Typical Day
Callie S. Thenics groans as the sound of her alarm goes off. She looks out the window—still dark. She looks at her alarm—4:30am. Ugh.
As a physiologist at a nearby private fitness center, Callie's mornings start early (and sweaty) with an intense, heart-pumping workout. Callie loves working out, and after all, no one knows the benefits of exercise better than she.
Callie is back in her apartment by 6am. She showers, changes into another set of workout clothes, grabs her laptop, and fixes breakfast. A "foodie" she is not, but her meal of whole-grain toast, egg whites (cooked sans oil in a non-stick pan, pepper, no salt), and exactly 12 almonds crushed into 2% Greek yogurt powers her up to take on the day.
She's out the door and at the fitness center, Biff's Get-Buff Tough-Guy Gym, by 7:20am. After greeting the women at the front desk, Callie heads to the back room where her "work station"—not really an office—is located. She shares the space with two personal trainers and a physical therapist. Hers is the one cluttered with piles of paperwork.
At 8am, Callie meets with her first client of the day, a firefighter returning from an injury-related leave of absence. He needs a check-up and a new fitness regimen to get back into shape. Callie runs through the standard procedure: body composition test, a V02 max test on the treadmill, and an EKG interpretation. Callie concludes the session with a basic strength and conditioning workout (touch-your-toes, leg press, chest press), which she writes down and gives to her client like it's a prescription.
The firefighter leaves at 9am, and although Callie typically sees clients back-to-back, her next client is always late. She uses the extra time to frantically complete and file some paperwork, first for the fitness center records and then with health insurance companies. Her client finally arrives. He's overweight, at risk for diabetes, and eager to start a comprehensive weight loss program. Luckily Callie knows a thing or two that will help.
At 12:30pm, after squeezing in several more clients, Callie breaks for lunch. She's been on her feet for most of the morning, and inhales two slices of whole-grain bread, some chickpea-avocado mash (with a dash of olive oil), a nectarine, and another Greek yogurt.
After lunch it's back to the paperwork. She's making some great progress, but becomes frustrated when the numbers in her spreadsheets don't add up. She's quickly on the phone with the health insurance company to verify her client's plan. This is by far the worst part of her job, but when you work in health and wellness there's no avoiding the insurance companies.
Things are typically pretty slow at Biff's Get-Buff Tough-Guy Gym from 1:30-4pm. Callie uses the time to look at some exciting new research on thermoregulation, including exercises that increase vasodilation. At 4pm, Callie's already had a full day—she clocks out and hits the road.
But she's not headed home quite yet. Callie also works part-time as a group fitness instructor at a different gym. While Callie loves her job at Biff's and is very appreciative of the generous health benefits, it was getting difficult to make ends meet. She needed to find something to supplement her income, so she began teaching fitness classes and Pilates at a studio across town.
Callie's fed and in bed by 8pm. As a physiologist, Callie knows not only what to feed her body but how much sleep her body needs. Exhausted from being either on her feet overseeing sweaty clients working out, or working out herself, Callie is asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.