass and have been for the past 4 years.

Name	Ryan Dietz
Certification(s)	American Council on Exercise (ACE) Certified Personal Trainer, American Heart First aid/CPR/AED
Experience	2+ years of training experience. I first started training at the University of Maine, where I received my B.S. in Kinesiology. For the past year I have been training in the Boston area.
Area(s) of Expertise	Weight loss, muscle gain, group training, and sports performance
Philosophy	Attaining excellence in fitness is just as difficult as mastering an art form. You need to work hard each day at your craft and try not to get discouraged when the immediate results are not the ones you were after. The time will come when the person you want to be shines through- so keep working!
History/Background	I grew up in Connecticut but have spent the last couple of years in Maine working on my Bachelors at U. Maine. I enjoy all sports and try to incorporate a variety of exercises into my routines to keep then fun and exciting. I have been a coach of many sports teams and I use my knowledge of instruction to try and teach my clients the skills they need to succeed in their fitness endeavors beyond personal training session.
Hobbies	Camping, Hiking, fishing, kayaking, listening to music, playing and coaching a variety of sports, hanging out with Friends and Family

Name	Beth Erlichman
Certification(s)	ACE Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Wellcoaches – Wellness Coach (in progress)
Experience	6 years as a trainer, 5 years as a Group Fitness Instructor
Area(s) of Expertise	Motivating and inspiring people of all levels, abilities and ages to enjoy and sustain an exercise program, with an emphasis on cross training. Aspiring to put the “fun” back into functional training. A specific passion is working with people at midlife who want to age gracefully and injury free so they can be healthy and fit in the years to come.
Philosophy	Get out and play (exercise) every day! Take good care of yourself. Your health and fitness is the key to happiness and living life fully.
History/Background	Beth is a former teacher, a lifelong athlete of the pre- Title IX generation, (played competitive tennis, and basketball and baseball for fun); whose passion for fitness prompted her to change careers and became a trainer at midlife. She brings her compassion, energy, sense of humor, and expertise to her work. She is married 29 years and is the mother of two ages 25 and 22 who are athletes like her.
Hobbies	Road cycling, hiking, yoga, playing golf, playing guitar, studying and singing opera, reading non-fiction, and volunteering.

Name	David Lee
Certification(s)	NASM Certified Personal Trainer and AFAA Group Exercise
Experience	4 + years of Personal Training
Area(s) of Expertise	I focus on exercise techniques that decrease body fat in a safe and healthy manner.
Philosophy	Anything is possible!
History/Background	OSU Alumni - BA of Music Composition, Berklee College of Music Alumni - Film Scoring Degree
Hobbies	All forms of exercise, playing and composing music, and spending time with my beautiful wife, Fen Tung (another fantastic MIT trainer).

Name	Teri McDonough
Certification(s)	NASM, Maddog Spin & Licensed Massage Therapist
Experience	3 years
Area(s) of Expertise	strength conditioning, weight loss, functional training
Philosophy	“ Pride lasts longer than Pain ” ….the beauty of success is learning to engage yourself in the journey…
History/Background	A native of the North Shore, Teri has a passion for fitness, wellness and nutrition. She holds an Associates Degree from North Shore Community College with emphasis on health and wellness classes. She is a single parent of two teens and remains active with Lynn Youth Hockey and East Lynn Pop Warner.
Hobbies	weight lifting, nutrition, anti-aging, youth sports, boxing, bellydancing and the beach….variety is the spice of life!

Name	Tim Robertson
Certification(s)	American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Personal Trainer
Experience	1 year personal trainer and group X class instructor
Area(s) of Expertise	Strength training, sport specific conditioning, Plyometric’s.
Philosophy	To make people live longer through being healthier and happier.
History/Background	Bachelors Degree in Fine Art in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design, moved to Boston shortly after graduation. Currently busy doing personal training, and freelance art on the side.
Hobbies	Basketball, racketball, tennis, hockey, ping pong, volleyball, football, mini golf, wiffleball, watching Seinfeld, drawing comical things, drawing and painting caricatures, animating.

Name	Sage-Willow Server
Certification(s)	NASM Certified Personal Trainer, CoreFlex Trainer, Mind Body Certified Yoga and Pilates Trainer, Lifestyle Management Assoc. Holistic Nutrition Counselor
Experience	I have worked with a diverse group of people towards achieving various health and wellness goals. This includes, flexibility training of triathletes and college level athletes, weight loss and strength building for women aged 28-65, and those individuals looking to increase their personal fitness challenge and take their current workouts to the next level. Though all of my programs are custom made for the individual I consistently take my clients through a broad range of activities in an attempt to develop all aspects of their fitness including, flexibility, strength, cardio, and core.
Area(s) of Expertise	Weight Loss, Circuit Training, Stress Reduction, Core Strengthening and Back Pain, Healthy Eating, Flexibility Training
Philosophy	Long term success most often comes when we make slow impactful lifestyle choices towards losing weight, increasing health, and reducing stress. We usually feel our best when we are living our healthiest life.
Hobbies	I am usually happiest when I am doing anything outdoors! This includes cycling, running, yoga on a beach, hiking and kayaking. On the rare occasions that I must retreat indoors I can most often be found cooking, reading, and fixing up our house!

**Fen has limited availability**

Name	Fen Tung
Certification(s)	NASM Certified Personal Trainer; AFAA Primary Group Exercise Instructor; ARC First Aid; ARC CPR/AED; BOSU Integrated Balance and Reactive Strength Training
Experience
Additional workshops/training experience	Senior Fitness, Pilates, and Basic running
Experience	4 years of training, 2 years teaching group exercise (Pilates, Bootcamp, Kickboxing, Jump rope, Body sculpting, BOSU/Stability Ball classes)
Area(s) of Expertise	Core training, balance, nutrition, weight loss, have worked with all age groups, including teens; mostly have trained females interested in increasing muscle tone and weight loss
Philosophy	Take it one day at a time. Each day is an opportunity to do something good for your health.
History/Background	I ran Varsity Cross Country during high school and college (ran the Boston marathon as a bandit in 1998). Graduated from MIT with a BS in Biology in 2000. I have been active in many sports since age 6 (karate, gymnastics, tennis, swimming, ballet, volleyball, basketball, track & field). I took a weight lifting class in high school which got me interested in resistance training.
Hobbies	Cooking, watching movies, running