The Genesis of thirtysix training LLC

My name is Yardayna, but people call me Yard. The nickname stuck way back in 8th grade, and it has been a part of my identity ever since. Yard: it’s catchy, easy to remember, and easy to pronounce. You know what else Yard is? A unit of measurement.

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In December of 2022 I opened “thirtysix training LLC," A registered LLC in New York with its own tax ID number and bank account. Ventures I never thought I would accomplish (or figure out how to do on my own, for that matter), but here I am.

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Some context: becoming a fitness instructor and personal trainer has been a long, sought-after goal of mine since high school. Teenage-Yardayna wouldn’t believe it: I passed the NASM-CPT exam and opened up my own personal training business. I completed the Spinning Instructor Certification and could finally lead cycling classes, one of my favorite forms of exercise. Teenage-Yardayna who, for so many years, never felt “seen” in her fitness journey because she didn’t think she “looked the part,” despite devoting countless hours every week into bettering herself and her health. I always admired the LifeTime instructors who taught the 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm group-fitness classes after working their day jobs, and I used to think, “one day, I want to be just like them.” When I started college in New York, I admired the Flywheel, SoulCycle and Peloton instructors who provided an outlet to genuinely enjoy exercising and who created a sense of community. And now, teenage-Yardayna sees me, a certified Spinning Instructor and Personal Trainer, following in their footsteps as a fitness motivator.

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I pondered the name of my new business for some time. “Yardafitness”? “Fitwithyard”? While I liked the idea of including “yard” in the title of my business since that nickname is a core part of my identity, these business names seemed overused and unoriginal to me. I took a step back and thought about the health journey that teenage-Yardayna embarked on when she was 14-years-old, and wanted to somehow encapsulate that journey into one single, powerful name.

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One yard. Three feet. Thirty-six inches. A unit made up of other units; the compounding of multiple elements; one whole, broken down into a number of pieces.

Thirty six is also a multiple of eighteen, and in Judaism and Kabbalism, eighteen and its multiples signify “chai” or “life.”

The number thirty-six felt like the perfect symbol and name for my personal training business.

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One whole broken down into multiple pieces. We often fail to recognize how we must compound so many elements in order to prioritize our health and fitness. Often we see conventionally “fit” people and think, wow, they look great. Period. We make a blanket statement about their appearance and overlook the months or years of effort they have devoted to their mental and physical training. We project our assumptions about what “fitness” should look like, and we ignore 1) that health, fitness, strength, and athleticism look different for every body, and 2) that achieving the aforementioned states is a compilation of multiple elements and efforts. Teenage-Yardayna definitely felt the deficiency in recognition of her “fitness” because she didn’t “look the part,” yet was putting in the damn work. She was overcoming insecurities, facing mental challenges, reconsidering her daily priorities, stepping into confidence, releasing endorphins, experiencing physical pain and soreness, shedding lots of tears, and dripping a lot of sweat. And I still am. Clearly, health, fitness, strength, and athleticism aren’t just end-states to be recognized: they are whole’s broken down into so many valuable pieces–parallel to that of a yard breaking down to three feet, and further breaking down to thirty-six inches. One whole is broken down into multiple pieces.

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Eighteen, thirty six, double “chai,” double life. Fitness is not just about achieving aesthetics or dropping pounds on the scale, as Teenage-Yardayna had once thought. Fitness will fuel your life. As a teenager, fitness helped increase my confidence and happiness levels, it gave me a sense of community, it made my blood healthier, it relieved my stress, it gave me a consistent outlet to rely on. Thirty-six is “double life”; fitness will enhance your life and promote longevity.

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When these symbolic meanings of thirty-six came to my mind, choosing this number as the name for my personal training business was a no-brainer. The number thirty-six symbolizes the recognition that one outcome is the result of so many elements; the number symbolizes life. My goal is to help others achieve their personal health goals. My goal is to help others align with their confidence and sense of self. My goal is to help others get physically stronger, making hauling those Trader Joe’s bags a bit easier week by week. My goal is to help others improve their cardiac capacity, making walking 25,000 steps on their next vacation a piece of cake for them. My goal is to help others recognize all the little steps they’re taking to achieve an improved version of themselves. My goal is to help people use fitness to fuel their lives.

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And so, thirtysix training LLC came to be.