Heather grew up playing volleyball & running track in school which is where her love of sports and fitness began. She continued playing volleyball in adult leagues after graduation and started focusing more on weightlifting as a way to stay in shape and blow off steam. As her love for weightlifting grew she started helping friends, co-workers & family members achieve their health & fitness goals with online & in person coaching. Growing up in a southern(ish) family, health and fitness was never made a priority, or even given a second thought honestly making her appreciate even more the importance and benefit of staying active. She really enjoyed helping those close to her and knew she wanted to do more. After bring very active personally and professionally in the fitness industry for 10+ years she admits to putting off getting certified too long and did things a bit backwards at first but is now 100% dedicated to helping others reach their health and fitness goals working as a NASM CPT and group fitness instructor. “I just want to help people be the best possible version of themselves, even if I have just a tiny role in their life I want it to be a positive one”

For Rival’s founder and owner Jim Mahan, his training career began as a natural transition from his passion for athletics. A collegiate track athlete, Jim graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Business Administration and began a long tenure in human resources at Nordstrom. It was there that Jim decided he wanted to share his love of fitness with others, and so he achieved his Strength and Conditioning Certification through NSCA. While running his own personal training business, Jim developed FIT Squad, a results-proven group-training program. As the FIT Squad method took off, it was apparent that this was the start of building a fitness community. In 2013, Jim opened Rival Fitness’ doors for the first time and continues to teach classes in addition to personal training.

Danielle Bregent holds an interdisciplinary Masters degree from the University of Washington in modern health practices. She carries endorsements in a breadth of formats including indoor cycling (through Keiser, Schwinn), kickboxing, step, bootcamp, Total Body Conditioning, VIPR, and Burn at the Barre. She has been in the industry for 13 years; received a Group Fitness Instructor Certification through The American Council on Exercise (ACE) and is a former IDEA and CanFitPro member.
Danielle was a master trainer with Savvier Fitness from 2014 to 2016. She has traveled internationally to lead initial instructor trainings in Above the Barre. She has been developing and leading initial and refresher training courses for instructors since 2014. Expect a challenging, evidence based workout made lighter through stories of her nerdy misadventures.

By day, Katie edits medical journals. By night, she teaches cycle classes, including our Cycle + Core on Mondays and Thursdays. Katie started her fitness instruction journey at 18 as a volunteer yoga teacher with the South Puget Sound Boys & Girls Club. Since then, Katie has become a certified instructor through YogaFit Levels 1 and 2, YogaWorks 200 hr., and Maddog Spinning.

Over the last two years, she’s led classes in Boston and Nantucket, Massachusetts and is excited now to bring her talents to Rival.

Her classes are based around mindful movement to create body-positive spaces with her deeply held belief that all people deserve to feel empowered within their own bodies. Katie has an advanced understanding of the biomechanics involved in cycling and is able to meet each individual where they’re at to help them build a lifelong practice of sustainable activity.

All Rivalers and guests are welcome to join Katie in Cycle + Core and are encouraged to come ready to sweat, work hard, honor their bodies, and not take themselves too seriously.

A longtime friend of Rival founder and owner Jim Mahan, Mike immediately became a rowing class regular once Rival opened its doors in 2013. This prompted Jim to encourage Mike to become a rowing instructor himself.

Mike has now been teaching rowing classes for three years and his Sunday morning class remains a member favorite. Proper rowing form rules above all else in Mike’s class, and he enjoys incorporating speed drills and friendly competition.

Shari has always loved to ride a bike and has been teaching indoor cycling since 2003. She has a primary certification through AFAA, a cycling certification from Schwinn, and stays up to date with workshops and courses. She’s also a member of the Indoor Cycling Association, an education resource for cycling instructors all over the globe.

In Shari’s Saturday morning Endurance Ride, participants truly work out with a purpose. Rivalers can expect a variety of drills with clear instruction about how hard, how fast, and how long they will work in each segment. Shari believes there’s nothing better than getting a group of indoor cyclists to connect to the ride and achieve a sense of exhilaration and accomplishment.

Outside of the cycling studio, Shari is a self-employed copyeditor/proofreader and an avid reader. She enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her family and friends.

Originally from Kentucky, Paul moved to Seattle five years ago and has fallen in love with the outdoors and rowing. Paul started rowing in Spring of 2017 at Rival and found that the exercise brings him a lot of energy and a good release from the week. Last year Paul hiked over 300 miles and 200,000 feet of elevation – the endurance from rowing has helped to keep him in shape for all those hikes. Paul’s coaching (and life) philosophy is to have fun and make forward movement. This means you can expect to have fun, challenge yourself and grow in your own personal goals.

Anna is a health and wellness enthusiast who values the importance of incorporating movement into daily life. In addition to her NASM personal training certification, Anna holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from Emory University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health nutrition at the University of Washington.

Anna’s goal is to help you foster a love of fitness and have you leave class feeling better than when you walked in. She believes that everyone should have the right to good health and welcomes all Rivalers to attend her classes!

Moe has been teaching fitness for over 12 years and loves sharing her passion of teaching movement with others. She started her fitness career as a Pilates instructor and Pilates Instructor Certification Trainer. She is skilled at teaching all group fitness classes that Rival offers, though specializes in indoor rowing, cycling, and TRX. Additionally, Moe is a certified 200h Power Vinyasa Yoga instructor, and a certified Barre instructor.

When not at Rival, you’ll find Moe raising her three small children, and teaching private lesson Pilates, TRX, Yoga and Barre our of her in-home studio. She works with clients ranging from trained athletes to those recovering from surgery and/or transitioning from physical therapy.