When now-personal trainer, content creator and fitness coach Sydney Hunter was attending St. Francis High School in East Sacramento several years ago, she wasn’t planning to become the next American Gladiator — she just really liked sports. 

Basketball, soccer, volleyball — you name it. If it was athletic, Hunter loved it, and was probably good at it, too. This was especially true of track and field. Hunter ran as one of the fastest sprinters at St. Francis and eventually competed on scholarship at UC Riverside for the same sport. But simultaneously, she began to develop a love for weight lifting, and she kept getting stronger, training at Sacramento spots like Alex Van Dyke’s Going Vertical in Midtown and Fitness Rangers on 34th St.

That pursuit of strength was largely done for herself, to challenge herself and meet personal goals. Hunter only became aware of the “American Gladiators” reboot — a show that originally aired in the 1980s with the concept of everyday amateur men and women across America facing pro wrestlers, weight lifters and fitness coaches to compete for the title of the next American Gladiator — when her friend Ayinde called her and suggested she audition. Ayinde had already been through the casting process for the show and put Hunter in contact with the casting director. 

Hunter never expected to be on reality television, but she’s never been afraid of being in the spotlight. 

“I think things like this that come out of the blue, when I think back, I’m like, no, this is where I’m supposed to be,” Hunter says. 

A couple of weeks later, Hunter went in for an in-person test, and was quickly chosen to join Ayinde on screen. The show premiered on April 17 and features 10 episodes with various physical challenges for the participants to compete in. 

Nowadays, Hunter lives in Los Angeles. But for those in her hometown interested in weight lifting or extreme fitness, she still highly recommends the facilities she trained at in Sacramento.

“Whether you’re wanting to take it to the new level of full-on trying to be a gladiator or just wanting to start out your fitness journey, both of those spots are absolutely incredible,” Hunter says of Alex Van Dyke’s Going Vertical and Fitness Rangers.

Sacramento’s local ‘gladiator’ scene

Alex Van Dyke’s Going Vertical is a training facility focused on helping athletes build speed, agility and power. Fitness Rangers, located in East Sacramento, features training facilities that Hunter says are great for lifting, as well as a wide variety of group classes, including barre, indoor cycling, cross training and more. 

Adam Attia, the owner of Fitness Rangers, says that one of the things he loves about their facility is how inclusive it is to ages, ability levels and personal goals.

“I was taking a class the other day and realized to my left was a recent triathlete and to my right was a woman who was eight months pregnant,” Attia says. “We were all doing the same class, but doing it to our own ability.”

Hunter’s advice for first-time gym goers, whether at one of these Sacramento gyms or somewhere else: Make a plan before you go so that you feel more confident in what you’re doing — and be open to making new connections. 

“You might see the same person once or twice,” Hunter says, “The third time you turn it into a head nod, and the head nod turns into a ‘Hi!” The ‘hi’ turns into a compliment on their workout set, and then, you know, as girls, we start yapping after that.”

Attia’s advice to beginner athletes was similar: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish just by starting.”

A strong community 

Hunter didn’t grow up watching the original show, since it ended the year she was born, but once she decided she wanted a spot as a gladiator, she quickly became excited for how the opportunity could allow her to provide something she needed as a young girl getting into power lifting: a role model. 

“I’m most excited to be an inspiration to other girls, and especially girls of color, to know that your strength is something that should be celebrated,” Hunter says. “I’ve always been a big energy, I’ve always been a lot, and I’ve always been a big dreamer. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re being silly when you dream things, because there isn’t anything that’s crazy — you literally can do it.” 

Despite her positive outlook on fitness and pursuing her goals, getting into weight lifting as a teenage girl was still sometimes a mixed bag, Hunter says. On the one hand, she loved the feeling of getting stronger, and her family and her teammates praised her as the cross training started having a clear positive impact on her times on the track. But there were others who were more negative about her growing muscles. One thing that helped her focus on the good was a supportive community of young women around her: her classmates at the all-girls school St. Francis. 

“A big part of how I navigated everything was by having a very good sisterhood bond,” Hunter says. 

According to current leadership teacher and interim student activities director Laura Hanusek, who fondly remembers having Hunter as a student at St. Francis, this kind of community is intentionally built at the school, but Hunter was especially tuned in to putting in the work of building strong friendships at an early age. 

“We celebrate each other’s success,” Hanusek says, adding that the female students “don’t really compete for space. They just create space for each other, and they step back and let other people soak up the spotlight.” 

When Hunter reflected on what her time on “American Gladiators” taught her, she found herself returning to a lesson fitness and athletics have taught her time and time again. 

“Fitness has taught me to not always think about the end goal, and to enjoy the journey,” Hunter says. “And I would say the show taught me that as well. Enjoy the moment, enjoy the process. There’s a lesson to all of it.”

The final episode of Hunter’s season dropped on May 1, and you can watch the whole competition on Prime Video now. 

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