JORGE RIVERA

CERTIFICATIONS: ACE Certified Personal Trainer

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s of Music Christopher Newport University

EXPERIENCE: HIIT and endurance, resistance training, functional fitness, flexibility and mobility, weight loss, body composition change (build lean muscle mass, reduce body fat percentage), injury recovery & prevention, chronic pain, corrective exercise, returning to exercise post-surgery/injury, active aging, nutrition.

After years of battling weight gain from autoimmune disease, Jorge weighed 324lbs and decided to take a semester off from pursuing his undergraduate degree in music performance and education from Christopher Newport University.  After 6 months of changing his eating habits and learning to embrace exercise he celebrated 100lbs of weight lost.  Leveraging his learned performance skills to command the presence of a room, he wanted to engage and inspire others to lead healthier lives and  became a group fitness instructor in 2013.  Jorge caught the attention of the lead personal trainers at his gym where he taught classes and under their mentorship felt inspired and became certified as a personal trainer through NASM. In 2015 he became a Zumba Jammer working as a choreography specialist for Zumba Fitness being afforded the opportunities to travel along the East coast and Midwest showcasing his passion and knowledge of folkloric Latin American  and diasporic Afro-Caribbean rhythms .  At the same time, he was also active with local schools and community recreation centers offering fitness based activities  for their youth programs.  

When Covid hit in 2020, he offered free virtual fitness classes via his social media channels and became familiar with chair based exercise concepts to be able to train individuals with balance deficits.  After Covid, he was invited to work alongside recreational and physical therapists for an adult day care program and began working with aging populations.  He got another certification as a personal trainer through ACE and  became a full time personal trainer at a senior residential community where he specialized in aquatic fitness, memory care, surgery prehab, Parkinson's care, and cognitive function.  

As a presenter, Jorge has presented for vairous conferences, most recently he presented for the 2023 30th Anniversary canfitpro Global Conference and Trade Show with a session titled “FUNctional Chair-Based Dance Fitness”. Since 2020, he has been a choreographer for Chair One Fitness and in 2021 joined the leadership team as a Lead Educator and Presenter and gets to travel the country certifying instructors.

Jorge is beyond excited to join the team at Ghent Fit where he can train a wide range of clients and also learn from a team with decades of experience.

Fun facts about Jorge:

Single birddad of 2, Paolo and Lupita

Is a sommelier and owns a wine rack as tall as him named Brunhilde.  Don’t ask him about his favorite wine unless you’re ready for a 7 minute answer.

Loves craft beers and mixology.  Works at a brewery and has been a bartender.

Originally from Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.

Worked for Target for 14 years.

Was vegan for 10 years