Joey Welling (pictured above) knows you’ve heard this adage before, but the West Ashley native, longtime personal trainer, and founder of downtown’s Ethos Athletic Club says he’s witnessed its validity time and time again. And when used as a motivating mantra, “use it or lose it” can help keep your perspective toward physical fitness decidedly straightforward: Daily activity and controlled stress on your muscles, joints, and bones gives you the ability to move better later in life.
“I don’t think people realize how similar physical fitness is to investing money,” says the Citadel grad, who majored in business administration and played for the Bulldogs’ baseball team. “Most people have heard of compounding interest of investment—small increments every month add up year after year,” he says. “And it’s the same thing with fitness. It’s 30 minutes here, an hour there—some days, it’s only 10 minutes. Small and simple daily and monthly investments compound to help you climb mountains at 70 years old.”
He should know. Welling has worked at local gyms and studios, as well as in Atlanta and New York, since age 18 and trained thousands. At every gym—including Ethos, which opened in 2020—he’s witnessed the benefits of a regular fitness routine, whether a person is establishing that routine in their 20s or in their 60s.
As for what type of movement he recommends, Welling is a proponent of diversity. That’s clear both at Ethos—which offers everything from an open gym and personal training to yoga and Pilates—as well as in his personal fitness routine that includes walking and running (often in Hampton Park), swimming laps at the MLK Jr. pool, lifting weights, golfing, and paddle-boarding. He encourages his clients to create an “arsenal of fitness” for themselves, which he defines as “a catalog of different exercises you can pull from.” Not in the mood for weight training? Go for a walk. Suffer from plantar fasciitis or joint pain? Try a swim. Don’t have enough time to hit the pool? Do body-weight exercises for 10 minutes. Working some movement—any movement—into your day is the goal and will help you reach the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation of getting at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.
Welling’s dedication to movement has supported personal achievements like completing the 29029 Everesting endurance race twice. For the 36-hour challenge, participants summit a designated mountain, such as Whistler in British Columbia, repeatedly until they’ve climbed the equivalent of Everest’s 29,029 feet. It’s also a mood booster. “I can’t name one person out of the thousands I’ve trained that was in a worse mood after a workout than when they started,” he says.
Despite his passion for physical fitness, even Welling needs motivation some days. In that case, he takes a zoomed-out perspective. “It used to be about how strong and fast I could be, but now, I’m more focused on being lean and healthy. I want to be able to play catch and field ground balls with my kids one day without being out of breath,” he says. “I want to be able to go on a hike with my wife when I’m 70. The longevity of fitness is what inspires me most these days.”
GET MOVING
Intimidated to start a new movement practice? Here are Welling’s top tips
■ Start small. “‘Inch pebbles’ are more important than milestones,” says Welling. If you’re new to regular movement, he suggests challenging yourself to walk for 20 minutes—10 minutes out and 10 minutes back. “Do it over and over again. Maybe there’s a day when you get done with those 10 minutes, and you knock out 15 push-ups. And then, you walk 10 minutes back to your house and you knock out 15 more.” Add squats to the mix the next week, and so on. The same approach can be applied to any activity; take small but mighty steps to build strength and stamina.
■ Don’t let an injury be an excuse. Injuries are a fact of life, says Welling, who suffered from a dislocated kneecap eight times throughout his high school and college baseball career and recently underwent knee surgery. “You have to find a way to work around injuries,” he says, suggesting that if you have lower body pain, you can commit to weight training for your upper body while you heal, or vice versa. Also, he says, take advantage of physical therapists who can help you heal acute or chronic pain.
■ Quiet imposter syndrome. Group fitness classes or an open gym can be intimidating when you’re starting out. But remember, says Welling, “We’re all the stars of our own movie. When we walk into a gym, we all think everybody’s looking at us. But a big thing that I’ve learned is that nobody is looking at you. Everybody in that room was a new person at some point, whether it was yesterday, a month ago, or two years ago. And you can be just like them, starting today.”
■ Find your flow. From open gyms and fitness studios to county parks with paved trails (perfect for walking, biking, rollerblading, or running), to the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean (where you can paddle-board, swim, kayak, and surf), and beyond, Charleston’s a gracious host for anyone wanting to break a sweat. If the venue alone isn’t enough to inspire you, Welling suggests gamifying your fitness (like with an Apple watch or fitness app) or finding friends to get active with. “Once you get rolling and you start getting into these habits, it actually does become fun,” he says.
