It would be impossible to celebrate Wellness Week without highlighting our head trainer at Herren Wellness, Nick Correia.  Nick develops fitness plans weekly and customizes each workout to the community and the individual. 

When a guest first arrives, Nick takes an assessment of their physical ability, injury history, overall health, and fitness goals and creates an individualized plan.

Nick also creates special bonds with the guests.  Being in recovery himself, Nick understands the guest’s experience and is a listening ear and a large part of their recovery journey at Herren Wellness.

In his own words:

Sports were a big deal where I grew up, and I was just an average athlete at the time, so my way of fitting in was drinking. That’s where I felt like I fit in. I started drinking only on weekends or drinking at parties – maybe one day a week. Around 2010 I couldn’t manage it anymore. The drinking and drugs were catching up with me and I was in and out of work. I got a DUI and started to get into trouble.

In 2012 Chris, who I knew of from growing up in the area, sent me to live in a sober house, but when I got out, I kept drinking. I couldn’t get the hang of recovery. In 2013 I went back to treatment, with the help of Chris and his brother, Michael. They sent me to a longer-term sober living house. I moved to Martha’s Vineyard and started working construction, went to a lot of recovery meetings, worked out, and developed a sober network.

I started to get things back. I was the foreman of a small construction company, and I was working out every day. It felt like something was missing, but then I started coaching kids again at New Bedford High School and rediscovered my passion for coaching. I was all in. Sports and coaching changed everything. I had forgotten how much sports meant to me. People started asking me to train teams and their kids.

After training Chris Herren Jr., Chris asked me to come work as a coach and trainer at Herren Wellness.  I had always watched Chris’ journey; we came from the same place and had such similar experiences, and then I saw him sober and making a difference and it made me believe I could do it, too. To go from where I was, to being the trainer at Herren Wellness is incredible to me.

The biggest transformation I see in the guests here is the change in how they view themselves. They come in very unsure, with low self-esteem, and no confidence. People that I have to wake up to get to the gym get to the point where they are waiting for me in the morning to get training. People go from never having done a push-up and thinking they can’t, to doing 40 push-ups.

Guests who do the work, follow the nutrition plan, and work out daily – they look and feel better about themselves, and you see the light come back in their eyes. They start smiling – real, genuine smiles! I love seeing that.

Nick is a Certified CPPS Level 2 trainer and outside of Herren Wellness trains athletes.  Herren Wellness allows Nick the chance to intimately get to know guests as they are led towards fitness goals.

Nick recalls one of his favorite moments at Herren Wellness:

One of the coolest things I’ve seen here is a guest who came in really beat up, and I told him he was going to run half a mile. He didn’t think he would ever do it. I talked with him a while and encouraged him to try working out. He began working out first thing in the morning – about 5am – with a bunch of younger guys, but he didn’t let that stop him. He put in the work. One morning I told him it was time to run half a mile on the treadmill, and he was still unsure. I told him “just don’t stop”.

We played Rocky music, people were cheering him on, and he ran a whole mile – he beat his goal. It was amazing to see him believe in himself and see how the community supported him.

This year Nick developed a new program where Herren Wellness alumni can zoom in and workout with him and current guests.  It has allowed current guests to get to know our alumni in a new way during covid and get a dose of Nick’s energy with endorphin kick!  The program has been a success and continues to grow.

Nick is at the core of what we do at Herren Wellness: care for individuals; mind, body, and spirit.  He isn’t “just” a trainer… he is often the person guests feel they can talk to when having a hard day.  He is so in tune to the guest’s bodies and capabilities, but also their emotional well being… and that is what makes Nick so special.

If you or anyone you love is struggling with substance use or emotional health at any stage, please reach out to us.  We would love to welcome you or a loved one as a guest at Herren Wellness.

About Herren Wellness

When you come here, you are immediately connected with a thriving community of people at all stages of their recovery journey. We introduce healthy habits and routines centered around emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness that provide a solid foundation for rediscovering your interests, experiencing joy in sobriety, and building structure and routine.

We provide several alumni support communities, including a weekly recovery support group, monthly alumni meeting, and online alumni community you can access anytime. Your connection to Herren Wellness doesn’t end when your stay ends; we are there for you throughout your recovery journey.

If you, or a loved one, are looking for help, please call us at (844) 443-7736, email us at info@herrenwellness.com, or fill out a contact form. You are not alone.