We have 13 Client Testimonials for Richard

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I was referred to Richard by my physical therapist, after my second round of PT with her for my back. I was pretty miserable at the time. I had had two series of epidurals, and multiple PT sessions over the prior year. I was at the point where I could not stand still for more than a few minutes without pain shooting down my glutes and into my leg, with tingling and numbness in my feet. That was tough since my job requires a lot of standing. Richard proved to be the solution. He is not just a \"trainer\" - the man is incredibly smart, knows everything about the body, and how to explain things in a way that reinforces the exercises he takes me through. Since I started working with Richard, I have been largely pain-free, comfortable standing for long periods, and back to an active lifestyle (biking, golf, etc). I am north of 60 years old, and one of the great things about Richard is he is not that much younger than me (but in much better shape!), and so he knows how to work with someone my age. It\'s been life-changing for me.
R. F., Senior Partner

2022-05-20

I zoomed through my 20’s and 30’s with nary a thought about any structured approach to physical fitness. I was active, enjoyed numerous sports and didn’t have to think too much about staying in shape. Time marches on and I’m now poised at the mid-century mark. Still active - and doing more than I ever have - but with a lot more focus and discipline around a structured fitness regime.

I started working out with Richard Parker, Jr. of the Sports Club/LA over 10 years ago at a time when I was experiencing chronic back and neck pain. About the same time, I got back into horse-back riding which I hadn’t done in over two decades with any regularity. I joined a local Maryland fox-chasing club and got totally hooked on this particular equestrian sport. A day of fox-chasing can be pretty intensive – 3 to 5 hours in the saddle over rough terrain at speeds that would not be described as sedate. Core strength and balance are critical, as well as endurance. Fox-chasing season – September through March - is followed by a month or two of riding cross country courses from 3 to 6 miles in length with anywhere from 20 to 30 jumps of various heights. Perhaps to some that might not sound so intense. But for me, considering that I sit behind a desk 40+ hours each week, along with my spinal issues, it is no accident that I’m able to do this. Credit goes to Richard - I would not be able to pursue this activity to the extent I do if it weren’t for the personalized training program that Richard developed for me, taking into consideration my back and neck issues, and tailoring a program specific to my needs.

I have a pretty intensive career that demands the lion’s share of my hours each week. This means I don’t have a lot of free time to squeeze in all the things I want to do alongside all the things I must do. However, one of my top priorities is my weight training sessions with Richard. I realize that without that commitment, I would not have the strength or energy to pursue my sport of fox-chasing, manage a pretty hectic work/travel schedule, as well as effectively deal with the day-to-day stress that comes with my position. I may walk into the gym wondering how I will ever make it through the next hour, but invariably I always leave re-energized and ready to face whatever comes my way.

Richard’s clients are a testament to his expertise and ability. I am probably one of his youngest clients and many of his clients have special needs. When I see someone working out who might be a bit more senior, I am never surprised when Richard says he/she is one of his. What does sometimes surprise me is how very “senior” the person happens to be. One would never know it based on the individual’s looks and the intensity of the workout. More than once I’ve thought to myself, “I sure hope I can do what that person is doing when I am that age”. It’s quite clear to me that working with Richard is one of the best investments I’ve made in terms of health and my ability to pursue a sport that I love. Hands down he gets my vote as one of the “Best Personal Trainers in DC”.

Martha A Klasing
Managing Partner, Operations

2022-05-20

I have been training with Richard since 2014, the year I turned 80. I am happily healthy for someone this old, but still have serious arthritis problems as well as an assortment of other lesser concerns, including leg strength and balance.
What has always impressed me is that Richard is the opposite of a one-size-fits-all trainer who has a handful shelf-item solutions. Rather he watches me with a knowing eye and creates a tailored training regime to meet my weaknesses and needs. Then he continues to revise any exercise after I have outgrown my need for it or he has found an upgrade.
My admiration for Richard’s design and adaptation skills has come into sharper focus since last March. The lockdown has forced us to do our twice-a-week sessions remotely, always from my home. Here I have some adjustable weights, but none of the diverse strength-challenging machines always available to us at the gym. Yet Richard has been able to come up with at least 6 new regimes using regularly adjusted weights, with the staircase or furniture being employed as props when sometimes needed. This effort has turned out so well that I won’t be headed back to the gym any time soon, even though we having received our Covid vaccinations.
Finally, I should make a more personal point—Richard is just fun to work with! Friendly, amusing and insightful.

Donald Baker, Esq.

2022-05-20

Hi Richard,
I just had to let you know my good news!
As you know, I was diagnosed seven years ago at age 55 with osteopenia. I have taken Actonel and participated in various exercise programs during those seven years, and there was no improvement whatsoever...... until NOW!
I just received the results of my bone density test and in the last year (and while working with you as a trainer) there has been a substantial increase in bone density throughout my entire body,(globally is their description).
The only thing different in my life during this last period of evaluation was working with YOU. Thank you so very much. You are the best, and I am so grateful for your knowledge and sharing it with me. What a gift.
Please tell all your clients with similar concerns that the right exercises do make a difference.

Thank you Richard!
All the best to you and your family,
Susan

2022-05-20

"Richard carefully tailors the routines needed for each of his clients, explains to us the "what" and "how" of each exercise, but then he does something different from most trainers. He explains to us the WHY he has chose a particular exercise for us - sometimes with visual aids to illustrate it's biomechanics- so that not only someone who suffered a serious back injury several years ago and who, with the help of my physician and Richard, is now virtually pain free I have a much better understanding of what I did to cause the injury and why Richard has chosen the type of core strengthening exercises included in my series of routines."
Lucia R, V.P. Gov. Relation (Ret.)

2022-05-20

Approximately ten years ago I began to experience the first symptoms of peripheral motor neuropathy. — rather sudden weakness of my legs, difficulty in walking and running, and a disturbing loss of a sense of balance. I consulted with three neurologists in the Washington area and another in a well-known Medical Center in the midwest.

I asked an esteemed physician if I should consider taking physical therapy. He solemnly replied, “If you want to.” I also asked if he recommended that I return for a follow-up visit in the future. Again, “If you want to.” Imagine: “If you want to”! That he considered my case hopeless and beyond further bother on his part couldn’t have been —clearer.

Then a friend suggested I consider joining a health club and engaging a personal trainer. —nothing else was helping. I joined the Sports Club/LA —and by pure good fortune was assigned to Richard Parker, a Certified Master Trainer.

During the first session, Parker observed my every motion carefully. Employing his profound knowledge of human skeletal anatomy, physiology, and motion, he was able to easily identify, without the use of expensive electromyography, nerve conduction testing, etc. — the precise nerve function deficits, and resultant muscle atrophy that I had.

Armed with this knowledge, he planned out a rehabilitative exercise program to compensate for and to the extent possible effect recuperation of the loss of muscle function caused by the morbid neurological condition with which I suffer. The steady improvement in my physical — and emotional well-being is apparent to all who know me.

—commitment to a long, rigorous —period of physical training by a master personal trainer, can pay off with surprising results— I am now in a phase of recouping, to the greatest extent possible, my physical health. Not every malady is susceptible to complete reversal and cure.

But, persons like Richard Parker, working with those who are willing, are capable of effecting improvements in the physical well-being of many — that were — told no treatment or chance of improvement was possible.

Dr. Frederick B. Hendricks, MD. MPH, FACS

2022-05-21

I am 75 and before training with Richard, I had pain in my knees when I walked up stairs, had great difficulty getting back up after squatting to look at lower grocery shelves, and couldn't lift containers weighing more than 10 pounds.  I also had serious osteoporosis in my spine.  Now, after remote trainings with Richard twice a week for the past 3 years, I climb stairs without pain, am able to easily rise from a squatting position, and can lift heavy containers without difficulty.  Moreover, I just feel so much better, more energetic, more confident in my movements, and stronger overall.  More like I used to feel when I was in my 30s.  My most recent DexaScan found that I had gained 7.5% in the BMD of my spine.  Clearly, lifting weights, doing lunges and other balance and core exercises is the key.  But no one should do weight lifting on their own----you need the guidance of a Certified Fitness Professional to make progress in a safe and well-planned manner.  Richard uses his expertise in human physiology to tailor trainings to meet your particular body issues, so that improvement is gradual but steady, no matter what your age.  I can truly say training with Richard has transformed my life.

A recent real life situation revealed just how much my training with Richard had paid off!!! One evening while walking on the way to meet a friend for dinner, I tripped over a large lose stone and fell, twisted my ankle, and scraped a knee, but broke no bones and quickly got up without a problem. I continued on to the restaurant, my ankle was sore but I was able to walk and all was well otherwise. When I explained what happened to my friend who just happens to specialize in elder care issues, the first thing she asked me was if I was able to get up on my own. I said of course, but she then explained to me that more than half the people my age would not have been able to do so. It was then I realized just how fortunate I was to have been strength training with Richard making me able, as a 75 year old woman to absorb that fall, be strong enough to get back up, and keep on moving.

Wanda Reif, esq.
Washington DC

2022-05-21

Who really needs a personal trainer?

Simple answer: I DO!

And who needs Richard Parker, an ex-military African American guy with a tinge of grey in his hair to be that trainer?

Very simple answer: I DEFINITELY DO!!

My love and commitment to exercise started in the 70‘s with the great fun of putting on matching leotards, headbands and leg-warmers and jumping and pumping along with Jane Fonda. Bare feet, high-impact, concrete floors...so what if I had the occasional stress fractures in my feet and ankles...I was young and seemed to heal quickly. Then came the ‘step’ craze. Sounded sane and easier on my slightly achy knees and feet until the height of the steps increased, the music got faster and the steps turned into leaps....more stress fractures and a few sprained ankles followed. Add a bit of competitive tennis, extreme skiing and sexy stilettos along the way and my path was paved to the operating room two years ago for a total ankle replacement. Three months of no weight bearing on the replaced ankle left my entire body with more instability and imbalance than six months of rehabilitation on my ankle could begin to address. Over the years I had worked sporadically with personal trainers but my interest would wane when I realized that I usually got the same ‘prescription’ from each one. Now I was faced with a right ankle that worked but a left hip that was so painful I thought about pulling out the oxycontin! Fortunately Richard Parker was there. I had watched him on the training floor work diligently and patiently with men and women challenged by surgeries, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis and simple advanced years. I started working with Richard and have found that not only is the ankle stronger and more integrated into my body and mind, but the hip pain is gone! Hard work, but no drugs! Now he is addressing inherent imbalances throughout my body that have become ingrained from so many years of improper movement. He is literally reprogramming my brain-muscle response pattern. This is exactly what a real personal trainer should do. And this is exactly why I am thankful to have found Richard Parker....my very personal trainer!

DIANNE BRUCE
SPORTS CLUB LA

2022-05-21

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been training with Richard Parker for almost 20 years. My wife was training with him before she persuaded me to switch trainers and work with Richard. Both my wife and I were members of Sports Club LA before it was sold to Equinox. When Richard decided to go out on his own rather than work for Equinox, we went with him. We followed him because we could not imagine a more dedicated, knowledgeable, and professional trainer.

I am now 76 ½ years old. As a kid and young man, I played football, basketball and baseball. I lifted weights on my own. When I began my career in law school teaching, I took up distance running. I loved running outside in all kinds of weather but did not realize what pounding the pavement was doing to my body. I also was not paying attention to the importance of weight training as I was aging.

So, over the years in which I have trained with Richard, I had back surgery to have some debris removed, partial knee replacement surgery, and hip replacement surgery. The amazing thing is that I am at least as strong, maybe stronger, at my current age than when I was 20 years younger. I owe this to Richard.

Richard has studied the human body, physiology, and virtually everything that the best trainer would want to know to assist clients through the various conditions that most people endure as they age. Richard worked out routines that enabled me to strengthen my entire body and enabled me to recover from each surgery.

There is no “winging” it with Richard. He carefully crafts each of my one-hour twice weekly sessions. Typically, we run through six separate routines before beginning again with the first routine. If an exercise stops being challenging, Richard modifies it. As he says, there is no point in wasting time. Richard also keeps a careful record of precisely how many repetitions I do of each exercise and makes a note if I seem to be having difficulty with an exercise. He has a written record of all of our trainings so he can compare where I am at any time with where I was.

My wife has had two hip replacements and one reverse shoulder replacement. The reverse shoulder replacement made it impossible for her to train for a number of months, but she is now back doing her own one-hour twice weekly sessions.

I am grateful that my wife suggested Richard as my trainer and that we both have been able to train with Richard for so many years. I have no doubt that he is keeping us physically fit, and that physical fitness has also benefited our mental health, our happiness, and our lives.

Stephen A. Saltzburg

2022-06-01

Re: Richard Parker, Personal Trainer

Richard Parker has been my Personal Trainer at the Sports Club LA in
Washington, D.C. since October 2001. I continue to work with him two days a week and look forward to each of our sessions.

Richard is a very knowledgeable instructor with a first-rate command of the
body's musculature and of the capabilities of those muscles. As a result, he has enabled me to improve my strength and flexibility without at any point causing me hurt or harm.

Richard is eminently stable and mature. I present a particular challenge to a
trainer since I am close to seventy-nine years of age and occasionally suffer from atrial fibrillation -- a heart rhythm abnormality. On occasion when we meet I find myself in fibrillation. My cardiologist has expressly approved my working out in those circumstances and Richard carefully amends our program to take my temporary disability into account and carefully monitors my reactions, all to good effect.

I mention this to illustrate the exceptional knowledge and qualities that
Richard possesses. My family and friends all comment on how improved my health seems to be. The credit belongs to Richard, and I would be glad to recommend him to anyone seeking an expert in the training business.

Sincerely,

Edwin M. Zimmerman

2022-06-06

RE: Richard Parker

I write to acknowledge the excellent personal training provided to me by Richard Parker. After joining Sports Club/LA, I purchased a package of thirty personal training sessions with the hope that, with professional assistance, I could learn to maximize the effectiveness of the limited time that I have to spend at the gym. I chose to work with Mr. Parker because his resume, especially his military experience, suggested to me that he would be not only a knowledgeable and reliable professional, but also one skilled at imparting discipline and motivation to his clients. My expectations, of Mr. Parker as well as myself, were fully realized over the course of the last few months.

First, and most importantly, I had a great deal of confidence in the decisions that Mr. Parker made for my training program, both in terms of exercise and nutrition, because the knowledge base from which he was working was, simply put, impressive. For example, when discussing a given exercise or aspect of nutrition, Mr. Parker would explain to me the exact physiological processes that were implicated and how they would be impacted by the alteration he was suggesting. As a result, it was easy to follow the program he designed, even when he wasn't around; he did not just teach me how to do things, he taught me why I needed to do them in the first place.

Second, Mr. Parker is excellent at pushing his clients to achieve beyond that which we could accomplish on our own. Significantly, he does so in a very positive fashion. For example, on the rare days that I did not make some kind of progress in my training regimen, Mr. Parker would diagnose the cause and move me beyond the setback in his friendly, yet demanding style.

Finally, Mr. Parker is a pleasure to be around during training, but does not let social interaction get in the way of the primary goal, which is, of course, the training. Mr.Parker takes his profession seriously and his clients are the clear beneficiaries of his work ethic. I am now stronger than I have been in years and have accomplished this with far less time than I used to spend in the gym. For these reasons and more, I thank Sports Club/LA and Mr. Parker for the valuable services provided.

Sincerely,
Zachary Potter, Esq.

2022-06-06

It is a special pleasure to recommend Richard Parker:

I first became acquainted with Mr. Parker in the summer of 2001. At that time I was returning to the SCLA after having completed the standard Medicare rehabilitation protocol following a serious accident. Mr. Parker evaluated my situation; and in consultation with my chiropractor he developed a series of workouts aimed at gradually returning me to my prior high level of fitness. He constantly revised and perfected these workouts based on new information from his continuing education in sports medicine, particularly in post-rehabilitation training. In addition, as I exercise autonomously in the gym, I observe Mr. Parker's interaction with other clients, including elderly physicians who are my colleagues and with other members of the training staff.

Mr. Parker is committed to facilitating each individual's reaching his or her optimal level of functioning. Unlike many gym trainers, he understands that each person not only begins in a different place from others in the same cohort but will end in a different place. He knows how to develop programs that are simple, safe and effective. He is a perfectionist without being a tyrant and without engaging in vain displays of his own considerable prowess. He is always available to his colleagues to suggest how one might solve a specific problem for a client or for themselves. His colleagues clearly respect and have great affection for him.

In a prior phase Mr. Parker was a non-commissioned officer in the US Navy. He knows how to keep an organization orderly and well functioning. He knows how to teach. He commands loyalty and respect by his demeanor and his evident interest in each individual. I believe Mr. Parker will be a special asset to your efforts to keep your employees fit and cheerful.

Yours very sincerely.
Dr. Sheila H. Gray, MD, FAPA

2022-06-06

Re: Richard Parker - trainer "par excellence"

Richard Parker Jr. of The Sports Club L.A. has been my personal trainer for the past several years. He worked with me through a double mastectomy, the death of my husband, a smashed wrist after falling off a horse, and countless miscellaneous aches and pains from an active outdoor life--and the everyday stress of a challenging job. Richard also trained me well for adventure vacations from hiking to horseback riding [Mongolia] in remote regions of the world.

What makes Richard a "best trainer in D.C.?" Top of my list is his expertise in helping me continue a wide range of activities that I probably could not do as well - or maybe could not do at all - without his training. He pushes me but never more than I can handle (although I do sometimes beg for mercy!). He never lets me use my age as an excuse for not reaching the next level. Week after week, he modifies and redesigns our sessions to meet my immediate as well as long-term goals. I am constantly amazed at how he designs routines to strengthen muscles that are often ignored. I am also amazed at his creativity in using new techniques to deal with stubborn injuries.

Recently I had an opportunity to "quantify" the difference Richard has made in my life. I went hiking in the mountains [South Africa] with a group of friends. They were all more athletic than I was when we were at school together - and they hike on mountain trails every week. No contest. I was the fittest by far. Regular walking in the mountains is great exercise but no match for a balanced, rigorous training program.

Richard's specialty lies in improving the quality of life for the aging, the injured, and the chronically ill. Each day he helps his clients become stronger and fitter than they otherwise would have been. Priceless.

Gillian Spooner

2022-06-08