About Us
MEET OUR AMAZING
Coaches
We’re more than just a Gym in La Crescenta!
Founded in 2016, the goal of Interactive Fitness Systems (IAFS) is to empower health and fitness professionals to help clients improve their wellbeing. We also look to empower them with the knowledge to better their own fitness, their interactions with others, and in turn, to help others improve themselves. Our mission is to create a better society – one individual at a time.
We offer in-person, group coaching, personal training, personalized programming, small group training, and CrossTraining team coaching.
Julie Elkins
Owner
ABOUT JULIE
AFAA Certified in Group classes
Personal Trainer since 2016
My name is Julie and I’m one of the owners here at Interactive Fitness Systems (IAFS). I love what I do because I have a passion for helping people! At IAFS I get to see my members reach their goals, gain confidence, and change their lives for the better. I love inspiring our members to keep going even when they feel like quitting. What could be better than that?
My love for fitness was born in 2011 when I was feeling stuck and frustrated with being unable to hit my goal weight. On a friend’s suggestion, I tried CrossFit. With a lot of work and excellent coaching, I’m proud to be a healthier, happier person because of it. Every day when I arrive at IAFS, I look forward to being a part of our gym’s community. We lift each other up and encourage each other, building confidence and self esteem for the whole team.
If you’re looking for a gym that will help you change your life, give us a call!
Shant Minassian
Head Coach / Private Trainer
ABOUT SHANT
B.S. in Kinesiology, Exercise Science
NSCA Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Hi, my name is Shant Minassian and I have been a part of the IAFS family since 2015. The experiences of my personal fitness journey led me to become a personal trainer as I seek to inspire others in their fitness goals. The body is such a complex machine so I employ a multi-faceted approach in order to achieve specific goals, whether it be muscle gain, weight loss, recovery from injury, or movement correction. Fitness is more than just lifting a dumbbell or doing a push up; it’s a mindset.
I received my B.S. in Kinesiology, Exercise Science in 2018. I am also certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). Not only do I have experience in group fitness and one-on-one fitness but, having played team sports for most of my life, I also enjoy working with athletes. I have competed nationally as a weightlifter in the American Open Series and have obtained my United States American Weightlifting (USAW) L1 certification and am the coach of our gym’s olympic weightlifting team. I also work part-time as a physical therapy aide, and my goal is to become a doctor of physical therapy and ultimately combine my fitness training with my physical therapy training for improving my client’s quality of movement.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Efren Miranda
Private Trainer / Coach
ABOUT EFREN
NASM Certified
Hi! I’m Efren, a certified personal trainer here at Interactive Fitness System. I joined IAFS as an athlete 4 years ago and sprouted into coaching a year in. For the past 3 years I’ve been coaching one on one and groups of 3-12 alike. If you’re interested in attaining your fitness goals give me a call or shoot me an email!
Michelle Boyd
Private Trainer / Coach
ABOUT MICHELLE
Michelle’s fitness journey began when she started playing volleyball in 2007, which later led to her passion for fitness, health and nutrition.
Michelle continued her volleyball career at Pasadena City College from 2014-2017, where she got her AA in Natural Sciences, and Cal State University, Los Angeles from 2017-2018, where she studied Kinesiology. Michelle also has experience coaching girls club volleyball (2014-2017), and has a background in flag football and Olympic weightlifting.
Her favorite part about being at the gym is empowering others and helping them to achieve their health and fitness goals. She is positive, encouraging, and constantly striving to learn new things in hopes of helping others.
Manifa Hovsepian
Private Trainer / Coach
ABOUT MANIFA
BS, CPT
Hi! I’m Manifa, one of the Certified Personal Trainers here at IAFS. I began my fitness career in 2005 after receiving my B.S in Kinesiology. I also have personal training certification through NASM and Action P.T. I spent two years training clients in a one-on-one environment, and found that I rarely had a client who didn’t suffer from some type of past or current injury. To better help, I earned my Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) certification.
In addition to being experienced and certified in areas such as strength, core, conditioning, balance, and weight management, I also have specialty certifications such as Functional Training, Neuromuscular Stretching, Optimum Performance Training, prenatal fitness, and Senior fitness. I truly believe that to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury, it’s important to train movements – not just muscles.
I really love the team atmosphere at IAFS and strive to make training fun while still being effective. No matter what your fitness goals are, I can help you get there safely.
Chris McDiffett
Private Trainer / Coach
ABOUT CHRIS
NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Group Training Specialist
Hello,
My name is Chris McDiffett. I am an NASM Certified Personal Trainer And Group Training Specialist. I have been a part of the team at IAFS since 2019. Fitness and having an active lifestyle have always been a part of life. I believe movement is medicine and I have a passion for helping others achieve their goals and improve their lifestyles. If you are interested in private training please feel free to reach out.
Mike Melendez
Private Trainer / Coach
ABOUT MIKE
USAW Certified Coach
Hi my name is Mike Melendez. My fitness journey started at IAFS back in 2013 in the CrossFit kids class. I was a very overweight kid and had many insecurities about my appearance and general health. It took several years of training and hard work but I have since become a Weightlifting National Champion and competed at several high level weightlifting competitions. I am a Level 1 USAW Certified Coach and hope to spread my love of weightlifting with as many people as I can. If you are interested in learning more about getting in shape or the sport of weightlifting, please contact me via text or email @ (818) 404-4964 [email protected]