Liberate Strength — Local services in Seattle

I’ve been working with Laura for over a year now and it has been an absolute dream! I sustained a back/hip injury 10 yrs ago in high school and I finally got the ok to start building the muscle backup after working with my doctors on/off. I started going to the gym but I had ZERO clue on what to do to build the muscles in my back again. My job is incredibly physically demanding and I was starting to have issues again since I hadn’t made progress by myself.

I looked up female personal trainers on a complete ADHD inspired whim and Laura was the first person to pop up. After looking through her incredibly delightful website, I reached out and haven’t regretted my decision since! I have never met a person who is so positive, cheery, understanding and non-toxic before, especially in the fitness field.

I’ve been really open about my struggle with nutrition habits and my struggle with being consistent with at home workouts due to my neurodivergent brain. Not once has Laura made me feel bad/lacking about these things. For example: I first started working on improving my water intake and when I met with Laura for our next couple of sessions, I was able to tell her that I found a way to increase it. She was just as excited as I was and encouraging! She didn’t immediately tell me what I should do next or make my current accomplishment seem less than. She has always let me take things at my own pace. When I told her I was eating my calories in multiple meals instead of all of them at then end of my shift, she matched my excitement. When I was able to tell her I was finally eating MORE calories/protein, again she matched my excitement. She didn’t overwhelm me with a bunch of information that my neurodivergent brain wasn’t ready to process yet while still encouraging me about my current success and working with what I was able to do in that moment.

I could keep going on about all of the amazing physical and mental progress I’ve made with Laura but that would probably be another 4 paragraphs! Especially, since I thought I left a review after working with her for 6-ish months but somehow I didn't finish it😅In conclusion, Laura has help me build more strength back into my body than I thought I would be able to, she has help me find my confidence and love again with my body, my relationship with food is finally healing, and my neurodiverse brain is finally making healthy connections due to the support and training from Laura. Also, her dogs are heckin’ cute and the perfect workout buddies! I am incredibly excited to see where I will be in another...

Laura Su is one of the only trainers I have ever referred people to, both from a personal trainer capacity, and a physical therapist assistant capacity. What that means to me is she is someone who will pick up where physical therapy left off, without aggressively progressing or drastically regressing. That also means that she will focus on the right things in the personal training capacity such as health, good nutrition advice, vs getting caught up with an unhealthy body image emphasis.

Laura is young in age but she is experienced. She has been working for a couple years, but she puts in the work! She reads and reads, and trains over 40 hours each week.

I really can't say enough good things about her. If you give Laura a shot and actually take her advice you won't regret it. You will be doing exercises that are well researched, vs getting caught up on what looks cool on Instagram. You will also be encouraged to focus on health which is so important to a long sustainable lifestyle instead of crushing you for a few weeks and leaving you feel worse than you were. This is very common in the fitness industry.

There are a lot of horrible trainers out there. I don't need to point out who. It's just important to know when you have a good one vs a bad one. Bad one's don't read, they don't keep up to date on research, they don't care about long term, they only focus on immediate results and what looks cool. Don't do that to yourself, pick a good one like Laura Su.

On a personal note, Laura is someone who has helped me with both nutrition and exercises. I am lucky because I have a large support group of fitness professionals, but I consider Laura to be one of...

I first met Laura through her cute dogs, who join her for training sessions.

One day, she saw me deadlifting and asked, "Have you ever thought of competing in powerlifting?" I had not! Nor had anyone ever posed this to me as an option. Never in my life had I competed in ANY sport. But the conversation planted a seed in my mind. ("Is this a space that could be for me? Could I be 'the type of person' who competes in something, for the first time in my life?")

A few months later, Laura encouraged me to sign up for a women-only, beginner-friendly powerlifting meet at the gym. Without thinking too much about it (and despite my honest-to-god terror), I did! And I hired Laura as my coach. It turned out to be one of the best choices I've ever made.

Since then, she's: Coached me through two powerlifting meets. We are currently training for a third. Helped me rehab a lower back injury that has plagued me for over a decade. I'm now able to stay in the gym more consistently and do functional life tasks with more confidence and no pain. Helped me pack on a boatload of new muscle and expand my strength Expanded my knowledge on how to lift with proper technique, fuel my body like an athlete, and show up for myself (and others!) in athletics. Become a personal friend.

There's a lot of coaches in the wellness space. Many of them have incredible expertise and knowledge. Many others are compassionate, warm, lovely people. Laura is the entire package. She is not just a coach, she's someone whose belief in your ability to do hard things can help you believe in yourself. She will help you grow. Whatever your goals are, I couldn't possibly recommend her more...