LESLEE BENDER

Leslee Bender, 2020 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, 

is the epitome of active and ageless. Leslee travels the world as an international fitness trainer, focusing on functional movement for people of all ages.  Her functional techniques benefit athletes as well as everyday people who want to achieve optimal health and fitness while preventing injury. Leslee is the creator of the Bender Method of training as well as co-creator of the Barre Above method, a safer approach to barre, which she created alongside Tricia Murphy Madden. A graduate of the Gray Institute of Applied Functional Science, Leslee holds a BA as well as multiple certifications, including Fellow of Applied Functional Science, ACSM, NASM, ACE, and AFAA. Leslee lives in Reno where she teaches Pilates, Barre Above, and other fitness classes, and offers personal training.

MELODY MARLER

Melody Marler is active and ageless, taking up waterskiing and undertaking training for a sprint triathlon in her late fifties. Melody works as a book and magazine editor, publisher, and ghostwriter, specializing in the fields of personal development and personal fitness. In addition to this book, Melody is the author of two children’s books, a cookbook, several ghostwritten titles, and a series of books and calendars of colorful anti-affirmations featuring the word formerly known as the F-bomb.  Melody is currently writing a book and creating an online course, A Kick in the Ass and a Roadmap, a method for professionally self-publishing your own book, and a second book, The Accidental Narcissist Magnet.