The Girl With the Infinite Energy

It all started when my mom put me in dance class at 3yrs young, and I fell in love with moving my body.

I had what felt like an infinite well of energy, and I wanted to be the fastest, strongest, most technically sound athlete in every sport I could squeeze into my day. I played on the boys' soccer team and drove an hour away for girls' club soccer.

In 8th grade, I started lifting weights. My yellow moped was my knight in shining armor, carrying me 5 miles to the YMCA so I could train in the gym then practice my soccer skills at the fields next door until dusk.

Once I could drive, I trained where all the cops and body-builders lifted. I never once felt out of place... those men (and the one other woman!) were stoked on my all-in attitude and cheered me on from day one; it became my safe place.

I didn't realize how rare that was until I got older. Most women I meet are nervous to walk into a weight room feeling like they don't belong or like they’ll be judged.

That's why my mission is to help every woman feel welcome from the very first day of her strength journey, the way I did.

The Road Less Traveled

After high school, I learned I'd be paying for college myself. So I skipped the bank-breaking decision and followed my intuition to move to the Rocky mountains instead for a much needed gap-year.

I moved to Summit County, Colorado so I could get paid to ski and snowboard every day, working my way from Mountain Safety to Ski Patrol to Competition Services before landing where I belonged: ski instructing. (while coaching gymnastics on the side!) Then came the Summer I lived out of my pontiac vibe and road tripped through more than ten national parks with my Border Collie riding shotgun. We landed in Huntington Beach, CA for 6 months and I received my 200hr yoga teacher certification through YogaWorks.

Wherever I went, I was teaching people how to thrive in their bodies.

What I didn't see was that I was quietly running mine into the ground.

When the Body Starts Whispering

In 2020, I was gearing up to move to Alaska, where i’d spend my time coaching climbing and ski racing, starting my remote personal training business, and mountain biking my heart out. What I didn’t anticipate was my month of June bacterial infection returning each month, for nine months. Yes, I was kept me on antibiotics for nine straight months.

No one asked why. They just asked what symptoms I had and renewed my prescription. I thought I had finally kicked it until I woke up the morning of a big backcountry ski day and was riddled with unbearable pain AGAIN. I saw another ER doc, but this one finally heard my frustration and asked: How long has this been happening, and why?

That one question cracked something open in me.. I finally got my IUD removed (birth control) and saw my first naturopathic Dr. She changed me life! She turned me on to using a natural, herbal tea protocol, and suggested undergoing an elimination diet.

When the Whisper Becomes a Shout

The elimination diet was working well to restore and heal my gut lining; it felt so amazing I continued to be vegan. But about a year later, the crash came. It took losing clumps on clumps on clumps of hair each shower and struggling to open my eyes on waking to finally see another naturopathic Dr who ordered my first set of labs at 25. She called me at 6pm one evening warning me that I was severely anemic and completely depleted. I needed to eat a fat, juicy red meat burger or 3 giant green salads, whatever to avoid a trip to the ER for a blood transfusion.

Worse of all, I lost 40% of my thick, curly hair.

As a health practitioner, that was a deep slice to my ego. How could I guide anyone else when I couldn't keep my own body well? I didn't have the energy to train the way I used to, and I felt like a total imposter every time I walked into the gym or worked with a client.

Slowly, things started looking up as I went all in on shadow work and learning how to fuel my body properly. My energy returned, my strength came back- I made it through.

The Breaking Point

Well, so I thought! It was February of 2024 when it was time to attend my first in-person CHEK practicum in San Diego.

I was surrounded by people who shared my passion, and I was learning from the best. I was enthusiastic! My dream career was blossoming before my eyes. At this point, I was also lifting my heaviest weight in the gym, like deadlifting 215lb.

Days after getting home, my L4/L5 gave out.

Lying in bed struggling to get up, barely able to move, I finally understood: I couldn't keep patching symptoms and pushing forward. My body wasn't asking me to try harder, It was asking me to address not only my physical limitations, but my lifestyle ones.

So I went all in on the holistic, root-cause path. I looked at my breath, my diet, my relationships, my work, my beliefs, and was forced to look at my reality for what it was.

Every day I asked: Why? What is causing this?

And the answer was staring right back at me.

The same all-in drive that made me strong was the thing breaking me down. I had to stop breaking my body down without intentionally regenerating energy. I had to be honest about where I wanted to go in life, and who would get to come with me.

Strength isn't how much you can push through... it's how well you listen in all areas of your life. I finally made peace with the fact I had to "boring" fundamentals work: breathing, turning on my stabilizing system, and rebuilding the basics like I was one of my new clients.

The Rebuild

This time, I listened and applied my same devotional character to this healing, “yin” phase.

I rebuilt my body through tai chi, acupuncture, and rehabbing the deep stabilizers nobody knows to train. Energy work became a quiet part of my healing, helping my nervous system finally feel safe enough to release tension I'd carried for years. I restructured my life around what my body actually needed, not what I thought "fit" was supposed to look like. Thank God I had decided to say yes to the Chek Institute. What they taught me in year one was exactly what I needed to apply to my life.

Many coaches aren’t aware of this, but when the body has a crisis like this, there are typically other factors at play. For myself, I had to make the hard decision to leave a long term relationship and follow my own path while finding my kind of health orientated people.

Six months later, I was lifting 215 lbs again. I came back stronger, not by pushing harder, but by slowing down, regenerating my energy, and expanding my capacity to handle life's stress.

I didn't just heal my back. I found my life's work.

If This Sounds Familiar…

If you're the one who pushes through, ignores the warning signs, and calls it discipline, I see you.

If you've ever felt like a fraud for not being able to do what you used to, I see you there too.

I was you. And there is another way.

"I look for the crack in the foundation, because I know exactly what it costs to keep ignoring it."

Why I'll Never Hand You a Generic Plan

I've had to find my own root causes more than once. Handing you a cookie-cutter program would go against everything I stand for.

Instead, we get curious together. We learn to feel the difference between your body's "yes" and it’s "no." We ask "what's causing that?" until we find the real answer. From there, we build your capacity one layer at a time.

Training for Real Life

I love gyms, but real life doesn't happen on a bench press or in a squat rack.

It happens carrying groceries up the stairs, chasing your kids across the yard, hauling a pack up a mountain pass, or swinging a club on the eighteenth hole. It happens on uneven ground, at awkward angles, usually when you least expect it.

That's why my training doesn't look like a "typical" gym routine. We crawl, carry, twist, balance, lunge, and move in every direction your body was designed to move; building the stability, rotation, and coordination machines take away.

The goal isn't to only look strong in the mirror. It's to be strong out in the world, for your sport, your work, and everything in between.

Because every day we get to move is a gift. I want you strong enough to say yes to all of it!

Beyond the Muscles and the Meal Plan

The physical work is only half the story.

Astrology, Reiki, energy healing, and the chakra system are woven through my holistic lifestyle coaching, because I've lived how much of feeling "stuck" lives outside the body.

Who I Work With

I work with women and men who are:

— High achievers crushing it at work but feeling wrecked in their bodies
— Entrepreneurs, leaders, and visionaries running on fumes and calling it normal
— Everyday athletes who want to train for the life they actually live
— Trail runners, mountain bikers, gymnasts, triathletes, golfers, and ball players who want to stay in the game for decades
— Women who've never felt welcome in the weight room and are ready to
— Anyone who knows in their bones there's a better way

Your Journey Starts Here

I'm a certified CHEK Practitioner (Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, Integrated Movement Science Level 3) with two more years at the Institute underway. I'm still learning, still exploring, still finding new trails, literally and otherwise.

I walked through the fire so I could help you find your way out of it faster!

Your body has been talking to you. Let's finally listen.

Follow along on Instagram: @isabellewellman