by Rachel Schreiber

Susan Tait, owner of Fitness Success, sits in her skylit studio, surrounded by flourishing green plants and “her latest workout toys.” Susan was born in the Detroit area, grew up in Ann Arbor, and earned her BAE, fine arts and education, at Eastern Michigan University, and her masters at UM. She has owned Fitness Success for 23 years.

Susan did her internship in cardiac rehabilitation at St. Joes. She says, “If I wanted to create and have ideas I’d have to go through an approval committee. I looked for a creative way to use my ideas. Fitness Success was the answer.” Susan has designed fitness programs for over 1,200 people from ages five to 95, for individuals and couples. Susan’s says, “People start losing their balance and muscle mass after their late 20’s. Research shows muscle grows at 100. I work with clients to have better posture, work on their balance, their strength and increase their enjoyment in life. People want the same thing, to look better, feel better and function better. I always change everything. Variety is the key, I keep challenging people.”

Susan is an A.C.S.M (American College of Sports Medicine) wellness coach. “You help people find the answers and guide them at the same time. The idea is you want people to become more self-reliant. If the client thinks of a great idea, they’re more likely going to do it,” Susan says. “I work with people on their goals, they always pick their goals and they find the answers. Research shows there are five stages of change. We help people through those stages of change from the, I can’t to the successfully maintaining, by finding their motivators, benefits and successes by dealing with their obstacles.” She adjusts programs for her clients depending on how they feel when they walk in.

For the past six years Susan has added golf conditioning to her services. She works in conjunction with the Kendall Academy (Kendall Academy is part of the Miles of Golf complex). The goals are to increase a player’s performance, decrease injuries, lower a golfer’s score and increase their enjoyment.

Susan is a Titlist Certified Golf Conditioning Specialist She says, “Titlist looks at your fitness handicap score. To get this score you measure stability, mobility, balance and range of motion and how it relates to your swing. Titlist shows a correlation between your fitness handicap and your golf handicap. The lower the fitness handicap, the better the player. We help the golfer recognize your body is your best driver.” Susan, along with Dave Kendall and Barbara Chesney, head of the sociology department at the University of Toledo, in cooperation with the Michigan PGA conducted a study with a 174 Michigan golf teaching professionals about what golf clubs were doing to stay competitive and what golf professionals and clients were doing in terms of their fitness. The study showed 97 percent of the golf professionals said their fitness affects their golf performance and golf county clubs were becoming more family and community oriented.

Susan is currently looking for another health professional to share the space. She is writing two books, a golf conditioning book and another book called 52 Workouts For The Year. She says, “When you challenge your body, you become stronger, more flexible and you don’t adapt to the workout. People tend to do the same workouts. The professional can use the books as a reference, or for a person to become inspired to try new and different things.”

Fitness Success
Susan Tait
2217 Packard, Unit 15
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Phone: 734-747-9013
Website: www.bodydriverbyfitnesssuccess.com