Personal trainer pursues dream with Las Vegas gym

Beads of sweat trickle down the foreheads of several women inside the fitness studio Get Vicious Training Facility as they join Sidney Wilson for another exercise.

Doing what he calls walkouts, they start in a squat position, then “walk” out on their hands until their bodies are extended in a pushup position. Then they move their way back to the starting position.

“That’s one,” Wilson says, counting out the repetitions.

Around the gym, he is monitoring what his other clients are doing, catering to each level of physicality.

Wilson is always ready to push his clients beyond what they think they can do.

“I don’t understand the word ‘can’t,’ ” he says.

Whether they are there for 45 minutes or an hour and a half, Wilson rotates clients through workouts making them lift, jump, stretch, push, pull and whatever other combination he can think of.

“Sore is the new sexy,” he says while the women in the room give him looks of desperation for a water break.

Get Vicious opened two months ago, offering unlimited training sessions for people looking to get in shape.

The gym is an extension of Wilson’s lifelong passion for fitness that started when his grandfather — his role model — died when Wilson was 13.

“He was the mentor who molded me,” he says. “He was the father figure I needed. When he died, I asked the doctors what happened. They said a lot of his health problems were because he didn’t eat right.”

That hit Wilson hard.

“I started doing pullups and pushups,” he says. “I was determined to have a different lifestyle.”

After high school, he started doing personal training in Florida. He later moved to New York to do modeling.

“I was in the industry five years,” he says.

While modeling, he always would take time to work out, inviting friends to join his sessions. One day, someone noticed him training this group.

“They asked me if I’d ever consider training,” he recalls.

Because he already had a training background, he took their offer to be a trainer at a sports club.

As he became better known, he was asked to join a fitness club called Equinox.

“It took me from being a Z list to A list,” he says.

Part of his time there he spent training celebrities such as comedian Lisa Lampanelli and actress Alice Braga.

“They say if you make it in New York, you can make it anywhere,” he says. “I made it in New York.”

He moved out to Las Vegas two years ago and started doing fitness classes at his apartment, Panorama Towers.

The goal was always to open his own studio.

“But it’s hard to find people to invest in you,” he says. “You have to have clients, money and a location.”

During the next two years, he worked to get more customers.

Three months ago, he opened Get Vicious Training Facility at 5693 S. Jones Blvd.

He has more than 170 clients, mostly women.

“Guys are more about the weights, so they can’t keep up with my cardio,” he says. “I try to get more guys.”

Wilson tries to incorporate yoga, Pilates, high-intensity cardio, weight training and stretching into his workouts.

Clients pay for unlimited classes and are able to come in from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week for any period of time.

“Why limit you to an hour when you can do two?” Wilson says.

Clients rotate through several cycles of exercises. Each new thing, they have to do at least 100 reps. When another client tells Wilson, “they can’t,” he reminds them that they can.

Telling clients he doesn’t understand the word “can’t” has become somewhat of a catchphrase for Wilson.

Years ago, when he told a client that, the person responded, “Get Vicious.”

“It stuck,” Wilson says. “It goes beyond Nike’s ‘Just Do It.’ Get Vicious means go above and beyond that.”

On a Wednesday afternoon, Tiffany Matthews is following his example, trying to go above and beyond. She has been at the gym more than an hour.

“Some days, if I’m busy I just do 45 minutes,” she says. “Other days, I might do two hours. I try to at least do it four or five days a week.”

Though winded, Wilson gives her another exercise, jumping over a weight bench.

But Matthews enjoys the hard work.

A swimmer in college, she says she has always been athletic.

When she used to live at Panorama Towers, she discovered Wilson teaching a class.

“I gave it a try and haven’t left since,” she says. “I’m in the best shape of my life. I also get lots of compliments from my friends.”

Besides the intensity of a constantly changing workout, she loves Wilson’s personality.

“He is always really positive,” she says.

Sweating alongside Matthews is Jennifer Valora, who started two months ago.

She, too, heard about the program about a year ago when her boyfriend lived at Panorama Towers. But she didn’t schedule an appointment until recently.

“I was tired of being fat, so I picked up the phone and called,” she says.

She says she likes the program because it’s always something different.

“It pushes me when I can’t push myself,” she says. “I know what I need to do, but I could never push myself to do it. Now, he pushes me to do it. I’ve seen amazing results.”

Wilson communicates with his clients every day.

One requirement of the program is to submit photos documenting progress every seven days.

“If you don’t, it’s 500 burpees,” he says.

Many of his clients acknowledge those burpees aren’t a false threat. A few have done it before, which encourages them to follow Wilson’s every instruction.

“A lot of people get embarrassed submitting photos every week,” Matthews says. “But he is always positive and gives you compliments.”

The reason Wilson says he uses photos is to tell what differences are made on a person’s body, which helps him assess what workouts or nutrition plans to add or subtract from the regimen.

With his Las Vegas customers, he offers online training for people in other states. They are required to email daily, going over meal plans, exercises for the day and reassessing fitness goals.

Wilson has many plans for Get Vicious.

He wants to expand to other parts of Las Vegas and have centers downtown, in Summerlin and Henderson.

One day, he wants to open facilities in Florida, California and New York.

Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Follow @mjlyle on Twitter.