Move with Lex: Alexis Fischer

Fitness instructors. A dime a dozen. Finding a good one is as hard as picking a needle out of a haystack. Back when quarantine started, I was a lost fish in a big pond of IG Live Instagram Classes. And when I say big, I mean every single fitness influencer or brand I followed world host workouts every day at all hours. Getting into the groove of home workouts was a daunting habit for a creature of habit like me. I usually have my favorite instructor and stick to them. As soon as I found Alexis Fischer though, it all changed. Her vibrant energy and positive mentality set us up to be a match made in heaven. Don't be fooled, Lex is the hardest Pilates and fitness instructor I have ever come across. One class and I was drenched doing cardio + strength moves I didn't even know existed (Don't believe me? Try a free class for yourself in the link below). Now, I am hooked. Lex and I had the chance to connect over a simple mission: helping people create the life they dream about. Read below to find out more on her fitness journey, career advice, and everyday motivation...

Can you tell me a bit about your path to becoming a trainer and what led you to the role you're in today?

To make a long story short, I was a professional dancer for about 5 years. Unfortunately, it’s just now starting to become a trend to where you train athletes on the backend of how to properly use their form in all sorts of fitness, not just in their area of specialty. I wasn't really trained on how to perform physical activity, I was trained to dance and I became injured multiple times. I tore my meniscus three or four times, and constantly had aches and pain. Finally, the time came for me to take a break and go to physical therapy. When I went to physical therapy, I was doing a lot of pilates work and strengthening. As a dancer, I felt like I was doing a lot of strengthening. I thought to myself "I should be strong, it should be easy for me" and it wasn’t. That’s why I’m so passionate about core work because I started to train the core very intensively and it really helped all of my dancing and everything in my daily life. From there, after my injuries, I decided I wanted to get into fitness as well. I moved to LA after dancing in NYC for five years. Once in LA, I got my first job with Body by Simone which is a dance/pilates based cardio workout. I dabbled in everything from there and got some certifications in pilates/personal training and took off from there. I absolutely love what I do. My motivation, specifically through quarantine, is to give of myself because so many are in need of an uplifting outlet. I’m so grateful to have a positive impact on the lives of others.

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What is a typical day (or week) like for you?

Prior to quarantine, I think I was doing a little too much. I think as a newer fitness trainer in LA, at least for me, you have to rely on the studios to promote you and give you income. I was so attached to teaching like 1000 classes and showing up for the studio vs showing up for myself. I will say, it has been really nice in quarantine to work on expanding my brand vs working for others. I think it's really important in anything you do that you have your own personal beliefs, your brand, what you stand for. Then you bring that into whatever company you work for, or, if you are working for yourself, you always hold up those beliefs with everything you do.

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On Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur

I definitely go back and forth, it is nice that I can create my own schedule but it’s also a curse as well. It can be easy to either overpack or under pack it, but that’s what entrepreneurship is. It is all about finding that balance. I would train about 3-4 private clients, twice a week, and then I would teach 15-20 group fitness classes on top of that. I would never recommend that it's super draining and exhausting, just a lot! You can never really show up as your best self when you're doing that all the time. Now, I’m going back and forth, trying to enjoy life a little bit more. I used to wake up M-F at 4:45 am and now, I do a 6 am wake up call. From there, I either do my zoom classes or I will train small group classes. Small group classes are nice because people don’t have to pay as much per session but still get 1-1 attention since it’s only three to four people. I’ve been focusing on building my social and uploading On-demand content. I also do about 4 classes a week on the Hot Pilates platform.

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Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

I’ll always wanna be at a studio, I’ll never want to be fully virtual. I think the connection is so important at a studio. At this point, what makes me feel alive is giving of myself. I truly am such a giver, almost to a fault but I am working on that. I would love to have more of a global platform and reach many people with my voice, work ethic, etc... I would love to maybe have a podcast, maybe be a trainer with a brand like Nike. Nike has always been a huge goal of mine. At this point, all I know is that I love giving back to others and making them feel and look like the best versions of themselves. I just wish to keep on this path, have a family, be a mom.

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What do you enjoy most about the work you do? / What do you enjoy the least?

I love seeing the transformations. It starts with food but fitness takes them to that next level of feeling alive in anything they do. Endorphins are such a real thing and I am able to give that to others, which is the best. Some of the challenges are constantly being on and feeling like I have to show up in every aspect, my body, my image, etc…, or I risk being forgotten/not as well-liked. Of course, most of this is just in my head but a lot of what I do in my profession is based on a certain image.

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On Staying Motivated During Hard Moments

The after-effect always keeps me going. That feeling of accomplishment and feeling like you can do anything because you can. It's the days that you don't feel like doing it that you need it the most. The days where you wanna just sit on the couch or be on your phone, that's when you need it the most. It is where creativity, where growth, where passion happens, it's on those days you don't feel like it.

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What do you think defines your brand/ style of workout?

My willingness to never give up, I push people to their very max limit. I want people to do one more rep or go a little bit deeper. I want people to grow, always. I say every single class you come to you’re gonna grow just a little bit. (And trust me guys, she kicked my ASS on this private 1-1 call we did during this interview)

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What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the industry?

Give yourself grace, it is not going to happen overnight. Go to everything, learn as much as you can. Be a sponge and absorb from anyone and everyone. I’m not kidding you, I would show up to every event, I would go for free, not get paid, take other people’s classes. Doing everything and anything to learn really did take me to the next level. Something that I have to reflect on a lot is I was in a stagnant place for a really long time. Through quarantine, my skills were shown to more than just LA and it took me three years to get to that point. Three years of rigorous training, learning, and going to anything and everything to get my face/name out there. Sometimes, I would have to say to myself “am I doing this for nothing?” and now looking back on it I'm so glad I did what I did. My last piece of advice is: never stop being a student.

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Free Weekly Classes: https://www.alexisraefischer.com/classes

To find out more about Alexis Fischer: https://www.alexisraefischer.com/about