Prince DeesePrince Deese, an All American Wrestler, a Hall of Fame Football Player, and a State Champion Body Builder, is a certified personal trainer and strength conditioning specialist. Prince Deese and Gina Deese own A.C.T. by Deese, a Fitness & Training Center in Greensboro, NC.
Prince Deese is not your usual sports trainer. Research and experience have taught him the multiple ways the human body can be restored to vigor and physical strength, like his program for seniors suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
The inspiration for this program began when he helped a teenage boy with one arm who wanted to play college football. Under Deese’s supervision, the boy added more than 30 pounds of muscle to his slight frame. The remarkable transformation brought his mother, who worked with a neurologist, to the gym, asking Deese if he could help several patients who had Parkinson’s disease.
Deese researched the disease and its effects on the body. “People with Parkinsons have a short, shuffling gate. Putting them on a treadmill encourages them to lengthen their gait to keep up with the belt,” he says. He found that routine treadmill workouts, combined with verbal cues, could help them walk with longer strides.
Receiving guidance and referrals from Greensboro neurologists and therapists, the program grew from six to 25 within a year. Today clients from Raleigh to Winston-Salem come, saying their neurologist told them to call Deese. They are enrolled in a class Deese designed specifically for people with Parkinson’s disease. (The program, one of a few nationwide, has been featured in a leading health and fitness magazine, Club Business International.)
“Can’t is not a word” is easy to say when you look like a star football player which is exactly what Prince Deese was 35 years ago. A running back for Elon University’s Fighting Christians, he attracted scouts from NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He planned to join the Buccaneers following his 1977 graduation until a defensive lineman landed on Deese’s ankle, shredding ligaments and tendons. His ankle was so dislocated, the doctors at Duke University Medical Center were surprised the bone had not been broken.
After two years in rehab, he decided walking without a limp was more important than playing NFL football so over the next 20 years, Prince taught and coached at the high school level. But the world of athletics was in his blood. He found release in personal training and coaching which was a sideline until 1993 when he became a personal trainer fulltime at Ronney Barnes’ Nautilus gym in Greensboro. He became general manager as well as fitness director.
In 2007, Deese and his wife, Gina, opened their own fitness studio, A.C.T. by Deese, at 435 Dolly Madison Road in Guilford College. An accredited Silver Sneakers fitness center, it specializes in programs tailored to seniors.
What’s the secret of his success? “We don’t use the word ‘can’t’ here. You might say ‘I need assistance,’ but you never say ‘can’t’.”
