Gladden Gains Fitness

I was always active growing up, from theatre and choir to tennis, lacrosse, swimming, soccer, or track… For swimmers, “dryland” is a word to induce dread. But, dryland is where I first learned about the importance of resistance training and lifting weights. I can’t say I took it seriously though until I was in my last high school season, where one of my coaches would call me “Muscle Mollie,” since I finally started putting some effort into my lifts. But despite the 3×12 grind on Saturday mornings, I still knew virtually nothing about fitness and lifting.

I ventured into the rest of the fitness world on my own once the swim season was over. Like many, I fell victim to many myths, internet “hacks,” fad diets, and injuries. I can’t even say what I was doing to try to be “healthy” without saying something that could be triggering. When I started, I was pretty much doing everything wrong.

As I learned more through spending any free minute of my time consuming fitness content in my freshman year of college, I decided I wanted to be able to spread my knowledge and help other women battle the ever-growing cloud of misinformation that often prevents beginning a fitness journey, or hinders one that has already begun.
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​In January 2019 of my first year of college, I committed to studying to become a personal trainer. In July 2019, I passed my NASM Certified Personal Trainer exam. I worked in-person as a personal trainer at the University of Cincinnati Campus Recreation Center until my graduation (minus the COVID time…), and I have been an online coach since May 2021.

Fitness has been such an important aspect to my life. Throughout college, I made it through many moves to different states for internships, illnesses, and injuries requiring me to take time off from the gym, but I always made it back and reignited the fire. On top of that, I’ve always kept myself very busy. Whether I was signing up for every club and extracurricular trying to balance them with Varsity sports and class in high school; or just trying to stay afloat with having 18 credit hours, 8 AMs every day, student orgs, internships and co-ops, and having a social life in college; or now trying to balance working an 8-5 corporate job, going to grad school, and running my business.

I always incorporate fitness into my life, no matter how much I have going on, no matter how many obstacles get in my way, because I have a true love and passion for lifting weights. Now, I help all different kinds of clients learn about fitness and nutrition and how to best fit it into their lives and build their passion for exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

In August 2022, mere months after graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in marketing, I began prerequisite undergraduate courses for a Master of Science in Nutrition Sciences. Since August 2023, I have been a Master’s in Nutrition student at the University of Cincinnati College of Allied Health Sciences. I plan on doing my research on nutrition education and food accessibility, or how social media influences perceptions of nutrition.

My favorite form of exercise is lifting weights, my favorite exercise is the sumo deadlift, and my favorite form of cardio is incline walking on the treadmill. I’m also an avid pickleball player, I’ve played at least twice a week (oftentimes, closer to seven days a week) since I first learned how to play in May 2024. Combining lifting, traditional cardio, and a fun sport has been my favorite way to incorporate movement into my life.