Thanks to a fresh crop of boutique fitness studios, there is ample opportunity to change your gym routine. Here are the trainers who’ll make you sweat.
Marquis McCarroll | Elite Total Fitness
Marquis McCarroll, a certified personal trainer and sports performance coach at Elite Total Fitness, shows his clients the equipment they need to use and the muscle groups they need to work—but most of all, he helps them fine-tune the way they think. “That’s the main goal for me,” says McCarroll, who grew up playing football as a running back at Wade Hampton High School and North Greenville University. “Not just training people physically, but mentally.” Elite Total Fitness, founded in 2021, is a 6,000-square-foot facility decked out with the latest high-tech equipment, including athletic recovery aids like a hydrotherapy room and cold and warm contrast plunge tubs. The Simpsonville gym specializes in personal training, group fitness, and sports training for kids and adults.
McCarroll, who has been a personal trainer for three years, fell in love with fitness as a football player and found that training kept him close to the game as he rehabbed from a major Achilles and meniscus injury. He works with skilled athletes as well as fitness newbies, either one-on-one or in group classes like boot camp and HIIT (high-intensity interval training). Marquis says, “This is my way of giving back and helping others.”—Leigh Savage
Elite Total Fitness, 300 South St, Ste A, Simpsonville. (864) 280-9828, elitetotalfitness.com
“There is no secret formula. Just take it one day at a time. Fitness is a process built on consistency and discipline.”
Natasha Houston | Orangetheory
As a collegiate Division 1 gymnast, Natasha Houston is no stranger to the fitness realm. Originally from Tampa, she left her nine-to-five a few years back after interacting with the Orangetheory community and seeing the impact it had on people’s lives. Orangetheory is a heart-rate-based, whole-body group workout, utilizing rowers, the treadmill, and weights to achieve results. Natasha maintains that the switch from marketing to coaching was the best decision she ever made. The one-on-one time before class, the inviting community environment, and the science-based personal training made the transition easy, and she’s been helping people find happier, healthier lives at Orangetheory Fitness Greenville for almost three years.
“To me fitness is not a linear path—it ebbs and flows,” Natasha says. “Sometimes you have days where you are really motivated to work out and eat healthy, and then you have other days where you lack motivation and want to eat all the cookies in your pantry. It’s about finding the balance between both of those scenarios to establish healthy habits.”—Abby Moore Keith
Join a group with Natasha at Orangetheory Greenville Downtown, 101 Falls Park Dr #101. (864) 509-9147, @otfgreenvilledowntown
“To me fitness is not a linear path—it ebbs and flows.”
Joy Howard | Shred415
It (almost) sounds easy: four 15-minute intervals of high-intensity strength exercises with alternating bursts of running (or walking) on the treadmill. Expect some real sweat equity, however, even if the upbeat music and the constantly changing segments convince you— and your hard-working body— that you’re actually having fun.
That’s the point, anyway, explains owner Joy Howard who opened a Shred415 fitness franchise here with her husband, Brad, in 2019. “I’ve done everything: tae bo, yoga, power yoga. I’m a runner, but this is everything in one tidy little package that is modifiable for every fitness level. It’s for everybody,” says Joy. “The best exercise you can do is the one you will do. If you don’t love it, you won’t do it.” With perks like child care, a free first class, and Woodway treadmills—which, thanks to their patented slatted belt, are purportedly easier on your joints and muscles than a traditional conveyor belt of most treadmills—there’s a whole lot to love.—Jac Valitchka
Shred415, 823 S Church St, Ste A, Greenville. (864) 373-9940, shred415.com
“The best exercise you can do is the one you will do. If you don’t love it, you won’t do it.”
DeAndra Reasonover-Winjobi | MADabolic
DeAndra Reasonover-Winjobi is the founder and owner of VV Spot, a local business that offers nutrition coaching, personal training, group fitness, fitness parties, and private food tours. In her spare time, she’s also a trainer at MADabolic, an interval-based strength and endurance gym located in downtown Greenville. The gym is a part of the MADabolic franchise founded in 2011 by professional hockey players Brandon Cullen and Kirk Dewaele, who designed a strength-driven interval-training program focused on momentum, anaerobic, and durability (hence, the MAD name) workouts.
In a world where boutique gyms seem to be popping up on every corner, MADabolic differentiates itself by prioritizing form over speed, strength-driven routines in a cardio-saturated industry, structured workouts planned a full year in advance, and accredited, certified trainers who endure a rigorous system of checks before ever getting out on the gym floor. When DeAndra’s not finding the latest plant-based eatery in Greenville, she’s correcting form and greeting people with her contagious smile at MADabolic.—Lindsay Niedringhaus
MADabolic, 400 E McBee Ave #105, Greenville. (864) 320-8814, madabolic.com/location/Greenville
“A healthy lifestyle is 80 percent nutrition and 20 percent active living. Fuel your body right so you can rule in the gym.”
Core 24 | Kory Keefer
tep underground on Main Street to enter Core24, where workout warriors are met with a jolt of energy from music blasting their eardrums. The neon, graffiti-style artwork flowing throughout the space appeals to urbanites aiming to perfect their movements.
Core24 owner, Kory Keefer, found his passion for fitness at his family’s gym in Seneca nearly two decades ago and opened a new location in the heart of Greenville’s downtown in 2018. The functional space evolves every six months by repositioning its equipment to ensure members explore every inch of the full-body circuit machines, dedicated squat room, branded dumbbell rack, and the two 10-person saunas for men and women, targeting 25- to 35-year-old professionals with a desire to network while making gains.—Bo Wood
Core 24, 103 N Main St suite 100, Greenville. (864) 349-1014, core24gvl.com
“Core24 gym is the destination for modern fitness culture. We exist to bring people together.”
Photography by Paul Mehaffey
