Power Couple

Something had to give. Already, Chris Trovas had undergone hip replacement and triple bypass surgeries. His weight had reached 287 pounds, and that’s a lot to carry around 18 hours a day as a chef/sommelier and the owner/operator of Wild Olives, a tony South Walton bistro.

“Either I was going to have to get in better shape, or I was going to have to retire,” Trovas said.

He met a nurse at a medical clinic in Santa Rosa Beach, and she recommended that he consult Rachael and Evan Chelini, the owners of a gym, Sand Dunes Strength & Conditioning, located near the southern foot of the U.S. 331 bridge.

Trovas met with Evan, and as it happens, he wasn’t done yet. He retained Evan as a one-on-one personal trainer.

Evan said his objective initially was to get Trovas stabilized, to “keep water out of the boat.” He asked his new client to limit himself to 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, and Trovas did; Evan has a way of commanding obedience. People embark on a relationship with him, and they don’t want to disappoint him.

There was a time not long ago when Trovas would suck the bottom out of a bottle of tequila in a night. Now, he limits himself to special-occasion drinking when, for example, his restaurant caters a high-profile fundraising event. He goes to the gym four times a week, walks his dog mornings and evenings, and logs 6,000–8,000 steps a day.

Six months after starting at Sand Dunes, Trovas weighed in at 193 pounds. He weighed 215 pounds as a high schooler playing beneath Friday night lights in Alvin, Texas.

“I’m in the best shape of my life, and Evan is the reason,” Trovas said. “It started out with an intense interview. He found out where I was physically and mentally, and I liked that.”

Evan’s approach presented a stark contrast to what Trovas had experienced as a footballer in Alvin and at the University of Houston.

↑ Evan Chelini, right, shows Sand Dunes Strength & Conditioning member Hank Hendrick the ropes during a one-on-one training session. Evan, in working with clients, favors an approach to fitness that emphasizes longevity. Photo by Mike Fender

“It wasn’t like my old football days when they’d say, ‘OK, let’s see if we can get you to squat 600 pounds. And we’re gonna get you to bench press 400, and we’ll get you so freaking strong, you’re gonna be able to beat people up.’ Evan was all about achieving the right mindset and then getting the body into shape.”

Evan thinks of himself as a biomechanic. Trovas said he can think of no better way to describe him.

“His understanding of the body and how to put muscles together is unbelievable,” the student said about his teacher. “He’s like, ‘OK those squats look good, but now I want you to turn your knees in a little bit, and I want you to fire on all your glutes, and I want you to get your abs going.’ Then all of a sudden you’re doing it, and it’s like ‘Holy cow, this feels so much better.’”

Evan Chelini was born outside Seattle. His father was a Navy man, and his mother, an educator. When his dad retired from Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base north of Jacksonville, the family followed his mom to the Midwest and her job as a member of the nursing faculty at the University of Missouri.

Growing up, Evan was aware of Arnold Schwarzenegger but didn’t find an entry point to the world of fitness. He tried on a couple of team sports but didn’t vibe with them. Karate for him amounted to a bunch of old men in pajamas throwing air punches.

Jujitsu, though, was different. It was something that he figured he could carry with him for a lifetime, and it made him feel “more comfortable and confident in his own skin.” He got into martial arts and won a couple of MMA bouts before he was introduced to CrossFit competition and coaching.

He’s been performing consultative training roles ever since. Along the Emerald Coast, he first started training clients by keeping overhead low, working out of his car and working people out in their driveways. He proceeded through 12 business locations before arriving at 24700 U.S. Highway 331 South, where he and Rachael set up shop in August 2020.

As a high school athlete in Pittsburgh, Rachael Chelini — the couple celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary on Oct. 20 of last year — ran, danced, played volleyball and burned out on competition. She had no desire to play sports at the college level.

Rachael was doing restaurant work when she noticed a CrossFit competition on a television above the bar and was engrossed by what she saw.

“My bartender told me he had never seen me stare at a TV like that before,” she said. “I Googled ‘CrossFit,’ went to a gym the next day and said, ‘OK, what do I do?’”

Rachael had found her entry point to the fitness world.

She got into bodybuilding, powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting in addition to CrossFit. She knocked out 18 photo shoots in 18 months. She stressed her body by making herself strong for athletic competitions and alternately shredding for photo shoots.

She came through a handful of poor nutrition coaches, then resolved to educate herself.

↑ Rachael Chelini, kneeling, offers encouragement to Jane Solomon as she carries a kettlebell across the gym floor. Sand Dunes Strength & Conditioning tends to organize itself into groups of people of similar interests or circumstances. Rachael often works out with other new mothers. Photo by Mike Fender

“From there, it’s been continuously finding health and longevity,” she said.

She traveled from the Allegheny Mountains to the Emerald Coast to do a photo shoot with a woman who was a coach at Evan’s gym at the time.

“I did a workout with Evan where he tried to just destroy me, and I aced it,” Rachael said, smiling. “He ignored me for three days, and then I came back. I had a lot of signs in Pittsburgh suggesting that it was time for something new. The worst-case scenario was summer at the beach, so I went for it.”

Consult the schedule at the Sand Dunes website, and you will find blocks of time reserved for group classes, one-on-one sessions and open gym. What you won’t find are classes dedicated to Zumba or body pump or butts and guts or spinning and grinning.

“Our class structure is based on the needs of the individuals — their learning style, level of physical fitness, assertiveness, preferences,” Evan said.

For example, Evan worked closely with Pearce Spurlin III, now a tight end at the University of Georgia, when he was at South Walton High School.

“He had very specific goals and needed a lot of 1:1 support,” Evan said. “Other members may be a little bit out of shape and a little more laid-back about things, and they do 1:4. Most of our business is training with groups of eight or more.”

Those groups may be teams from South Walton High School, which is located just south of the gym. Some groups comprise business professionals. A group of young mothers gets together at 9 a.m., and Rachael, as a new mother, herself, participates with them.

“Friends work out with one another, and the coach is there to see that they work out safely, effectively and intentionally,” Evan said. “We are trying to create an enjoyable but challenging environment” — one governed by a sense of community.

That effort is working. Sand Dunes is a gym where everyone knows your name.

“Back in my sports days, I would walk into a gym and there would be nothing but machines,” Trovas said. “I feel like when I walk into Evan and Rachael’s gym, I am walking into their house. I am their guest, and they are there to take care of you. It’s not a business proposition.”

“The community is important to us,” Rachael said. “It’s not like the usual gym where everyone is in his own space with their headphones on. You won’t see any of that here.”

“We’re unified by common effort, common purpose,” Evan said of the Sand Dunes family. “If you are not ready to change, you won’t fit in here.”

Clarissa Seales is an endurance athlete who has worked as a trainer for more than 15 years in Alabama and Florida. She arrived on the Emerald Coast five years ago and heard Sand Dunes being talked about. She joined as a member, later joining the coaching team.

↑ Trainer Clarissa Seales, an endurance athlete, heard about Rachael and Evan Chelini soon after moving to the Emerald Coast from Alabama and became a member of the Sand Dunes Strength & Conditioning training staff. She appreciates the ways in which the Chelinis maintain close contact with their members throughout their fitness journeys. Photo by Mike Fender

“They are very smart people who are very patient with the community members who come in,” Seales said about the Chelinis. “They are always looking to gain more knowledge about health and fitness that they can relay to others.

“Everybody has the same basic goals: look better, feel better, get stronger, lose weight. Going about it the right way takes time. Evan and Rachael stay with members throughout that process. It’s not like they are on their own after the first week.”

Allee Coble graduated from South Walton High School in 2018. As a sophomore, she played in the state high school basketball tournament where the Seahawks were humbled. Disappointed, Coble asked herself what she could do to elevate her game.

“A family friend told me I had to start working out with this guy, Evan,” Coble said. She made twice weekly trips into Destin where Evan’s gym was then located. The drives proved worthwhile.

“I knew Evan before he was a big deal,” Coble said. “He was a godsend for me growing up. He was a trainer, but he was also a fabulous father figure.”

Upon graduating from Auburn University, where she was a student assistant for the women’s basketball team for two years, Coble returned home. She is now the girls basketball coach at South Walton.

“When I got the job, Evan was one of the first three phone calls I made,” Coble said. “I knew I had to get my girls in with him. If you want to be the best, you have to train with the best. He trains their bodies, trains their minds and makes them great athletes. Sometimes, he will say that so and so needs this. Or, ‘Mentally I think she is having a hard time.’ Or, ‘I think the block for girl A is that she is so afraid about messing up that she is afraid to try.’ I really like his insights on my girls.”

The Chelinis know that the time they get to spend with their members is limited, and they work to make the most of it.

“They are giving us the gift of investing two hours, three hours, four hours a week, and we need to be as effective with that time as we can,” Evan said. “Time is the resource that we cannot get more of. We meet people where they are, whether they are working out in their garage or if they are coming here every day.

“We want people to include fitness in their lives the same way that you eat lunch, sleep or drink water. It should be something that integrates very kindly into the rest of the day.”

Sand Dunes Core Values

» We are curious about the motivations of the people around us and actively develop new skills in order to positively impact quality of life for our clients.

» We are committed to supporting your “why” and developing a relationship that extends beyond the walls of this gym.

» We are passionate about our work.

» We lead by example.

» We believe in community and teamwork to help achieve goals and overcome obstacles.

» We are consistent in caring for ourselves and others.

» We recognize the trust our community puts in us in order to create and support changes in their lives.

» We prioritize long-term health as the foundation of performance.