SEPTEMBER SH1FT STAR: Tasha

Meet this month's SH1FT STAR Tasha Lee Huff from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tasha features in our new release workout video for L1FT 11: UPPER BODY VOLUME. Tasha is a personal trainer, certified health coach and group fitness instructor. But on top of all of that she also works as a medic - helping people with medically diagnosed pain and injuries. 

WHY WE LOVE TASHA: 

We love Tasha because she’s strong… she lifts strong, she expresses herself strongly and she has a strong desire to change the fitness industry - just like we do at SH1FT!

Read on for our full interview with Tasha….

1.Tell us about yourself: 

I’ve been living in California for many years now and have only recently, temporarily moved back to the East Coast.  I lived in San Diego and Sacramento doing Personal Training, Medical Massage, and Group Fitness. I also worked for the U.S. Navy, Department of Defence as a trainer helping active duty personnel and their families. 

A good majority of my family is in the medical field so that is why it is close to my heart. We all are helpers. We love to help people. I have family scattered throughout the USA so it’s nice to know we are spreading our love everywhere. 

 I have great interests in cultural diversity, poetry and creative writing. I also have an interest in connecting with and positively impacting others. It’s a big thought I know, but why not?! Making a positive impact on others is needed in this world today!

2. Where/how do you teach?

Currently I teach online and will be looking to start offering outdoor classes locally and abroad. Teaching has become a task of becoming creative - especially now since the pandemic has turned life upside down. I used to teach at gyms and now with many dealing with new restrictions and other issues, I don’t have that luxury anymore. Not to mention some of the formats I teach restrict me from having freedom to teach anywhere as well. 

3. What’s your favourite SH1FT workout?

L1FT 4 - that workout really is a burner and it pushes you to greatness. I also love the challenges it brings. I love to lift weights. Lifting weights is not only essential for gaining muscle but to strengthen your bones and joints - weight lifting is needed for all ages, both men and women. L1FT 4 can be done with light or heavy weights and no matter what you’ll still be challenged. It’s awesome. 

4. What's your favourite thing about SH1FT?

My favorite thing about SH1FT is FREEDOM!!! I stress that because we are now living in a time where we have to adapt and pivot to make things work. What was once a way of doing things is not the same way anymore. Instructors need freedom of creativity and freedom to be able to work wherever and whenever they can. Having a format like SH1FT that gives you the freedom to teach anywhere is a huge game changer and it is important and essentially needed right now. 

5. What does 'fitness for life' mean to you?

 “Fitness for Life” means each day you live, you are learning and growing into a better version of yourself. Fitness is essential to life. Movement is life. When you become stagnant and stop moving, everything else starts to deteriorate. The goal and the focus is to be able to be as active and as mobile as you can as you age. 

6. How has SH1FT improved your life and teaching?

SH1FT has completely changed and improved my life and also my teaching. Once the world shut down and I lost my job like many others, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Not to mention my class participants were feeling lost as well. I was able to pick up SH1FT, learn everything easily without having to study a ton of choreography and deliver it to my people without ANY RESTRICTIONS. When I tried with other formats I teach I was told I couldn’t. Having to explain that to my followers was painful and they were extremely angry.  When I was able to deliver SH1FT to them they were happy and so was I. You can be as creative as you want with the programs, the moves, EVERYTHING!!! The possibilities are limitless and I love that. 

7. What does diversity mean to you, and why is it important in fitness?

Diversity to me means an inclusion of all. No matter the age, race, color, shape or size, height or weight……whatever it is, diversity stands for inclusion of ALL to me. Diversity is EXTREMELY important in fitness and we have been lacking diversity in this business for a very long time. There is a standard - no matter where you look - where you see a specific race and culture dominating in fitness. It can be marketing campaigns, supplement companies, Group Fitness classes seen on TV, advertising, the list goes on. It is not diverse enough and this needs to change! 

Every time you see someone working out they don’t need to be thin. They don’t always need to be caucasian either. When I first got into health and fitness there were no women around who even looked like me. It would’ve been nice to have seen someone to look up to as a role model or for inspiration - thank god Billy Blanks with Tae Bo and Shaun T were around. Those were the faces that gave me inspiration and those were the only real faces of color I saw as a woman of color myself. As I stepped into the world of teaching I still kept being bombarded with the same images and was denied certain opportunities because of how I looked and it really pissed me off - simply because I was just as capable. Imagine how people who are looking to lose weight feel. Many times they give up because they are bombarded with the image of a skinny girl versus a woman or man who may be starting a journey as well. Or imagine how someone of age feels who is looking to get healthier because their doctor told them to - yet all they see is young people and nobody around their age. 

All of these things are important in this fitness industry and it is not being seen enough. One of the reasons I fell in love with SH1FT was because from the door there was DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION. All shapes and sizes. All races and cultures. It was amazing and extremely refreshing. THIS is what is needed in fitness. We are living in a time now where people want diversity more than ever. They are tired of the so-called “norm” and it needs to stop like…. NOW. We have to take a stand and show others how this should’ve been done in the first place. I’m looking forward to seeing how the face of fitness begins to evolve over time. Change is needed. People want it and need it and it needs to happen, today. Let us all stand up and be a part of this movement for positive change.