Fitness professionals are known for being passionate and motivated not only in pursuing their own fitness journey but also in helping as many people as possible have success. Even among the most dedicated fitness professionals, Lissy Stalter stands out as someone to be emulated and admired. For Lissy, a fitness lifestyle isn’t just something she does, it’s something she lives. But she also understands that what comes naturally for her can often be a struggle for others. So she shares her energy and passion via guiding, teaching, helping, and inspiring others to succeed. She understands how important and impactful this can be for them because she knows how powerfully and positively fitness has affected her life.
Even the global shutdowns of 2020 which greatly impacted the fitness industry couldn’t stop her. Forced to close her recently launched brick-and-mortar fitness business, she simply picked herself up, redirected, and continued to live and teach her passion. Whether working virtually or in person, Lissy enjoys teaching and inspiring young girls and women to become more fit and healthy both for now and in the future. When you love something you can either selfishly keep it to yourself or passionately share it with others for their benefit. We are thrilled to have Lissy share her fitness journey with Bodysport.
Images Courtesy of Lissy Stalter, All rights reserved. © 2025 (Click Images to enlarge)
Name: Lissy Stalter
Occupation: Personal Trainer
Bodysport: Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
Lissy: I’m originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, and I currently live in Los Altos, California.
Bodysport: How did you first get interested in fitness, were you active in fitness or sports when you were growing up?
Lissy: From the time we could walk my parents had my sister and me involved in everything; skiing, gymnastics, dance classes (tap, jazz, ballet,) and swimming. Going to a smaller school for junior high and high school, I was able to play on any team I showed up for. Fastpitch softball was my main sport and I also participated in volleyball, basketball, soccer, and even one year of cheerleading!
Senior year of high school I wanted to get stronger for softball so I went to the local gym and hired a personal trainer using the money I had earned from my summer job. My trainer, Theresa was a bodybuilding pro and was my first introduction to lifting weights.
I played two years of college softball and when that was over I still had a craving for competition. That’s when I started getting into the bodybuilding/Figure competitions for a couple of years and then in my late 20’s, I was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Bodysport: What about sports or fitness made it so important to you that you have kept going with it your whole life?
Lissy: I’ve never known anything different, it’s always been a part of my life like brushing your teeth every day.
Bodysport: When did you first start training or coaching other people and how did that come about?
Lissy: I first started coaching when I was 19 years old. My mom got me into it. She was my pitching coach throughout high school and eventually took over the head softball coach position. When I came home for summer I was her assistant coach for the high school summer league team.
Bodysport: Can you tell everyone about your fitness business and where you’re located? What kind of services do you offer?
Lissy: I do 1-1 personal training out of my boyfriend’s personal training studio, Functional Core Fitness, in Mountain View California. My niche is functional training which puts a lot of focus on core work, balance, and mobility with an emphasis on longevity and increasing my clients’ healthspan.
Bodysport: 2020 was an impactful time for the entire fitness community. How did that affect you and your business? What did you learn from that and what did you wind up having to do to keep going forward?
Lissy: I had just opened my own brick-and-mortar business, Functional Elements Studio, in San Francisco in November of 2019, so 2020 was a huge blow to all of that start-up work I had done when the shutdown happened. I made the transition to online workouts, started a YouTube channel, and created a subscription platform for home workouts through Vimeo OTT. I inevitably closed the brick-and-mortar location in San Francisco and went back to Functional Core Fitness in Mountain View to pick up 1-1 clients again, thankfully I had that to fall back on and picked up where I’d left off.
2020 allowed me to realize many of the mistakes I made opening my own business, most of which were financial mistakes. I now consider that chapter of my life as getting my Master’s degree in business via real-time experience.
Bodysport: What advice would you give people particularly women or girls who have a problem either getting started with fitness or continuing to stay consistent on a fitness program?
Lissy: I highly recommend finding a mentor or trainer you connect with that you can learn from and receive guidance. If finding or hiring a mentor/trainer is difficult I love the buddy system! Ask a friend to take a class or go to the gym with you.
Bodysport: Is there anything that you know now or that you’ve learned that you would tell yourself in the past as far as fitness advice or motivation, something that would serve to help people where they are right now?
Lissy: If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be – you are the only thing standing in your way. When you are ready to let go of your excuses, rationalizations, procrastinations, blame, and whatever else you are clinging to you will find your ultimate success.
Bodysport: What are your plans over the next 5 to 10 years in terms of your fitness business? Where would you like it to go? What would you like to see happen?
Lissy: I’ve had different “lives” as a trainer and fitness instructor and I feel myself growing into the next evolution as we speak. I feel very passionately about increasing the healthspan and longevity of our bodies and feel like we have been selling ourselves short when it comes to aging and the “breakdown” that we have been told happens as we get older. I hope to be a strong example of what the possibilities can be as we age into our 40’s, 50’s 60’s, and so on. I’d love for my YouTube channel and Vimeo subscribers to continue growing and continue providing useful responsibility information and workouts to a wider audience that might not have access to a trainer otherwise.
Bodysport: If you could describe your fitness philosophy that you try to follow or you try to teach or instill what would that be?
Lissy: Balance and longevity. I love looking for the combination of fitness and nutrition that can bring about optimal health, while still enjoying life. Optimization without deprivation.
Bodysport: What’s your fitness program in terms of how often you work out? What kind of things do you do, and how much time do you spend? Give us an idea of what a “Lissy week” looks like in terms of your fitness approach.
Lissy: It has changed a lot over the years but currently my workout week looks like this:
Monday: 45min -1 hour Heavy Lift Strength workout at home + 1-2 hours/classes BJJ (evening)
Tuesday: 2 hours/classes BJJ (evening)
Wednesday: 45min -1 hour Functional Strength Training (balance, core, bodyweight/lightweight, mobility) + 1-2 hours/classes BJJ (evening)
Thursday: Wild Card Day- 1.5 hours Heavy Lift Strength + 45 minutes cardio at the gym OR 45min-1hour cardio with some core work at home
Friday: Rest Day (maybe)
Saturday: If I can I like to do a “yardwork” workout- raking, gardening/landscaping, pulling weeds, etc. If I don’t do that I’ll usually do a 45min -1 hour spin-bike workout
Sunday: Rest Day
*Sprinkle in walking the dogs 3-4 days a week + I like to do hot yoga when I get the chance.
This is as close as I can get to what a typical week looks like. There is actually more variation than this on some weeks because I do give myself some leeway and grace when life and work interrupt my workout plans. The hard rule is no more than 2 days of no activity per week.
Bodysport: Can you tell everyone how you first got involved with jiu-jitsu, what about it clicked for you, and where you plan to go from here with it?”
Lissy: Again, I have to give credit to Omar on this one. I went to watch him train one evening and became instantly hooked. It gave me a new outlet for competition, challenged me physically in a way I had never experienced before, and brought more balance to my emotional and mental state of being.
I’ve recently, this past month, been promoted to black belt which was a huge milestone I had been working towards for nearly 10 years. Moving forward I would love to teach young girls jiu-jitsu for self-defense to give them the confidence and skills to handle themselves in this ever-changing and unpredictable world.
Bodysport: Are there any other fitness tips as far as training, nutrition, or motivation you’d like to offer our readers, especially our female readers?
Lissy: More and more I feel like there is less and less of a one-size-fits-all approach to training and nutrition. I strive for balance and I don’t like following rules so I’ve really trailblazed my own path to figure out what nutrition and training plan works best for me on any given day, week, month, or year. It is a little more of a process because I have done a lot of trial and error, a lot of introspection, and self-analyzing, but I’m happy with where I am and where I’m going with it.
Bodysport: Is there any advice or input you can offer to other fitness business professionals that you think might help them?
Lissy: In the age of technology and AI, be patient enough to grow slowly and organically. There is a lot of wisdom on the slow and steady path that you might miss if you try to go too hard or too fast. It’s about who you become in the process.
Bodysport: Is there anyone that you would like to thank or acknowledge who’s been particularly helpful or motivational to you on your fitness journey?
Lissy: My boyfriend Omar. I am very much the trainer I am today because of his influence and business guidance.
Bodysport: Where can people find you as far as contact information and/or social media if they would like to follow you are inquire about your services?
Lissy: You can contact me via email: lissy.stalter@gmail.com
Instagram: @functional_elements
Youtube Channel: Functional Elements Studio
Leave a Reply