Personal Statement from Adrienne Middleton, co-owner and trainer:

Movement can take you from one state of mind to another. Chances are no matter how you feel before a workout, you’ll feel even better afterwards. This is why—after fifteen years in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and exercise instructor—I started Fitness Works with my partner Christopher Chapman. When we exercise, we feel and look better, we’re stronger, we reduce our chances of illness and stress, and perhaps most importantly, we have a deep sense of accomplishment. The more we move the better we feel. The better we feel the more positively we impact those around us. I believe that the accomplishments we achieve on a physical level enable us to strive for more in all aspects of our lives.

       Most of us know about the positive benefits of physical fitness, and yet achieving it is truly easier said than done. I know that it's hard work to work hard! Exercise is not something most people enjoy. We dread it, feel guilty about it and can't wait to get it over with. No matter how great we feel after a workout, it's often challenging to motivate ourselves to do it—to find the time in our busy days, to keep the momentum going and to genuinely make exercise part of our lives over the long term.

    That's where Fitness Works comes in. Chris and I do the thinking so you can just show up. We understand that your time and money are precious. Fitness Works offers affordable accountability by helping you get more out of an hour of exercise than if you were to go it alone for less than you would you pay by hiring a personal trainer for an individual session. And we know the importance of staying motivated, so we draw on our collective skills—mine as a nationally certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor and his as a competitive athlete—to design outdoor workouts that are practical, effective, and guaranteed to challenge you at your own level of ability and fitness.

    Our workouts are all done in groups, so they also tend to be a lot of fun! No matter how our bodies feels on any given day, no matter our energy level or the weather, I have never failed to be inspired by the camaraderie of our Fitness Works clients—the sound of their laughter, their commiserations after I ask them to do one more set of push ups, their shared sense of accomplishment at the end of each session. It’s amazing! It’s my guess that you will be amazed and inspired by your peers too, when you hear them talk about experiencing less back pain since they started exercising with Fitness Works, or how much more energy they have these days or how great it feels to get back into their "skinny pants."

    Through Fitness Works, I can help you tap that energy my clients speak of—and yes, our workouts will even support you in the process of getting back into your “skinny pants,” if that happens to be one of your goals—but more importantly I’m committed to helping you find a way to make fitness work for you in your life over the long term. There is no end to the path of physical fitness. There won't be a place you arrive where you don't have to exercise anymore. True physical health is not about short-term sacrifice, but rather about striking a dynamic balance over the course of your life. At Fitness Works, our goal is to help you have fun while doing that.


    Adrienne Middleton and Christopher Chapman are co-owners of Fitness Works and parents to Chris’s two children, Weston and Alberta. Both are dedicated bicyclists, runners, and yogis. Adrienne is a personal trainer certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a Group Exercise Instructor certified by Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. A lifelong Portlander, she also teaches Spanish at the university level. Chris, originally, from Winnipeg, Canada, is a former ski instructor. He has been involved in a wide range of competitive sports, including rugby, ice hockey, rowing, tennis and bicycle racing.