Matthew Gilstrap

I have been an avid fitness junkie since 2006 when I started my schoolwork as an undergrad. I played sports in high school but didn't enjoy working out until after I got to college. I started my work in the fitness field as a sophomore in undergraduate school in 2007. I worked in the weight room as an attendant and I also taught Boot camp group exercise classes along with working out for my own health. I then quickly got certified as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor and continued gaining experience in these areas while working at USC Upstate. I taught classes including boot camp, circuit training, cardio kickboxing, and even PowerYoga. After I graduated in 2010, I continued working at the school as a hired trainer and instructor while also working at a local gym as the same. I worked at both gyms until August of 2011 where I took a graduate assistantship at UGA within Intramural Sports so I got away from the fitness field for about a year and a half. I still took group exercise classes and helped out with different fitness programs while I was obtaining my Master's degree in Recreation from UGA, but I was not fully involved as in previous years. In January of 2013, I took my first recreation professional job at Lander University as the Assistant Director of Campus Recreation. At Lander, I oversee and program the entire recreation department and have a focus on building the group exercise program. Since my time here, we have increased our total style of group classes taught from 1 to 8 and from 7 classes a week to 35+. I, myself, have taught classes including boot camp, tabata training, functional fitness, and CrossFit. I enjoy teaching people correct form and ways to improve their health by working hard through classes and individual training. I absolutely love helping people reach their fitness goals and get just as excited as they do when they reach them. There's always room for improvement no matter what level of fitness you have, and that's one reason I enjoy training all different levels of people.