Testimonial: Kim Knight

I lost 10 pounds, dropped a dress size, and increased my overall strength and endurance. — Kim Knight

Find out more about Kim’s battle with Colon Cancer and how her trainer at Urban Active has helped in her recovery.

My name is Kim Knight, and I have been a member of Urban Active since January 2009. I am 52 years old and while I am retired as an audiologist, I currently have a hobby/career training my dogs and others for competition obedience and agility. I started working with Chad Wright, personal trainer, at Urban Active in early 2009 in order to lose a few pounds, increase my stamina and strength, as well as improve my speed and agility. Agility competition requires me to be on my feet for long periods of time over two to three days. I have very fast dogs and need to be able to think on my feet and run fast in order to navigate courses and direct them appropriately.

I worked with Chad for over two years. During that time I lost 10 pounds, dropped a dress size, and increased my overall strength and endurance. Every workout was an adventure! We varied my training between building strength using weights, building speed and agility with a variety of exercises, and even incorporated kick boxing in to the mix. My body never adapted to the training so I continued to improve month after month.

Unfortunately, following a routine colonoscopy in the Spring of 2011 I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I had surgery in June 2011 to remove half of my colon and multiple lymph nodes. My surgical incision was far smaller than the usual incision for this type of surgery due to my low abdominal body fat. I became the “star” patient in the hospital with 5 to 6 interns coming in daily to marvel at my small incision. I was able to start walking the halls of the hospital hours after surgery and kept it up twice a day until I was released. I was released from the hospital 2 days earlier than average and was playing golf two weeks later! I give the credit for that to training at Urban Active!
Shortly following my surgery, Chad moved to sales but put me in the very capable hands of trainer Todd Bettler. Since July I have been undergoing chemotherapy. Todd has researched the effects of chemotherapy and exercise and has been innovative in designing an appropriate training program for me. If I’m having a rough day we will do yoga and stretching exercises. On good days we hit it hard with heavier strength and/or agility exercises. Despite being in the middle of a tough chemotherapy regimen I am still able to train and compete with my dogs at a high level. I owe this to my trainers at Urban Active who have kept me strong and continued to maintain my strength and endurance despite the ravages of chemotherapy.

I have 3 months left of chemo and am looking forward to re-designing my fitness goals with the help of Todd in January. I am fortunate enough to have Urban Active as my home town fitness center and to be able to work with trainers who take a personal interest in my well being. Without the support, encouragement, and training from Urban Active personal trainers I am certain that this process would have been much more challenging!