Coach LP – Lawrence Phillips aka; Master Motivator
The seed of fitness was planted in LP’s mind at the young, impressionable age of 5 years old by a man named Jack LaLanne. The Jack LaLanne Show was the only fitness show on television in the early 60′s and LP followed Jack’s routine daily in the front room of his family’s home. He was inspired not only by the fitness aspect of the program, but also by the positive message that Jack preached during each episode. At that time in LP’s life, Jack LaLanne became a very important, positive “male role model”.
LP continued to do the pushups, AB crunches, squats, jumping jacks and other exercises that he learned from watching the Jack LaLanne Show. At the age of 10 he had saved up enough money (by mowing neighbor’s lawns and selling lemonade on hot sunny days during the summer) to go to Sears and buy his first weight set. That was the beginning of what has now turned out to be a labor of love for LP. A love and passion to inspire and motivate people by coaching them to exercise and move their body, create healthy eating clean habits and help develop a positive attitude in their quest to being the very best that they can be.
The following is a brief bio timeline starting from when the seed of fitness was planted, to the present. It all started with a man named Jack LaLanne and a weight set from Sears.
* LP was brought up in the era of male dominated, small neighborhood, black iron gyms where “old school” weightlifting and bodybuilding were the only training styles known. His early experience in the fitness field, as a teenager, was cleaning equipment, re-stacking weights and dumbbells and doing whatever it took to earn a free membership at the local gym so he could work out with weights and build strong muscles like his childhood mentor, Jack LaLanne.
* At the age of 18 he competed in his first bodybuilding contest by entering the Novice Mr. Northern California. He took 3rd place in his weight class, won best poser, and was hooked on the “sport” of bodybuilding. Long story made real short, for the next 13 years LP competed on a regional/national level as an amateur bodybuilder following the advice of Gym owner and Mr. California, Benny Crawford and Gym owner and power lifting coach, Kevin O’Connell, all the while honing his skills as a personal trainer.
* In 1979 he moved from Castro Valley, California, to the warmer weather of Tucson, Arizona. He continued to enter and was now starting to win state bodybuilding competitions.
* In 1980 he was part of the first wave of bodybuilders who basically “lived” in the gym and were sought out by other members of the gym for their knowledge of weightlifting and bodybuilding. He built a strong reputation and following on what he called ‘Results Driven Training’. That year he opened his first business in Tempe, Arizona, as a weight lifting/bodybuilder trainer and named the business, “Awesome Bodies Unlimited”.
* Flash forward 10 years later to 1990, LP moves to Santa Rosa, California, where he knows not a soul except a few members of his immediate family. Burned out on bodybuilding and personal training, he takes a very short hiatus from both and falls back on the trade of meat cutting which was one of the many jobs he had while in high school.
* In 1992, LP studied for and received his Personal Trainer Certificate and Group Exercise Certificate from The Health and Fitness Institute at Cal State Hayward University under the instruction and guidance of Dori Krepton and Dr. Donald Chu. He kept his “day job” as a meat cutter but began training a couple of friends in his spare and eventually regained his passion for sharing his fitness knowledge.
That same year, he risked it all. He quit his full time “day job” with not one client on his personal training schedule, he went full steam ahead back into the fitness arena and Team LP Fitness was born.
* In 1995 LP developed a following in the Group Fitness arena through his unique style of instruction and a high energy class combining aerobics and circuit training, of his own creation, which he called ‘CHIZZLED’- The Ultimate Workout.
‘CHIZZLED’ became the longest running group fitness program in the North Bay with packed classes of 50 plus students at 5th St. Fitness (renamed Gold’s Gym, years later) in Santa Rosa, CA, 4 days each week. In the summer of 2006, LP moved the ‘CHIZZLED’ group fitness class to another Santa Rosa gym – Fusion Fitness. In February of 2009, after 14 years of instructing this amazing one of a kind class, he ‘retired’ from the ‘CHIZZLED’ group fitness format.
* The basketball season of 1997-1998 brought LP to Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, CA. He offered to donate his time and skill as a fitness professional and became the Fitness Conditioning and Motivational Coach for the Boys Basketball program under Head Coach, Tom Fitchie. LP still holds this position today and gets pretty fired up each year when pre-season begins as he is provided an opportunity to work with the high school basketball players in helping them to prepare for the long season ahead.
* 2002 – present, LP owns and operates his ‘Dream Come True’ creation: Team LP Fitness Playground™ in Santa Rosa, CA.
Back in 1992 LP became a member of IDEA (the largest organization for fitness professionals in the world). When a major shift in the personal training marketplace and training styles was taking place industry wide he used IDEA to re-educate himself and his creative mind to design new workouts that challenged his clients in ways their bodies and minds had never been challenged before.
Today, through these educational conferences, his thinking stays outside of the “old school” weight lifting box as he continues to discover new and exciting ways to bring more FUN, challenging, motivating and results-driven workouts to his clients.
LP has now come full circle by following in the footsteps of his child hood mentor, Jack LaLanne, who passed on at the age of 96 in January of 2011. He is a fitness professional whose passion, enthusiasm and motivation to share the “gospel” of great health and fitness through FUN, exciting and challenging full body-movement, is grateful to be living out his dream.
Coach Shelli Main
Shelli Main is a fifth generation Sonoma County girl who is deeply rooted in the community. Her love of sports and adventure started at a very young age. Growing up playing with her male cousins and her younger brother ingrained a competitive spirit and drive she carries with her today.
Shelli has two grown daughters, both of which, she is extremely proud of and a wonderful husband who is equally athletic and adventurous. She thrives on the fact that being “50” really is “fabulous.”
Shelli has a passion for running that has led her to participating in 5 marathons, including twice qualifying and running in the Boston Marathon. She has run in numerous half marathons, 10k’s and many other distances. She has also been an adventure racer, mud run enthusiast, dualthlete, triathlete, soccer player, road and mountain bike rider, hiker, and last but certainly not least, boot camper. She competes monthly in races in and around Sonoma County.
One of the more crazy things she has done has been to be a competitor on the TV show “Wipeout”. She was on Season 3, Episode 14 entitled” Mustard, Ketchup, and Wipeout Weenies.” She made it to the second round of competition, it was “quite an unforgettable experience, but one not to be repeated”.
Shelli loves to share her enthusiasm for health and fitness which led her to becoming an ACE (American Council on Exercise) Certified Personal Trainer. She also works with Girls on the Run Sonoma County as their 5k Race Director. This program uses the power of exercise and positive mentoring to prepare young girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living.
Shelli has been an LP fan for many years and is honored and thrilled to be part of his Team LP family.
** You can check out the days and times that both these high energy and very motivating Fitness Coaches instruct by going to the the group fitness class schedule located under the tab in the main toolbar – ‘GET TEAM LP FIT!’
