Redmond man uses fitness to fight his illness: Burns provides customized workouts at Uniquely Fit

The last decade has not been easy for Bill Burns, but a recent fitness kick has jump started a new career — and attitude.

The last decade has not been easy for Bill Burns, but a recent fitness kick has jump started a new career — and attitude.

In 2001, he and his family moved from Florida to Redmond, where he began working in the tech industry. After about two years of extreme daytime sleepiness, slurred speech, difficulty detecting the passage of time and a number of other symptoms, he was diagnosed with narcolepsy in 2004. His condition affected his job performance and when he was let go in 2009, the 47-year-old took some time to figure out his next step as well as how to control his narcolepsy.

“I wanted to know what I could do personally to make my symptoms better,” Burns said.

In the meantime, he began exercising just to improve his fitness level. However, the more Burns worked out, the more his narcolepsy symptoms receded. He also didn’t need his medication as often. Burns, his wife, Lily, and their two children — who are now 19 and 22 — had a “white board session” and the four of them decided becoming a physical trainer would be a good career move for him.

In September 2009, he enrolled in the personal fitness trainer program at Bellevue College (BC), earning his degree in about two and a half quarters. After graduating, Burns began working at the school’s fitness center before starting Uniquely Fit, his personal fitness training business based in Redmond. Uniquely Fit, which opened for business about four weeks ago, is located in Flow Yoga of Redmond, at 15744 Redmond Way.

Bill works his schedule around the studio’s classes and the owner lets him use the studio rent free.

Lily said like many families, they have been affected by the recession. In addition to her husband losing his job, he had to sell his truck. The family recently lost their COBRA medical insurance and they have filed for bankruptcy. Lily also had back surgery and the family’s two dogs each had their own surgeries, raising more medical costs. She said being able to use the studio rent free has really helped them financially and they are very grateful.

Although he has started Uniquely Fit, Bill still works part-time at BC to make ends meet because his income is significantly lower than when he was at his tech job.

“It’s about one-third of what I was making,” Bill said.

He added that even once the business does well enough to support his family, he would like to continue working at the college because he gets to work with people of all ages, shapes and sizes as well as all ability levels.

Pauline Christiansen, an English teacher at BC, began working with Bill last fall after having knee-replacement surgery in the summer. She had signed up for a fitness class and ended up with Bill by chance, but  is grateful for the pairing.

“I was really lucky to have Bill,” she said. “He really knows what he’s doing.”

Christiansen said Bill came up with different exercises tailored for her body and abilities, increasing the intensity gradually.

This customized workout is what separates Bill from other personal trainers, said Sarah Weinold. The 18-year-old Redmond resident has been one of Bill’s clients through Uniquely Fit for about a month and said having a trainer who truly cares about her personal goals and how she wants to reach them was very important to her. Weinold added that Bill works out alongside his clients, which is helpful both in seeing how exercises are done as well as motivating her.

“He’s not just sitting there, staring at you,” she said.

Bill exercises with his clients to stay healthy and keep his narcolepsy symptoms at bay.

Another quality that sets Bill apart from other trainers is that he limits the amount of equipment he uses, none of which are more than $200. He said a person’s body weight is enough for them to reach any fitness goal.

Crystal Zheng, a client through Uniquely Fit, appreciates this because she has a difficult time scheduling training sessions with Bill and so doing exercises that don’t require equipment is great because she can do exercises at home or at work.

As a trainer, this is one of Bill’s goals. He wants to give his clients the ability to sustain their new exercise regimen and lifestyle independently, without his help.

“If I do my job right, they’re going to fire me,” he said.