Natalie Gallardo

BACKGROUND & CREDENTIALS

Natalie is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Certified Nutrition Coach, and holds Basic Life Support and CPR certification through the American Heart Association. She has been coaching more than two years, including friends and family before that and a stretch at a big-box gym, and joined SST in June 2026.

THE ORIGIN STORY

She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at twenty, and it changed how she thought about her health entirely. “Insulin is expensive and exercise is not.” She started with calisthenics purely to bring her blood sugar down, and fell for it — her numbers came into range, her energy came back, she lost the weight she’d carried since childhood, and she could hold a plank for over two minutes, which she was prouder of than any of it.

Coaching followed from the same place. She found she loved learning how the body works, and recognised that for most people that learning curve is exactly what makes exercise feel impossible.

She came to SST for how the training is done: “It’s not just random workouts, not just there to get you to sweat. It is training… it’s structured planning and programming.”

HER COACHING STYLE

Functional fitness, aimed at aging gracefully — stronger muscles and bones, and a life that’s easier to live. She wants clients to feel taken care of: “they can just leave all the load on me. I do all of the brain stuff, and they just show up.”

But not permanently dependent on her. She explains what every exercise is for and what it should feel like as she goes, so that clients can eventually run their own sessions and think “okay, Natalie taught me this.”

She brings deliberate energy — “an extra pep in my steps” — celebrates small wins, and describes herself as a chameleon, matching whatever her client needs that day. The habits she builds are meant to be ones you can still keep in five years, not five months.

CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES

A young client, around twenty, came to her very thin and frequently ill. She couldn’t squat — her knees caved together and she couldn’t get anywhere near depth — and couldn’t manage a half-kneeling push-up. She was ashamed she couldn’t do bodyweight movements at all.

Natalie worked the problem with resistance bands above the knees so the client had something to push against, consistent cueing, and a shift in mindset. She got to a full-range squat with no knee collapse, then push-ups, then dips, and later added weight to the squat. “She couldn’t believe it that she was able to do these things.”

BEYOND THE GYM

Her cats, and nature — hiking, running, and being around trees and animals. She reads a lot. She doesn’t think anyone would guess the nature part.