“I know wanting to better your health and get fit is a priority for everyone, but making that leap and figuring out what to do about your physical fitness can be tough.”- Vaness Bogenholm “I hate traditional gyms. I always have. The comparisons to others, the what do I do next, all of us have had that same feeling in traditional gyms. And do you want to use a machine after 25 other people have sweated on that pad and just wiped it with a towel?? How do you not feel self-conscious at a gym with 100 people when you have back and knee issues, are in pain, are overweight, don’t know how machines work, (yes even I have fallen off a treadmill) or work out with a 25-year-old personal trainer who is more interested in picking up the hot girl that just walked in? Or the best, going to a class of 50 people, not being able to see the instructor and watching ½ of the people in the class do things just wrong and hurting themselves??”
Share your background in fitness.
I was extremely overweight, not athletic, and sad as a child. A couple of months before my 13th birthday, I began running to get fit before high school started. That started a life change for me that continued my whole life. I had been a quasi-famous organic farmer back in the 90s and early 2000s. That all fell apart due to a couple of bad weather years and a relationship break up that almost brought me to the bottom. Don’t ever lose your companies and your marriage in the same 6 months, it’s brutal!! For a few years I worked as a Sommelier (Hey if you are ever going to lose everything, might as well drink for a living) then in food sales. Food sales for me was the worst!!! I hated my job, like what kind of fitness person, I was very fit and a very high-level tennis player, wants to be an expert in 47 different kinds of french fries and selling 20 kinds of cheap frying oil?? So, poof I work up one morning and just quit. No job prospects and no way to support myself and no plan. As I was looking to see what my next career would be, I got a job coaching tennis then helping a friend’s sister lose weight. That started my journey to the companies I have now. I didn’t have a plan it just fell into place.
What is it like to run four companies?
It’s busy!! I think any entrepreneur is always looking how to grow their companies and how to not just benefit themselves, but give better opportunities to their employees and clients. I feel it is very sad that we have become a society that doesn’t value and take care of our bodies, some people don’t even know where to start. We run from our homes to our jobs, we don’t eat well, rarely have time for exercise or self-care let alone get good sleep. I have this need to show people how diet and exercise can make their lives better and all of my companies are about that, helping people find love and fitness of their bodies.
My Train with V, my San Jose location is my main location where I see clients one on one as a personal trainer and takes up the majority of my time.
Fitness 23 Las Vegas is a boxing/kickboxing group exercise gym that I purchased during the pandemic to grow my businesses. I go there every 10 days or so for a couple of days and manage all the rest on my computer remotely and talk to the employees many times during the day.
My Fitness 23 company is my video and book company where I try to help people who I can’t see in person.
Exercise in the Streets is my non-profit, which started as doing exercise classes, literally in the streets in impoverished neighborhoods, and run clinics in youth detentions centers. When COVID happened, we pivoted to providing exercise bags with running shoes, sweatshirts, exercise equipment such as a basketball, and toiletries to foster children in Santa Clara and Clark Counties.
My drive comes from never wanting to be still. My parents were lazy and unmotivated in all aspects of their lives. I grew up wanting to be different. I also am willing to fail. Sometimes my businesses work, and sometimes things fall apart. It is just business and I try to move forward and keep at it.
How are you helping people realize they can get the body they want and deserve? It doesn’t matter if the person needs to lose 100lbs, get out of a wheelchair, or just wants to get out of constant joint pain. We work in small increments to get to constantly moving achievable goals to get to the desired result. I think it is very important to never give someone something that is way too difficult to do, why do you want people to feel like failures?? I give them exercises I know they can do, have them start and don’t give them a count like 10. Instead I wait until I see they are getting tired physically or the form is falling apart and then give them 10% more to do, like if they are doing pushups and they are slowing down and struggling at 10, I would have them do 2 more. Then they mentally are proud of themselves for doing more than they expected. They also then develop a trust in me that I won’t hurt them but will push them in a positive direction. Examples of Clients:
You are an Influential Person in the fitness industry. What challenges are you seeing with people today? Take us through the process of overcoming those challenges. The biggest challenge is people think they can’t change and have a difficult time being honest with themselves let alone others. My job is to show then change is possible, and this could be losing weight, getting more sleep, eating better etc. Our brains control our bodies and we need to believe in ourselves, be willing to be honest with ourselves, then move in small increments to the change we want. No one loses 100 lbs overnight but everyone can work on getting a better diet and moving their bodies more so they can lose one lb. a week. At just that rate that is 50lb a year, a significant change. Don’t worry about others judging you. Just be honest and love yourself and work toward living the healthier life you want. “A new healthier life doesn’t start with a program, it starts with an emotional commitment to believe in your best self. Explain. This is the most difficult part of tackling a new diet/exercise/fitness program. Believing you can do it and really wanting to try. We are humans, we have to be willing to try or we will never succeed. Failure is a part of life and sometimes the failure can bring us to a better place. A program I begin with a new client will evolve over time as our goals are reached and some things our goals change. As long as the client believes we are moving forward in a positive direction and they feel good about it, we will succeed. |
Tell us about Train with V. What will people notice when working with you?
I work one-on-one or in small groups, like couples, or families, or 2 or 3 friends together. The training we do is structured for the client. Some need to lose weight, some need greater mobility, some want to run their first marathons. No two trainings are the same because none of my clients are the same. I need to find the motivator with everyone. I ask personal questions until I find it. Do you want to be able to play with your grandchildren? Are you in constant pain? Do you want to look hot in that little black dress at the company dinner? Do you want to be strong? Whatever ’that’ is, I need to find it and we structure the diet and exercise to achieve those goals. All the stories of clients in the book come from these sessions with clients. All of the names have been changed to protect the client’s privacy but I share the stories of people getting out of wheelchairs, losing 100lb., getting over depression through exercise, etc. I want these stories to help motivate everyone to move their bodies. I have a very full schedule because most clients who start with me never leave. They may go down to just one workout a week, but over 80% of my clients have been with me for 2 or more years. So I always have just very few openings and I am expensive since I work one on one by the hour. That is why I started the online videos and wrote the book. I want to help more people. I don’t need my clients to tell everyone what they are doing. I need them though to really try- Try to eat better, try to move, and not give up on themselves easily. This is a personal and private promise to themselves to trust that they can be the person they want to be.
You work with corporations. Tell us about your programs.
I only work with corporations who are fitness related and have products that I use personally. On an average week, 10 or so companies contact me and want me to be an ambassador for them. I try the products if I am interested and feel my clients would benefit, then I am willing to be an ambassador. Zensah makes amazing compression socks and we have worked together for years and i wear their products every day. I suggest them to all my clients who use their knee braces, bras, and socks. Such a great company. ProSource Fit does exercise equipment for at-home use and I use all their stuff in both my gym locations. If the workout gear can hold up for years in commercial gyms, it is a great quality to have in your homes and why I recommend them for home use equipment. KT-tape is by far the best tape for your feet, knees, and shoulders. I have tried every other brand out there and there is no comparison and because I have Haglund’s Deformity on my feet, I tape my feet every day. The supplement market is huge and I am so distrusting of this market. I am very careful what I put in my body. When the Rhelief Tame Your Pain company contacted me, I was doubtful. This is a drink mix to control inflammation, so important to me as a runner. Inflammation is so damaging to all my tendons and ligaments with the long mileage I put in. I was shocked at this natural product that works so well and I use it every day I run. So you get the picture, all the companies I work with, I use their products daily.
Fitness 23 Run Club is on the fast track. What does it offer?
Running can be tough. The Fitness 23 Run Club is a way for us all to connect and support each other even from far away. https://www.strava.com/clubs/772348?oq=Fitness Strava is an app and website where endurance athletes keep track of their workouts. We have 209 people currently in the run club and we connect online then see each other in person at races all over the world. It was so cool to be at a 1/2 marathon race in San Diego a month ago, when someone came up to me and said “Hey I am in your Run Club” We just feel like we are then all one working on improving our lives. it is free to join on Strava or on Facebook and you can buy a shirt if you would like to also that I sell at cost. It’s just so we can all encourage each other no matter what speed or distance you are going.
Share a few client success stories.
Wow, there has been so many. First is Jack whom the book is dedicated to and the only real name I use in the book. Jack was the first client I got out of a wheelchair and walking. He was so grouchy when we met and the last thing he wanted to do was exercises and get up. He wanted to sit in his wheelchair, watch Fox news and be angry. But I got him up, walking and laughing. Amazing. He will always be such an inspiration to me about being willing to change. The first woman I ever worked with lost over 100lb. She hated me, hated working out, and hated her body. But she never gave up and kept at it, trusting that this was going to work when so many other times, she had failed at losing weight. She is now married with two lovely children. I cry every time I see her. I have a boy that I started working with when he was 14 and just starting to run. He had never been athletic but through hard work and many miles, he is on a full-ride scholarship for running at a major university. Getting to see him run in a college track meet was incredible. I feel honored to be part of his journey.
Tell us about your new book, “It’s Your Body, Move It, Love It, Live.”
I had always been a writer of some sort in my life through my many careers. I had written a fiction book before and now wanted to write an inspirational book for people who just don’t know what to do as they start their fitness journeys. I was a reader as a child and when I started my own fitness journey in 1980. Back then there were only books about famous athletes not about fat unmotivated kids like me. I wanted to write that book, the one that would have helped me all those years ago. I wanted to show what kind of people come to me for help; people that are having mobility issues, arthritis sufferers, need to lose 100 lb., on prescription medicines for lifestyle choices, suffering from depression etc, I wanted to show people that anyone can get fit and love their bodies, not just athletes and pretty people like we see on social media. I wanted to show the reality of going on a journey to becoming fit and out of pain. I wanted to show regular people they too can get the bodies they love and deserve free of pain.
Your book is filled with inspirational stories of real people who made tremendous transformations from thirteen-year-old kids to CEO’s. Who inspired you the most?
Gosh, I feel so lucky to see 8-10 clients a day that all inspire me everyday. Just tonight I had a 25-year-old tech guy almost cry when he did his first real push-up, he just looked at me and said, “I couldn’t do that 6 months ago!” I just smiled and said, “Just wait, you will be stronger and have those muscles you always dreamed of, I promise you.” Because that is what he wants, to be muscular and attractive and fit. So that is the direction we are working. I had a woman in her 70s who tried to commit suicide and because she didn’t have insurance, was stuck in a Medicare facility. It was a nightmare and gross, worse than you could ever imagine. She had obviously failed at committing suicide but had broken her back in a fall off a 3 story barn. She couldn’t walk. She cried and screamed for the first few visits. I was able to help her gain her strength back and learn how to use her body weight to get off the bed and onto a walker. She still wanted to die when I met her. Within 3 months she was up and walking and in 6 months got out of that facility and moved in with friends. She found joy in life when she thought the world was better without her. She was wrong, she had family and friends who loved her and even in my horrible comedy routine, she learned to laugh and look forward to life again. She fell down, she got up again and made life happy, priceless. I have worked with many successful people. I had one I didn’t put in the book. He had a stroke, and because of his business dealings, he felt that anyone knowing he had a stroke would show weakness and vulnerability and could hurt him financially. I went to his home and worked out with him for 6 days a week for 4 months. The day his left leg moved without him thinking about it was awesome. We were able to rehab him through hard strenuous work and sweat and get him back to where no one knew he had a stroke. Then a couple years later I ran into him at a party and he proudly tells everyone I rehabbed him from a stroke!!! ugh, we laughed. everyone stared at us in shock. He realized loving himself, forgiving himself and learning how to take care of himself was the best lesson. Such a nice man.
You pose an interesting question in your book: people take such good care of their possessions, so why don’t they take care of their own bodies? In your experience as a personal trainer, what possible answers have you gleaned?
We live in these bodies every day so sometimes we just forget about them. Tomorrow I will eat better and exercise, oh yeah I hurt myself from too much alcohol but I lived, so no big deal. Our brains help us cope and then poof, we stop the self-care for too long or the pain becomes too much and now we are in trouble Our brains only could fool us for awhile and then we are in serious poor health. And the big one, I am not as out of shape as that guy, or as fat as that guy, or whatever, we compare ourselves to others so we feel better. Then one day this self-delusion stops working. Then hopefully the person starts to care about their health and fitness or they will die and be in pain.
Tell us about the nonprofit Exercise in the Streets and your goals for the upcoming months.
I grew up in poverty and it still is always a draw for me. Whenever I go to a new city, I look for the most impoverished areas and just like to hang out there and meet people. About 5 years ago I was in Birmingham Alabama and went to a neighborhood that was considered one of the poorest in the United States. Poverty also brings obesity. I met some very nice people and said hey, how about if I come back and do a free exercise class for the neighborhood on Saturday? One guy said he would bring some music, other people said they would tell the neighbors. I brought some friends, got Whole Foods to donate apples and water, a Big 5 gave me 10 workout mats, and wow. We did an exercise class that was like a neighborhood party. My non-profit was launched and we did this in 5 cities so far. We had to stop because of COVID. Back home in San Jose, I also started taking run clinics into Juvenile Hall. Showing kids how exercise can help them. We had to stop that also but will start that up soon. Because I still wanted the non-profit to do something, I pivoted in 2020 and we put together exercise bags, running shoes, sweatshirts, and sports equipment and give these bags to Foster kids in Santa Clara and Clark counties. I love this and hope we can keep this going and grow to more counties. We take new shoe donations, sports equipment and of course money. I have never asked anyone for money, people have been very generous.
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