“I love working with Francesca. As someone with psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia I had pretty much given up on exercise being anything short of torture. My workouts are the perfect mix of challenging and not making me feel like I’m dying. I have seen great improvement in my strength, flexibility and range of motion. Francesca is very encouraging and holds you accountable without making you feel judged or shamed. Plus she is great to talk to and has awesome multicolor hair. I highly recommend!”

Working with Francesca has been the best decision I’ve made for my health. After hitting a milestone birthday, I knew that I wanted to prioritize my well-being and work out in a way that supported my longevity and didn’t cause harm over a long period of time. Francesca truly cares about her clients. She always goes above and beyond and has helped me in teaching me the skills to create a lifestyle that supports my long-term goals. I couldn’t recommend her more!

Francesca is simply the best.  She is a world-class problem solver who has used her experience, cleverness, and love of learning to help me tackle seemingly intractable physical problems. Her persistence in searching for solutions, her ability to pinpoint barriers and find a way around them, and her cheerful willingness to try and try again until we find something that works for me is unparalleled in my experience.

At a time when no one knew how to deal with Long Covid problems, Francesca devised sets of exercise plans to match my level of ability on any given day, finding solutions through study, and trying out her own ideas. The methods she devised - completely on her own - ended up being the same as some of those that I have now seen described as standard of care for people with problems like mine.

Before Covid, I was a runner and an avid hiker, but the LC problems had resulted in my becoming physically debilitated. I was perilously close to not being able to get myself out of a chair without help. The problems were deep fatigue, cognitive impairment, joint and muscle pain, nearly daily migraines, and PEM (days or weeks of weakness resulting from even minor movements such as bending over or lifting my arms over my head).  My short term goal with Francesca was to stave off further muscular atrophy, and regain some level of flexibility and pain reduction, while I waited and hoped for recovery.  My long term goal, which seemed impossible at the time, was to start hiking again.

My LC symptoms started slowly letting up in late 2022, and I am as of now nearly fully in remission.  With the return of better health, Francesca has helped me focus on regaining muscle strength. As of about a month ago, I started hiking again! We are now working on increasing my overall strength and resilience.  I continue to learn from Francesca how to listen to my body, move with intention, and approach my training (and other parts of life) in a practical, patient, step-by-step way. We celebrate new wins nearly every week.

I stumbled upon Francesca’s page during a time when I was dealing with a lot of pain relating to weight training. I took the plunge and figured I’d finally seek out some help. I thought I knew what I was doing but I would soon learn how much I actually did not. And even with how much I have learned while working with her, I now see things with an open mind as there’s always more to learn. She’s very knowledgeable, helpful,  and passionate about what she does. In the six month period I’ve been following her training program I’ve felt a great improvement in my shoulder, hip, and back pain. She monitors my pain levels through daily check-ins and will change upcoming workouts with alternative movements if she notices a spike in pain. For those that need it, her help with nutrition is also great. If you’re looking for a trainer at any point in your fitness/health journey, you need to look no further! Thanks again for everything, Francesca!

When I started working with Francesca, I felt hopeless. I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and nothing really worked for me. I was at my heaviest and felt lost in how to get to a healthier place. Meeting with Francesca every week gave me my hope back. When I'd mess up and beat myself up, she pointed out my accomplishments and gave me tools to get back up again...everything was so easily practical and smoothly fit into my very busy life as a new mom. For so long I was afraid to invest into a coach, not sure if it would help, but outsourcing what I couldn't do for myself has been exactly what I needed. In fact, It's scary for me to think about how lost and without direction I would be without her. If you're on the fence, you need to get off immediately and I highly recommend you putting your trust in Francesca! I didn't realize how much I needed her help, and I'm so glad I found her--it's been life changing for me!

When I began working with Francesca, I had chronic knee pain and stiffness in my T spine. The knee pain was a result of over a decade of skateboarding, mountain biking, riding motorcycles, and general horsing around. The lack of mobility and stiffness was brought on by working 10+ hour days for over 10 years. Currently, I work as a technician and installer. My job requires me to do a lot of standing, sitting, squeezing underneath vehicles, climbing ladders, carry heavy equipment, etc. All of these things have exacerbated stiffness and knee pain over the years. 

     In the 3 months that I have been following Francesca's programs I have already seen changes that make a difference in my day to day life. A very noticeable one being that my knees are no longer so stiff and painful in the morning. I am able to walk substantially farther with low to no pain and can sustain a faster pace. Francesca has been great about explaining all the exercises and not making the workouts too hard. She has incredibly high attention to detail which makes form corrections, and updating programs very easy. I am almost never sore after a workout. She is great about coming up with modifications when things are painful or aren't hard enough. 

     I am training to correct my knee pain, add general mobility, and gain endurance for longer hikes that I would like to attempt. My goal with all of this is to live pain free or as close as possible to it and do the things I enjoy doing more often. In the past I was only able to do a long hike if I had several days before and after to rest due to the amount of stiffness and pain that even a 3 mile hike would bring. Now I am able to hike up to 6 or so miles and have nearly no pain or stiffness the next day. 

I throughly enjoyed Francesca’s style and the personalized program she set up for me. I came in with a goal and she supported me as we explored mobility, modifications and becoming stronger. It’s really clear from the first assessment call that she knows her stuff- I definitely suggest working with her if you are looking for an empathetic coach!

After avoiding almost any exercise for years, Francesca helped me develop a workout routine that is helping me achieve my goals while avoiding injury. She took the time to listen to my concerns and understand my underlying mobility issues and really created a personalized plan for me. For years I thought I just had to avoid movement. Francesca really helped me get a new lease on life. I can't recommend Movement Connect enough!

I have been working with Francesca twice a week for about 6 months now, and it has been life changing! I am an overweight 62 year old with creaky joints, and I wasn't sure how hard this would be, or how much progress I would make, but the results have been truly exciting! I have lost significant weight and several inches off my waist. I am stronger than I have been in decades, I have more energy and feel way better than I did before I started working with her, but the most important important thing for me has been the dramatic improvement in my balance. I started out not being able to stand on one leg, and now I can do that easily! I had forgotten how nice it is to be able to put on my pants without having to sit on a chair, but most importantly, I am way safer in terms of fall prevention.

Francesca very attentive to client abilities and disabilities. She adjusts every session based on client feedback or current health situation.  She does not believe in the "no pain no gain" philosophy, and is very safety oriented. She works well with everyone from the perfectly fit to de-conditioned couch potatoes like me!

I love seeing her in person, but if you aren't local, or are worried about getting Covid, online sessions are great too!

Honestly, I cannot recommend Francesca more highly! She is fun, skilled, motivating, and worth every penny! In short, Francesca is a gem!