'Mr. Positive' Celebrates Five years of Fitness Together

Photo by John Arundel/Local Kicks Manager Jon Darnes, Mckinnis (holding ball) and personal trainer Joselle Gacusan."We've just seen phenomenal growth by applying the Fitness Together model then adding personal touches to it," said Darnes, Fitness Together's general manager.

ALEXANDRIA, VA - A milestone of sorts was reached this week when personal trainer Matt McKinnis celebrates five years since the cold November day in 2004 when he turned the key to his first Fitness Together location in Old Town.
 
McKinnis, fondly known by all who know him as "Mr. Positive," put down the barbells and exercise balls last week to reflect on the thousands of workout regimens he's led with clients to direct them to more shapely figures and better health.
 
"Five years, it's just an awesome, great feeling," McKinnis said. "I feel like I've been doing this forever...It's not just my job. It's my life."
 
He's celebrating the milestone with a tented party for clients and an extreme makeover of his Old Town location, perched inconspicuously on the ground floor of a non-descript office building at 300 N. Washington Street.
 

Photo by John Arundel/Local Kicks "It's all about leading happy, long lives," McKinnis said.

Over the weekend, McKinnis directed a work crew to apply a fresh coat of pointsetta red paint on the walls, tear up the worn carpeting and install hardwood floors and rubber flooring. He plans to stay in the location with his 120 Alexandria clients for at least another five years, he said.
 
"Many of my clients have been here since we opened," McKinnis said. "They've gotten great results from all those workouts because we push them."
 
Since opening, 12 of his female clients have given birth, a challenge which spurs him to help them "get the baby weight off" so they'll look great for their husbands and kids. "They tell me that they feel 100 percent better," he said. "It's an overall improvement of their quality of life, with a commitment to their health."
 
After the success of his first Fitness Together location in Alexandria, McKinnis turned his sights on the District, opening a second location at 16th and M Streets, and later this week opens a third location, in Georgetown at 1112 N Street.
 
McKinnis, who stands 5'5" and packs a slight, athletic frame, shuttles between his three locations in his yellow-colored Humvee, the one with the Fitness Together logo emblazoned on the side. He sits on the board of the Alexandria Boys and Girls Club, where he leads kids on a personally-designed LIFT program, which stands for "Learn, Integrate, Feel and Teach."
 
"We've just seen phenomenal growth by applying the Fitness Together model then adding personal touches to it," said Jon Darnes of Herndon, Fitness Together's general manager.
 
Darnes said that Mckinnis' clients call him "Mr. Positive" because of his sunny disposition and infectious, forward-thinking frame of mind. He provides fresh fruit and fresh-cut flowers for them on a daily basis, and knows the names of just about every one of his Fitness Together clients.
 
"We're the 'Cheers' of personal training," he said. "We keep it upbeat and friendly. They're happy to come in here, because when they leave they feel good."
 
Like one of his clients who lost a staggering 90 pounds working out twice weekly with McKinnis, or the others who shed their medicines for high blood pressure or other ailments. One McKinnis client, who's suffering from Cerebral Palsey is now able to walk four blocks. "She's phenomenal," he sighs.
 
"It's all about leading happy, long lives," he said. "I ingrain in them a healthy lifestyle. It always feels good to have energy and to be healthy."
 
Contact the writer at jarundel@localkicks.com