(upbeat music plays) - So apparently, somebody left the gym and said that was it!

That was enough!

They're not coming back.

(laughs) It's a wrap.

They threw their glove on the concrete and walked away and drove home so... Hopefully this is not us today.

We'll see.

We can switch.

You want to switch?

- Let's see what's the difference!

Oh man!

(all laughing) - I had the light one!

She had the heavy one.

(Jerome and woman laugh) So again, if you just seen me where I started, that's okay.

I do television.

I feel you.

(laughs) - [Instructor] Who has out word?

- [Gym Member] "Help."

(everyone laughs) - All right, we're gonna say "help" on three.

(laughter continues) - [All Together] One, two, three!

Help!

- Help me!

- Woo!

(Jerome laughs) (upbeat music continues) Welcome to "The Good In Us."

I'm your host Jerome Moore.

And as you can see, I got my sweatpants on, got my tennis shoes on, got my hoodie, I got my durag on!

So it's serious business.

I'm at The New Beginnings Center visiting Tash Weddle, who's the CEO and Executive Director of The New Beginnings Center where she pours into our women through fitness.

So I'm about to work out with some amazing women, learn about some fitness and nutritional value, and just learn about how fitness builds community.

All right.

So let me get ready to get my workout on.

Let me unzip my jacket and make it happen.

How you doing, Tash?

- [Tash] I'm good.

- Nah, thanks for bringing me back.

(laughs) - Yes.

- ...to the gym.

It was really great when I did a tour to, you know, come check it out and now I'm here and I'm clothed and ready.

(Jerome laughs) - All right, let's do it.

- ...to work out.

Well, before we get into the workout part, just tell us a little bit about yourself and like your journey to The New Beginnings Center.

- Yeah, so my journey began as a college athlete.

I played basketball in college.

Then I became a strength coach at the collegiate level for 17 years and loved the world of fitness.

I've spent 30 years doing this in this profession, but have realized pretty quickly on that the fitness industry is really closed to so many in the population.

The culture markets to the affluent, the confident, the young, and it leaves a lot of women feeling like they don't belong.

And I wanted to create a place where all women belong.

- See what y'all don't know is I'm finna get all the top secrets of how women are coming together to plan to take over the world.

(Jerome and Tash laugh) I got an inside scoop and now, you know... so they might not let me leave!

(Jerome and Tash laugh) This might be the last time y'all see me on camera!

But I'm excited!

I'm excited to be a part because I'm actually gonna be working out.

And so what...

So tell me today, what am I going through today?

What am I gonna be participating in?

- Today, we are only in the first few weeks of our program.

So you're going to be doing some squats, some basic strength movements that we do on a timer so that everyone- - [Jerome] Basic?

- [Tash] Yes.

- [Jerome] Okay!

- [Tash] It's basic, we're just teaching movement quality.

- [Jerome] Okay.

- And then we're gonna finish with a conditioning circuit.

- [Jerome] Okay.

Conditioning circuit.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - Hopefully, so, if y'all don't see me at the end of this, this episode, clearly I didn't make it.

And that's okay.

(Tash laughing) There's no judgment.

I just wanna be upfront about that.

All right?

- [Tash] Well, I wanna say that we meet every woman where she is.

- [Jerome] Okay.

- [Tash] Everyone walks in in a different place in their fitness journey, and we are not here to intimidate or defeat.

It is to empower and help women experience movement and how that can really be a joyful experience.

- So swing it back over here.

(Tash laughing) (Jerome laughs) - So if my movement is still on this bench, that's okay!

You know, it's all right.

This is my starting and finish place, but no, I'm ready to get started and nah, thank you for your time.

- Absolutely.

Thank you.

- [Jerome] Before jumping into my fitness circuit, I got an inside look at how these incredible women stay in tip-top shape with their nutrition program.

And the whole time, you know, I was just waiting to hear about the most important detail- are we talking about a cheat day or a cheat meal?

Apparently there's a big difference, but, hey, no more stalling.

It's time for me to get this workout in.

So I guess we're getting into the the fun part.

- Yep.

(Jerome laughs) - We getting into the fun part now.

- Gotta figure out where to put you.

- Okay.

They gotta figure about where to put me.

All right, cool.

- Thank you!

- Yeah.

That's one of my best friend's mama and so I didn't know she came here to work out.

So we working out with your mama, Bonnekia.

Oh, we got some elevated goblet squats, suspended rows, hip bridge, high planks, medicine ball slams.

That's what "MB" means.

See, y'all didn't know I knew my gym acronyms.

In-place x-connects.

I don't know what those are.

(Jerome laughs) Sled pushes.

Got those sleds.

Alternative rope waves and band pull-apart, so... (upbeat music continues) You can see I'm very ecstatic.

I'm late!

(laughs) - Yeah.

Get over here.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna go 10 minutes.

It's called escalating density training.

So you're trying to get as much work as you can.

- Okay.

- Don't kill yourself.

- I'm not.

- Don't want you to be embarrassed on camera.

- I'm not.

Trust me.

- But for 10 minutes you're gonna bounce back and forth between your heel elevated squats, ten rows.

- [Jerome] Okay.

- [Tash] Ten squats, ten rows.

- Okay.

For 10 minutes.

- So this is what allows everybody to work at their pace.

- Yeah, okay.

- So if you're coming in with different conditioning levels or- - Yeah.

Well... (laughs) - So you take the time you need.

- Yeah, okay.

- And try to get more work done in the same time.

- So, we manage our own breaks?

- Mm-hmm.

- Perfect!

(laughs) - [Tash] There you go.

So right now you're starting to fold your chest forward, which you think you're down there 'cause your head's down there.

But you gotta get your butt down there.

There you go, now you're getting it.

That's a good squat.

Still a little fast on the way down.

(Tash and Jerome laugh) - Trying to get it over with!

- There you go.

Control both parts of the range of motion.

- Going fast, trying to get it done!

I'm real-deal working out, and, you know, what other way to work out when you have women telling you what to do?

And so... (laughs) - And so you just need to row as if there was a wall.

Go ahead and go.

Just if there was a wall back here, that's where it's gonna stop you.

- Oh, okay, not so far out.

- That's the extent of your row.

- [Jerome] Got about five minutes left of this.

Ain't too bad, but I'm breathing heavy.

(Jerome laughing) But it's a good workout though!

And the women are doing an amazing job.

This is community power-building.

Women empowerment.

Plus a man today.

Plus me.

Hey, Tash?

- Yes?

- How often are you working out these days?

- How often do I work out?

Four is my...

I hit four most weeks.

- Four most weeks.

- Always ambitious to hit five, but- - Forty-five minute, hour workouts?

- Forty-five minutes.

(Jerome sighs) (both laugh) - Circuits like this?

- You just do it!

- You just do it?

- That's what we talked about today was motivation!

- We did!

We did.

Motivation.

- You don't have to have motivation, you just have to take the action.

(Tash laughs) - Yeah.

Yeah!

Take the action.

Just do it like I'm doing.

- [Instructor] Then we've got sled in the corner!

After sled we have ropes.

After ropes we have band pull-apart.

So pick your poison!

- How y'all feeling?

- Good.

- [Gym Member] Um, I don't know, how are you feeling?

- I'm feeling tired!

- Yeah, tired.

- Yeah!

I know!

- I'm exhausted.

- You can only imagine how we're feeling then!

- That's exactly how we feel!

- Y'all feeling better than me, probably!

(women laugh) (intense music plays) - [Tash] So we are going thirty seconds of work, Jerome.

Thirty seconds of work.

You're gonna hear that beep to go- - Okay.

- And then you're gonna hear that beep to stop, and that's your rest and you're getting to the next station.

- Okay.

- Everybody ready?

(beep sounds) We're off!

(music continues) - You got it!

You got it.

You doing it.

Keep pushing!

We got it.

We stretching.

Okay.

(gym members chatting unintelligibly) - Medicine balls, let's go.

- Take those!

(laughs) You see?

They set me up.

(women laughing) They made sure they grabbed the lightest ones!

- Absolutely!

- Teamwork!

(chuckles) There's gon' be a collision!

It's gon' be a collision!

(music continues) (Jerome laughs) They just can't let me...

They don't want me to be great!

- [Gym Member] You just got here!

- I'm just picking up what's available, you know?

I'm slamming at my electric bill.

- Yeah!

(Jerome laughs) Or my cable bill!

- Or my cable bill!

(laughs) - Alright, y'all, we're moving on!

(gym members exclaiming excitedly) - How you feel?

- I feel good, how you feel?

- Yeah!

- With the nails!

With the french tips!

- Yeah.

- Bam!

- My frenchies.

(Jerome laughs) I feel awesome!

- [Jerome] We right here together.

- [Tash] So what'd you think?

(Tash laughs) - Well, I'm tired.

- Okay, yeah.

- It was fun.

- [Tash] You worked hard.

- It was motivational, you know?

I enjoyed the energy.

- [Tash] Yeah.

- And the sense of community- - [Tash] Right!

- [Jerome] ...that you all have been able, I think, to cultivate from the nutritional class to just being able to share and be vulnerable about like what you ate this week, you know, with the logs and stuff.

- [Tash] Yeah.

- You know, 'cause I think the kitchen, you know, kills us all.

(Jerome laughs) - [Tash] It's an important piece.

- It is.

- [Tash] That's for sure.

- How do you feel at the end of the day, at the end of each day that you, that you go through this and you see the progression of the women that, you know, that are pointing to themselves?

- You know, it's having these opportunities to get to experience that energy that keeps me going.

- [Jerome] Yeah.

- The nonprofit world can be an exhausting place when you have to fundraise and never stop.

But when you get to see... And, you know, every day a woman comes up to me and is so grateful for having this place that that's what really gives me that drive to keep doing it.

Where are you?

- Wherever you want me to be.

- I'm gon' definitely take the rest.

Definitely take the rest.

Who doesn't like slamming balls?

You know?

- [Tash] Jerome take the yellow one.

- They setting me up.

Woo!

This definitely gonna be the hardest episode I work in.

Well Tash, I really appreciate you.

- [Tash] I appreciate you coming.

- That is "The Good In Us" and I am tired.

All the me in the "us" is tired.

It's exhausted.

(Tash laughs) And that's it.

- [Tash] You did great.

- I thank you for your time.

- You did great.

(Jerome laughing) (Jerome sighs dramatically) I just wanna fall down!

(laughing) Cut!

It's over!

Episode done.

It's a wrap!

- Yeah, can you guys jump into a group shot real quick?

(camera shutter clicks) Thank you guys.

- [Jerome] Thank y'all.

Good job.