Laurie Gordon is Montgomery County’s best kept secret when it comes to fitness and musculoskeletal health.  I met her playing on a mixed doubles tennis team 12 years ago. I hired her as my Personal Trainer nearly 3 years ago. I waited this long because I thought it was ridiculous to have an instructor by my side to go through such obvious exercises. I should be able to do them by myself, I thought.  But it turns out, there are lots of ways to do exercises wrong, and technique really matters. Further, I am not so unusual that I need a little regular encouragement to stay in shape. Using Laurie’s guidance is a way of being kind to myself.  And the body, I’ve learned in my work with her, is a quite complicated thing to understand and manage.  Ignorance is not bliss. When we first started, I couldn’t play two sets of tennis before my inner thigh muscles would freeze up quite painfully, and I would walk off the court, bent over from the pain.  I also have a partially torn right PCL, in my knee, which is irreparable and my knee would ache badly. On top of the knee and inner thigh muscles, I periodically got tennis elbow. Since I was totally dependent on tennis for exercise, the downtime would cause me to get painfully out of shape. I quickly found out that Laurie doesn’t just throw a bunch of exercises at you.  She actually gets to know you and thinks about your specific needs — constantly and continuously. You will leave with a home routine, but can come back for more.  I use a mixture thereof.  And my routine keeps being further refined as I get stronger. It wasn’t long before I was back on the court with no symptoms. I was amazed how quickly and easily the groin muscle problem was eliminated with “sliders”, one of her magical exercises. Now I play injury-free to my heart’s content and know exactly what I have to do to stay in shape and prevent injury.  And, recently, my shoulder started hurting a bit from serving.  No more. At her instruction, I carry a little hand weight in my bag and do circle eights with my shoulder and arm circles before each match. End of problem. Positively magical. I’m blasting serves harder than ever before, at age 72. At first, when she would get that “come on, you can do more” look on her face, I thought of her as “Our Lady of Pain! ” Now, I realize that she is actually very careful not to go too far and knows exactly what that means for each person.  I feel very comfortable pushing my limits under her watchful eye. If you want a calm, patient, caring, and thoroughly enjoyable personal trainer in your back pocket, to help with whatever you’re involved in, be it post-rehab, just staying in shape, or competitive sports, Laurie is so special and valuable, I have no words.

Thank you for being so willing to work with me again. You are a high caliber trainer. You are thorough, not just strength training and aerobic, but balance and flexibility. You put my well-being above all when training me. You get me trying and doing things I would not otherwise do! You are the simply the best!

My original reason for hiring Laurie was to prepare for a ski trip that was five months out in the future. While I am a causal runner and rower, I had never skied and didn’t know what exercises to do before I hit the slopes. I am not a “gym person” and I travel quite often for work – up to two weeks a month. So, Laurie developed an exercise program for me that I could do in my makeshift in-home exercise room and in my hotel room when I am on the road. She prepared detailed program instructions, complete with photos. Laurie recommended some small, inexpensive tools. I now regularly use dumbbells, bands, tubing, a ballast ball, a balance board, sliders and leg weights. I pack a couple pieces of tubing and a stretch strap when I travel and complement the use of these with body weight exercises. The result – my core balance and leg strength have really improved and so has my upper body strength. I feel so much better than I did six months ago! Now, if it had only snowed this season when I was in Vermont! Ya can’t have everything. Thanks, Laurie!

I am an attorney in the DC area. When I first met Laurie, I was a couple of years post-operative from an ACL repair and did not want to re-injure myself. My main goal was to tone up and gain some muscle definition. I was very motivated with my cardiovascular exercise and doing workouts in general; but, I needed guidance about how to do strength training safely. In fact, I have hired Laurie a couple of times over the past five years to jump start my training regime and would do so again because she always comes up with interesting and safe workouts that have worked for me. I also must tell you that Laurie helped me get into the best shape of my life for my wedding. I only had a few months to train. Laurie gave me an easy program that worked! I know what my friend’s paid for trainers…Laurie offers the best results for the best price. I wish I could show you some photos from the wedding. Laurie’s workouts gave me definition and the best tone I can imagine.

Where I used to have a spare bedroom in my home, I now have a well-equipped workout room, thanks to my Personal Trainer, Laurie Gordon. I was a 50-something who had never done much exercising and was weak, thin and out of shape. Wanting to stay healthy as I got older, I hired Laurie. How does she manage to transform someone like me? She creates personalized workouts, varies them weekly to keep my training interesting, is fun to train with and motivates me to exercise on my own. As a result, three years later, I have developed muscular strength, balance and endurance that I wouldn’t have thought possible with my history of avoiding exercise. Thank you, Laurie!

John began training with Laurie when he was recovering from open heart surgery, a UPPP, sleep apnea and diabetes. In addition, he was a smoker and morbidly obese (BMI of 36). Laurie worked with John’s doctor to establish a program that would improve his fitness without additional risk to his fragile cardiac condition. John started out with a modest objective: he wanted to be able to walk around the block without being concerned that he would have to phone his wife to get picked up in the car because he was not able to complete the trip. He achieved his first objective within three weeks. The program began with three appointments a week, after a year and half, the studio head thought he could turn it back a notch and we began meeting twice a week. Laurie is good about managing particular client needs. John wasn’t very well organized; so, she called John just before his appointment to remind him. His on time record improved dramatically. John enjoyed significant and measureable increases in strength, flexibility and endurance. He stopped smoking at Laurie’s insistence and his blood sugar dropped below 100mg/dl causing diabetes symptoms to disappear. If you have special requirements, do better with structure, do not have a background in physical training and need consistent encouragement, Laurie is your answer.

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Laurie Gordon has been my Personal Trainer for approximately ten years. She is competent, knowledgeable in her field, and engaging to work with. Most impressive to me has been her ability and desire to work with me when I have had to deal with physical issues due to operations or injuries. Laurie always came up with new ideas and strategies to keep my exercise program going without causing any pain to the affected areas. I would recommend Laurie to anyone at any level looking for a beneficial workout program.

Deb came to Laurie with a goal of running a 5K race. Laurie referred her to the Women’s Montgomery Road Runners Club running program for help with technique while she helped Deb work on her physical weaknesses in order to make her gain strength and stability for the run. She trained for 12 weeks and then ran the race. I wanted to run a 5k. I was training with Laurie to build strength and increase flexibility, and I had some medical issues to work around. I told Laurie I wanted to run a 5K. She referred me a running club, and I trained for 12 weeks with them, too. The day I ran the 5K, Laurie met up with me when I crossed the finish line!

I hired Laurie Gordon as my trainer on the recommendation of a friend. Before we started, Laurie did a battery of checks and measurements so that we could monitor my progress. The diagnostic check also meant that Laurie could make sure I was healthy enough to begin the fitness and exercise regime that she had planned. Where I live, the building has a modern, state-of-the-art gym, so I have worked with Laurie here. She assessed the equipment, set up a written exercise program, and also gave me exercises to do in my home with balance boards and other portable, small equipment. Laurie continually updates and tweaks my routines. She sends pictures to help me exercise on my own between our sessions. Overall, she has done an outstanding job of choosing exercises that are good for me and that I do not mind doing! Accolades to Laurie – I am far more physically fit; my balance is much improved and I have lost ten pounds in the last three months.

I am a snarly septuagenarian who grunts, grumbles (and Laurie claims), complains during every session I do with Laurie. Despite this treatment, she shows up cheerfully every week with a fresh set of exercises for me to complete. I must admit that I feel much better; I have shed 12 pounds; and I have lowered my cholesterol significantly. So, I somewhat grudgingly and only a very slightly reluctantly recommend Laurie to anyone who needs a great Personal Trainer. [And, of course, that’s everyone! ] ‘Hrrrumph’

Laurie helped me become a better athlete. When I met her I was playing basketball 2-3 times a week and doing regular cardio workouts at the gym or riding my bike outside. I would throw in some push-ups and crunches and call it a workout. I finally decided I should learn how to use the weight machines at the gym to gain more muscle mass and I knew I needed to improve my flexibility. Laurie worked closely with me to make sure I learned how to set up the machines properly, use the right form and push as much weight as was safely possible for me. My wife and kids noticed the gains I made in muscle definition and an added bonus was I shed about eight pounds. She also taught me flexibility exercises that I use to this day. We worked together for about 18 months at which time I felt confident enough to workout on my own and have continued to do so. We “cracked each other up” during the sessions with situational jokes and shared life experiences which made the time enjoyable. I would recommend Laurie as a trainer without any hesitation.

Laurie has been working with our Mom, who has Parkinson’s for three years. She uses innovative and challenging exercises to keep her engaged and interested. She has interacted very well with her and her humor is appreciated. She is also patient and caring. Laurie is an excellent personal trainer that we would highly recommend.

Laurie is amazing! She takes the time to understand your needs and builds a program that makes sense. She is patient and helpful! If you follow her lead you will succeed! 5 STARS!