Personal Trainer Bio

​Welcome to Personal Barre 805! I'm Clarisse. I am a personal trainer and fitness author, and I provide in-home services for women throughout the Ventura County area, creating unique workouts that blend exercises from Pilates, Barre, Salsa, and Yoga.

I decided to develop dance-based personal training after noticing the impact that a few simple ballet exercises made in my clients.

It's pretty easy to spot a dancer out of a crowd, both in motion and stillness: she's got a way of carrying herself, of moving effortlessly through her environment, and when she is at rest, her muscles flow into each other in a holistic way. 

I received my certification as a personal trainer through NCCPT, and I thoroughly enjoyed the program's emphasis on exercise science, as well as the attention to detail paid to correct (and incorrect!) form on many exercises you'll find in a gym setting. They are awesome for accomplishing the overall goals most of my clients wished for: strength, weight loss, and in many cases, working around or even improving an injury. 

As much as I love traditional exercises (they're traditional because they work), it wasn't until I began applying my education in Pilates and Barre that I was able to replicate the holistic strength and grace of a dancer's look in my clients.

Unexpectedly, what I also found was the usefulness in these exercises for additional injury prevention. Both Pilates and Barre emphasize stabilizing muscles that are usually an afterthought in most training programs, with Pilates focusing particularly on those in the core. In addition, the non-pounding aspects of both Pilates and Barre can provide a way to work the stabilizing muscles around the joints without sudden compression or overemphasizing a limited plane of movement. 

Having a diverse training background has allowed me to work with clients from just about every fitness background imaginable. I work with ladies who have decided to make a positive change in their lives by achieving weight loss or better mobility, and I train former athletes and dancers who enjoy the familiarity of exercises from a barre studio. 

Your health is an investment. The time and commitment you put into a customized fitness program, a positive teaching environment, proper instruction, and long-term solutions will have an impact physically, mentally, and emotionally for years to come. I look forward to witnessing your journey!

Clarisse McLeod
(805) 910-8559
Somis, California

P.S. I'm a huge fan of this trainer. His message here is amazing.

Why Fitness Actually Matters HD (58-97 years old) by Mike Vacanti