Let me introduce myself: Neva Barra, NASM Certified Personal Trainer & Lifelong Cheerleader

Welcome to my new blog! Wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and give some background on my passion of training women through every stage of life.

My passion for fitness and how the body moves started early. I was a gymnast and cheerleader from a young age, which are sports that require serious body awareness. My mom was a collegiate gymnast, my sister competed at elite club levels, but I was a pretty average gymnast myself. Eager to carve out my own path, I found cheerleading: a similar sport but better because it was a TEAM sport, which I loved. I cheered on my high school team (Go Wreckers!!) and an all-star team called Xtreme Cheer, which is where my cheerleading career really took off. Fast forward to college, I had a hopes of joining a college team but was lacking the co-ed stunting experience. In typical Neva fashion, I poured myself into learning how. After many hours of open gyms stunting with anyone who would throw me around, I made the University of Illinois Cheerleading team in 2011! One thing I will always do is work my ass off for my goals!

At U of I is where my fitness interest really took off. We worked out with a trainer a few times a week on top of our practices & games. I was used to the gymnastics style conditioning of body weight strength training, but for the first time this is where I started to pick up some heavier weights and really understand how bad ass it felt to be strong. I came into college undecided and torn between going into Kinesiology to become a physical therapist/something in that field OR be a business major. Spoiler alert, I didn't go either of those routes and was an Advertising major, which I loved, but always had an interest in body mechanics.

After I graduated college and my cheerleading chapter came to an end, I was eager to fill the fitness void left in my heart. I asked a trainer at the gym Griff and I went to how to get into personal training and he took me under his wing as their intern (shout out to my dude Marlon and the rest of the LTC Living gang!! ❤️) I completed my gym-ternship and passed the NASM Certified Personal Trainer exam a few months later in 2019. From there, I continued to work full time in advertising and taught fitness classes on the side. My first class was called Buns and Guns, and was focused on teaching women how to lift with the barbell safely. Over the years I have taught hundreds of classes and turned to focus more on 1:1 personal training. There is something so special about being along for the journey with a client and seeing their confidence in the gym grow. In 2021, I completed a pre/postnatal certification with PROnatal Fitness and have been fascinated with this population ever since.

Even before I became a mom myself, I have always found it incredible how women’s bodies change and morph throughout pregnancy to grow life. There is a lot of misinformation out there on what is safe to do during pregnancy and it ultimately discourages women from staying active during this time. I have much more to share on that topic in another post, but training during pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for self and for your baby. It is an honor to work with women during this stage of their lives.

To me, fitness is all about adding things to your life: confidence, strength, years (!!), mobility, and freedom. The industry often focuses too much on what you need to loose: pounds, inches, food you love. My goal is always to share realistic fitness, meaning things that are actually achievable for us busy folks. I work full time in tech sales, part time training, and am an around the clock mama to my 16 month old son. Goals fluctuate with the seasons of life and right now my focus is to feel strong, move functionally, keep up with my toddler, and be in a good headspace for my family. Whatever your goals are in your current season of life, I’d love to be your coach and personal cheerleader. While I love working with pregnant populations, I work with all genders and lifestyles for personal training in Chicago and online.