If you were in class on Saturday, you got a chance to meet Rob Gilbert and Samantha Thomas, who are available to offer nutritional / meal planning and guidance.  Here’s a little more about them:

Rob has been with the City of Reading Police Department for the last 15 years.  Most of his patrol career was spent on midnight shift in the patrol division.  In addition to his patrol duties he has been an instructor at the Reading Police Academy for the last 10 years, training and certifying hundreds of police cadets.  He has been involved in athletics, pre-dominately weight training, for over 2 decades.  After seeing people struggling to get into service academies, physically struggling to pass service academies, and just watching First Responders in general struggle with eating/training/lifestyle issues he started a personal training business with his girlfriend, Samantha Thomas.

Samantha (RN/BSN) is a supervisor at Wyomissing Health and Rehabilitation Center.  She is a Nationally Qualified NPC BIKINI Competitor, who is currently in preparation for next year’s season.  She was an EMT/FIREFIGHTER from 2008-2015 and is also familiar with the lifestyle of a First Responder.  Hurried meals, no meals, fast food combined with swing shifts and overnight hours.  Which ultimately leads to poor health and a poor quality of life.  Together they founded S.H.I.E.L.D STRENGTH.