Bethel Park teacher helps others follow her on road to physical fitness
On the team of instructors are, from left, Jill Walker, Renee Mead, Stephanie Miller, Amanda Jo Bilitski, Jessica Cline and Erin Scanlon.
Stephanie Miller demonstrates her workout form.
They’re ready for the new year at Stephanie Miller Fitness.
Erin Scanlon conducts yoga instruction at Stephanie Miller Fitness.
Cardio Kick Combat is a class offered by Stephanie Miller Fitness.
With the start of 2022, plenty of people are making the resolution to be more physically fit.
How many of them follow through with diets and exercise regimens remains to be seen, but those who are serious about changing for the better can look to Canonsburg resident Stephanie Miller for inspiration.
“I hardly worked out at all, and I got extremely overweight after having my two children. Then I lost a hundred pounds,” she recalled. “Once I started it, I felt the passion for it and I felt like it was something I was compelled to do. So I decided to get certified and keep it going, and now it is what it is.”
The Peters Township High School graduate began outdoor fitness instruction in 2012 and now is the owner of Stephanie Miller Fitness, a 1,700-square-foot facility with floors designed to reduce impact and stress on joints.
Miller also teaches in Bethel Park School District, having earned her degree in special education and elementary education from Gannon University.
“I basically have two full-time jobs,” she said.
Her fitness studio offers 5:30 a.m. “boot camp” – including strength training, core conditioning, jumping drills and flexibility challenges – on weekdays, and Miller often leads the sessions.
“I teach a lot of the early birds, because with my kids and my other job, it’s basically the best time for me to work out,” she said. “They are the fullest classes, usually. We have a lot of people who need to get their workouts in before they go to work, so it seems to be really popular.”
Among other offerings by Miller and her team of five other certified instructors is Muscle and Flow, a class that integrates cardiovascular exercise, weight training and abdominal work with a meditative session of vinyasa yoga. Also on the schedule are the likes of Tabata, a form of high-intensity interval training that originated in Japan, and Crazy 8 Full-Body Circuit: eight different exercises, eight repetitions for each for three rounds total.
Whatever her clients’ individual interests, Miller stressed they represent a wide variety of ages and abilities, from elite athletes to not-so-fit folks.
“Everyone is so welcoming and motivated to help each other,” she said.
From her standpoint, she provides incentive by offering clients the opportunity to meet various challenges. For example, someone who completes 22 classes in January earns five more for free.
Throughout her continuing efforts toward prime physical fitness, Miller has benefited from the support of her husband, Ryan, who has joined her along the way.
“I basically told him that if I was losing weight,” she said, “he had to, too.”