RC Fitness & Signature Physiques Studio. From its humble beginnings of free boot camps in the park, with hardly any clientele, RC Fitness has transformed into “the Mecca of women’s transformations,” boasting hundreds of triple digit weight loss stories as well as complete medical transformations with diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes being brought under control.
Reggie Collier opened the first location of RC Fitness in 2014. He wanted to create a place that catered to all women’s goals whether it be weight loss, health and wellness, muscle gain or toning.
“I noticed women needed a little more support in our community with being consistent and committed to their health and wellness goals,” Collier said. “They needed a place to go where they did not feel intimidated or distracted and could focus on gaining the knowledge and tools to better themselves.”
Collier also wanted his fitness center to focus on the needs of minority women in the community.
“I noticed in the Fitness World the majority of things are catered toward more mainstream communities, so I wanted an atmosphere that catered to minority women and their health and fitness goals.”
At RC Fitness there are options available for every woman, no matter their schedule, fitness level or fitness goals. They offer 21, 30, 60 and 90-day fitness challenges throughout the year as well as small group workout classes, public bootcamps and even online training videos.
Through these various fitness options, hundreds of women have achieved record breaking weight loss goals, beat illnesses and completely transformed their lives.
One RC Fitness customer that reaped great benefits from changing her lifestyle is Tyler Oaks. At just 29 years old, Oaks was suffering from fibromyalgia as well as ovarian cysts.
“I was so young and dealing with so many aches and pains, I knew it was time for a change,” Oaks said.
Within the first six months of joining RC Fitness, Oaks lost 75 lbs, and a doctor’s visit in October showed the majority of her illnesses were gone, and she was able to completely stop taking her medications.
Oaks has been a part of RC Fitness for over two years now and has even obtained her training certification and teaches small group classes several times a week.
“I would encourage women looking to make a lifestyle change to let go of the past and embrace stepping into the new you,” Oaks said. “There is always going to be someone in the Reggie C Fitness family willing to help you and take you under their wing.”
Another woman who credits the community at RC Fitness with “saving her life” is Jordan Latham. Latham joined RC Fitness in 2017 after realizing the unhealthy amount of weight she gained during her pregnancy. After her first 21 days, she lost 20 lbs. This weight loss revealed a lump on her breast she had not noticed before.
“It turned out to be breast cancer,” Latham said. “My oncologist and other doctors said I was so fortunate to have lost the weight, otherwise I would not have noticed the lump.”
Latham continued to pursue her health and weight loss goals even during her chemo treatments, and she credits the support of her trainers and workout community with giving her the motivation to keep going.
“My trainers were so incredibly supportive,” Latham said. “They realized my limitations and helped modify my workouts. Even when my hair fell out from chemo, and I had to wear hair wraps, they would continuously tell me how beautiful I was.”
A year after her diagnosis, she was finally strong enough to complete a 90-day challenge and lose the rest of the weight she wanted gone.
“There is just an environment and community of support you don’t get at any other gym,” she said. “I can’t say it enough: It is because of those women and Reggie and his trainers I am here today.”
Next to its transformative results with medical conditions and overall health and wellness, RC Fitness’ community is the main reason there is such a large, consistent client base. Many of the women who train here credit the camaraderie and accountability as the reason they’ve stuck with their workout lifestyle.
Claudenia Joseph had tried every exercise option before coming to RC Fitness. She has lost 101 lbs on her fitness journey so far, and gives credit to, not only her determination, but the accountability from her trainer and workout community too.
“It was the accountability,” Joseph said. “The trainer assigned to me has a passion and determination I really enjoyed. She wanted the results for me just as much as I wanted them for myself. I also met some phenomenal women who all share a common passion of wanting to become the best version of ourselves.”
For Jamila McGee, joining RC Fitness was the last option. She had tried every other thing it seemed but was never able to stick with any of it. A visit to the dentist forced her to get on the scale, and not having weighed herself in months, this was a wake-up call that she needed to change her lifestyle.
After finally taking someone up on the offer to join RC Fitness, and pushing through the initial intimidation of being in a new gym with new people, McGee realized how kind and supportive the community there was.
“They were always reminding me that we all started somewhere, and that is what kept me there,” she said. “I think if you are determined to lose weight but do not know where to start, [RC Fitness] is the right place. His facility not only provided the knowledge and training to succeed, but also comes with a support system of women all reaching for the same goal of being healthy.”
Building a community where women can be comfortable and have the motivation to achieve their ideal health was Collier’s goal when starting RC Fitness. He wanted it to be less of “just another cool gym” and more of a space for women to build relationships and push each other towards reaching their goals.
“I feel like the thing that our gym has that others don’t is the community aspect,” Collier said. “Our gym community is like no other. We’ve had complete strangers become friends and form relationships that seem as strong as family members. And it is so fulfilling to see these women at the end of their challenges look at where they started and see how far they have come and how much they’ve grown, not just in weight loss but in the full spectrum of their lifestyles.”
