Our Team

The Expert Fitness Team is comprised of some of the top career professionals from every branch of the fitness industry. Our Professional Trainers, Lifestyle and Sports Nutritionist, and Licensed and Registered Dietitian all work together to provide an integrated fitness system dedicated to helping you accomplish your wellness goals.

Gabriel Tavarez

Fitness and Wellness Coach / Personal Fitness Professional

Gabriel has been involved in the fitness industry for over 12 years; Gabriel had been utilizing his talents to help clients reach their fitness goals around the Permian Basin as an independent fitness trainer in various fitness facilities before the opening of Expert Fitness in March of 2005. Gabriel has been certified through the American Council on Exercise since 1999, and has his Bachelor Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Gabriel is dedicating his time and energy to helping you reach goals you may have thought impossible. For many years of his life, Gabriel has overcome many obstacles. Now, he is focused on helping overcome your obstacles and help you reach your weight loss, health and fitness goals.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions concerning weight loss or your current exercise program.

Shay Gillham

Back and Core Specialist / Personal Fitness Professional

Shay is the co-owner of Expert Fitness and has a passion for health and wellness. His background includes 7 years experience in Cardiac Rehab as an Exercise Specialist, 2 years in a Physical Therapy Clinic as head tech and exercise trainer and more than 5 years personal training experience with a therapeutic emphasis. He received his BBS in Exercise Science from Hardin-Simmons University in 1996 and is currently certified through the American Council on Exercise. He is passionate in the pursuit of helping individuals overcome minor aches and pains due to poor posture and faulty movement patterns as well as achieving overall fitness.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions you may have about low back pain or core training in general. We are here to educate and empower you to know how to live a healthy and functional lifestyle.

Kristin Equiniones

Special Populations Expert / Personal Fitness Professional

Kristin has been involved with Expert Fitness for over four. Kristin is a former All-American college athlete at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin where she obtained her Bachelors degree in Biology with a minor in Kinesiology in May 2003. Following college she worked as a physical therapy technician, and then in a pathology laboratory as a histology laboratory assistant. Kristin’s education and past job experiences have assisted her understanding of the functionality of the body in the presence of restriction or disease. Presently she is focused on helping others surmount their obstacles due in part by chronic diseases. Kristin also helps clients with their understanding of food and nutrition.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions concerning exercise benefits for those with limitations or restrictions.

Ernesto Saiz

Mental Conditioning Specialist / Personal Fitness Professional

Ernesto has been with Expert Fitness for nearly 3 year and loves working with people to help them achieve their Health and Fitness Goals. Nutrition, eating properly and mental conditioning are of particular interest to Ernesto so he really enjoys helping others find systems and ways to eat healthy. With National Certification from the American Council on Exercise, Ernesto is very knowledgeable and motivated to help those around him.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions you may have about health and fitness.

Michelle Hicks

Personal Trainer

Michelle has been with expert fitness for over a year. She has always been an active person. She entered jump rope competitions, cheerleading dance camps and doing ballet, tap and jazz on a regular basis while living in Houston, TX as a child. After moving to Midland she gained an interest in tae kwon do and volleyball. Her father is her role model; he ran many marathons and inspired her to take up running. She graduated from Midland High School in 1999, married and move to Lubbock, where she had her beautiful daughter Lizzy. Because she was not in prime shape after pregnancy she entered a body building competition to motivate her to be in better shape. Soon after she attained her NASM certification so she could help others achieve their fitness goals. She is interested in teaching the masses a better quality of life.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions you may have about health and fitness.

Jared Davis

Personal Trainer

Jared has just started at expert fitness. He began his career as an intern and gained a lot of experience. He studied exercise science health promotion and coaching during his time at Abilene Christian University. He also has experience in competitive power lifting while attending high school in Cameron. TX. He has been interested in training since his involvement in organized sports and he also appreciates being a motivator as well as discovering what it takes to drive an individual. The one person that has influenced him the most in training, sports, and work ethic is his sister Carisa.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions you may have about health and fitness.

Samantha Equiniones

Office Assistant

Samantha has been an employee with expert fitness for a year. She has been keeping the office running while working part time. We then gave Samantha more responsibility by hiring her to work primarily solely at our second facility Express Total Fitness. She is currently a student at UTPB getting her bachelors in Biology with a minor of Chemistry. She then plans to get her master’s in Nutrition. Since she was young she has been always been involved in some sort of activity, from dance class, to recently tennis. She began her active life by playing softball and soccer, and then she added basketball to the mix. Later she began doing kick boxing during High School and a few years in college. Recently Samantha has continued her passion for tennis.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions you may have about health and fitness.

Kendra Meadows

Office Assistant

Expert Fitness requires more from its employees in regards to educational and motivational skills than other facilities. All personal trainers are well qualified to be providing you the best in weight loss, fitness, and health services. This includes the synergistic components of resistance training, cardiovascular training, and supportive nutrition through behavioral conditioning. All Expert Fitness trainers work as a TEAM and are not individualized in training methods. However, they operate off a well developed, organized, and planed fitness regimen. It’s not the trainer that gets you into shape. Instead, it is the system employed.

Please feel free to use the function below to ask me any questions you may have about health and fitness.