Winter Garden power couple runs two fitness businesses

WINTER GARDEN  The couple that offers fitness training together stays together.

Kim Herring, a retired NFL player, and his wife, Marissa, a former competitive gymnast and cheerleader, both run their own fitness endeavors out of a shared gym off Winter Garden-Vineland Road. 

Marissa runs Garage Mama Fitness — which caters to women looking to get in shape and learn about working out, nutrition and cooking — while Kim runs Trinity Sports Performance, which serves middle- and high-school students training for sports, as well as men who want to get in shape. 

ADVANCING IN ATHLETICS

The two met through friends at a Super Bowl party in 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, but Kim was playing in the NFL at the time and was only in Florida for a month during the off season. He eventually left to go back and train, and the two didn’t meet again for another year. 

“We want to raise our family healthy because they watch what we do, and we just want to reiterate that with the community, that the kids are watching and it filters down.” — Marissa Herring

Kim, an avid Tottenham Hotspurs fan, got started in athletics by playing soccer. He played on the Adidas Select Team at 13 years old, but when his family moved to Cleveland, he switched to football. 

“I’d never played football until high school,” he said. “I was mostly a running back on offense, and I played that for one year in college (at Penn State) before they switched me to defense my second year.”

That time at Penn State led to a nine-year career in the NFL that included stints with the Baltimore Ravens, the St. Louis Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Marissa was a competitive gymnast until she was 14 and later cheered for both Florida State University and Florida International University. Additionally, she has competed in the Tri Fitness Challenge and won her age division four times. 

For her, competing started when she was trying to lose 40 pounds of baby weight and Kim suggested she go see a trainer. She came back the first day telling him she was going to compete in the 2007 Tri Fitness Challenge seven months later. 

“I did real estate by day and training in between,” she said. “My trainer suggested I get certified because I had a background in athletics.”

FITNESS FOR A LIVING

From that point, Marissa started training her cousins and friends and used whatever she had lying around in her garage.

“We’d push the car, and I’d slowly buy used equipment on Craigslist,” she said. 

She believed everyone could be helped in some way to better their health. She watched her friends struggle with energy, while she was bouncing off the wall with it. And as a self-proclaimed foodie, she noticed they were not eating, while she was eating all day.

“There was such a fluctuation with emotions with women, and I said, ‘You know, this really can be conquered with food and exercise,’” she said. “I knew there was a way to tackle people’s habits, and I’m going to give it to them straight, but at least you know what you get when you come here.”

After Kim tired of seeing people in his garage, the two decided it was time to find a facility. He jumped on board with Marissa and added a turf area for sports training, thus creating Trinity Sports.

“When we first began, we did boot camps together,” Kim said. “I would take part of the group, and she’d take the other part, and then we’d switch. We’re great doing that, those are fun workouts, and we like coming up with the workouts together.”

For the most part, each runs their own programs. Marissa is certified in balanced habits nutrition coaching and teaches people how to cook and eat balanced meals. She also offers private- and small-group training.

Kim focuses on sports training and mentoring kids by building their character and preparing them for more than just a college scholarship. He also offers “man camp,” which caters to men who want to get stronger and have a good time.

In the end, it all comes down to raising a healthy family and educating the community on proper fitness and nutrition.

“We want to raise our family healthy because they watch what we do, and we just want to reiterate that with the community, that the kids are watching and it filters down,” Marissa said. “It’s really a family affair.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].