Melody Chao
This month's Client of the Month, Melody Chao, has been selected not based on her achievements, but her attitude and perseverance. You see, Mels didn't have the greatest competitive season, but she did have the greatest attitude toward competing. She simply competed against herself this year and won. After having a tumultuous off season that found her struggling to diet, mild health problems, and insecurity in the workplace, Mels persevered to have the best physique of her life. That did not mean winning for her, not even placing at the three shows she did. It did mean having pride in one accomplishment and an appreciation for the journey to compete and not so much for the reward of a placing. For this I admire her and choose her as the client of the month.

SEATTLE BOOTCAMP was a success.  A huge thank you to Shannon Gill and to LA Fitness for hosting the event.  Eighteen participants attended the high energy filled weekend to partake in bootcamp, posing and presentation, training and cardio sessions and a question and answer session.  The Fitness Factory will be on their way to the West Coast again for another fun filled action packed weekend sometime in December.  Stay tuned to the website for more information or contact Shannon Gill.

The Fitness Factory has teamed up with World Ventures Travel to ensure the lowest priced airfares anywhere in the world. Take the time out of searching for the lowest price and let World Ventures technologies do the work for you. Find the cheapest fares here to Columbus for a camp or to any of your show destinations with a click of your mouse. Chastity Sloane is heading up this project for The Fitness Factory and can answer any of your questions by contacting her at chastitylayne@aol.com. Our web site to visit for all your travel needs is www.FitnessFactoryTravel.Worldventures.biz

Leyla Yurchick
Leyla has lost 30 lbs since the middle of March training with Mike. She is currently preparing for Junior Nationals in Chicago. Leyla has literally worked her butt off. Best of luck Leyla. You look great!

Tracy Grogg
Tracy, a 36 year old mother of 6, recently stepped on stage for the first time the first weekend in April to show off her new and improved physique. Tracy took 2nd in the Masters and 4th in the Open Figure A Class at the 2008 NPC Ohio Natural and then went on to Cincinnati the following weekend to win the A class Figure. In addition to training hard, and being a mom, Tracy works at Mt Carmel as a Surgical Tech and part time at the Grove City YMCA as a trainer. Congratulations Tracy.

Do you LOVE the new look of The Fitness Factory website?!

The FITNESS FACTORY EXPRESS website has recently been revamped also! With over 100 current memberships, nearly 20 new members joined just last month to view all the new content!

Each month The FITNESS FACTORY EXPRESS website is re-loaded and packed with new information including:

FEATURED ARTICLE- this past month a Q & A session with Mike submitted by a competitor, other months Mike writes his personal thoughts, and sometimes he submits an article that you could swear he wrote just for you! details

Candace Houston
Candace recently took overall honors at the 2008 Arnold Amateur Figure. Candace won the B class and then went on to win the overall. Candace also was the A class winner in Masters Figure at North Americans in 2007 and the 2nd place finsher in the open class in 2007 at N. Americans. Look for Candace to make a huge impact this year as she sets out to earn a pro card.

Did you know that there are more births in September than in any other month during the year? This means that there are a lot of women walking around right now who are about 6 weeks pregnant! Are you one of them? Are you trying to conceive, or just found out you are pregnant?

Exercise boosts your immune system and provides the circulation and energy levels needed to help you conceive, enjoy your pregnancy and prepare your body for labor! Some studies have suggested that exercise during pregnancy will help with an easier and shorter labor and birth, fewer cesarean surgeries, a quicker recovery postpartum, a quicker return to your pre-pregnancy weight, not to mention an overall healthier feeling pregnancy! details

The 2008 competitive season kicked off with a bang at the Arnold Classic and the Fitness Factory ladies had strong showings in all disciplines: Figure, Fitness and Bodybuilding… Professional and Amateur! details

The Fitness Factory also had many athletes and clients working behind the scenes throughout the Arnold Fitness Weekend. From commentating for the professional shows to expediting for the amateurs, from working the booths for their sponsors to presenting awards onstage to modeling in the fashion shows, our athletes were everywhere! Check out some of the pics here. For complete results, click here.

Pictures from the 2008 Arnold Expo are available here.

Southern Muscle and IFBB Fitness Professional Shannon Dey hosted a fitness camp at Boom Fitness in Ormund Beach, Florida this February 8-10th. Over 30 fitness enthusiasts attended the weekend, which included weight training sessions, boot camp, posing practice, nutritional advice and of course Q & A time with Mike. A big thank you to Shannon and Southern Muscle for planning the event…it was a huge success and all the participants left with renewed excitement for fitness as well as a wealth of knowledge regarding training, dieting, and motivation!

Check out Southern Muscle at www.southernmuscleplus.com or email Shannon at shannondey@bellsouth.net for more information about upcoming events!

Leslie Jennings
Leslie lost 23 lbs in one month. She began dieting right before the holidays and has made a commitment to herself to lose the weight and better her health and well being. Leslie's 23 lb. weight loss is just the intermediate stage of her goals. Look for more before and after photos of Leslie in the next few months when she reaches her final weight loss goal.
Congratulations Leslie!

The 2008 Arnold Classic is fast approaching and as usual the Fitness Factory athletes are poised to compete for the top spots!

Adela Garcia, current Fitness Olympia champ and previous Fitness International winner has chosen to forgo this year’s contest in preparation for the 2008 Olympia, but there will be many other top athletes vying for the title. In fact, half of the professional fitness competitors are Fitness Factory athletes! details

Pictures from Mike's 2007 Christmas party at La Scala are available here.

Leslie Schrader
WOW to Leslie who trains at the Hilliard Metro Fitness Gym!!! While committed to the gym, she is a junior at Jonathon Alder High School in London, OH. One year ago, Leslie made a commitment to a training & nutrition program to get back on the right track -and has since put on a healthy 30 lbs. to balance out her tall and slender, and now toned and muscular physique! Congratulations Leslie, you are beautiful inside and out & we are so proud of you!!!

Marie Gibbon
Congratulations to Marie who has just completed a whole year of dieting and put forth a tremendous effort in her goal to receive her pro card. Marie was rewarded this Summer and officially became an IFBB Pro Figure Competitor after many months of having to travel world wide and thru out the US to compete to receive her card.

Tina Durkin
Tina just won the Overall Fitness Nationals and earned her pro card in fitness. Tina has had a successful year by winning the Overall at Junior Nationals and just missing her pro status in NY this past July.

The pro ladies, some old and some new faces, of the Fitness Factory set out to accomplish many goals this late summer/early fall season. The fitness, figure and bodybuilding ladies still had many opportunities to qualify to compete in the 2007 Olympia. details

Living Beautiful Radio, hosted by Dr. Z. Cathryn Navarro and Professional Fitness Model Nancy Di Nino is proud to announce the winner of the first annual "Living Beautiful Award" to IFBB Fitness Pro, Julie Palmer. The award carried a $1000 cash prize and was presented on stage at the Europa Super show in Dallas, Texas on August 11th. details