About Us
In the heart of Santa Monica, a city crowded with corporate gyms and studios, lies a truly independent health club co-owned and operated by Gina and Bernard Baski. TRIFIT is the largest independent family-owned health club in the Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades areas. Santa Monica residents voted, and its mayor awarded TRIFIT the city's Most Loved Gym in 2019 and 2020.
Fitness to Inspire
Our mission is to instill knowledge, ignite enthusiasm, and create new fitness opportunities for our members as they discover their athletic potential. We want our members to pursue fitness activities that provide them with a sense of accomplishment, instill discipline, and most importantly, are enjoyable.
Our hope is that everyone who walks through our doors will leave TRIFIT with the tools they need to lead a healthier, happier, and more productive lifestyle.
Meet Our Team
Gina Baski
Founder
Gina’s athletic roots began in her early years as a gymnast and competitive swimmer. In her 20s, Gina worked as an adjunct college professor and senior technical writer in San Diego, CA. Shortly after meeting Bernard, she left San Diego for LA to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a health and fitness professional. In addition to serving as Managing Partner of TRIFIT, Gina is committed to helping people create a healthy and active lifestyle. She's competed in Ironman Triathlons and various other multi-sport races, as training and racing provide her balance, enjoyment, and a sanctuary from the craziness of running a business while raising a family.
Jimmy Guerrero
Personal Training / Group Fitness
Competing in soccer, BJJ, and wrestling in his youth, Jimmy has had a passion for movement his entire life. After majoring in Kinesiology with a focus in Exercise Science at CSUN, he gained valuable experience working in several physical therapy clinics throughout LA. Jimmy believes in a balanced approach to fitness, combining both mobility and strength training for all his students. He believes in providing a fun, positive training experience to improve quality of life. When he isn’t at the gym, you can find him trail running, hiking, backpacking, attending music festivals and live sports, traveling the world, and spending time with his family.
Katie Schwartz
Boxing / Group Fitness
Katie began as a professional dancer working in musical theatre in New York City where she started her training in Mixed Martial Arts. She is a NASM certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor known to keep her clients laughing while helping them reach their specific goals and learn to love going to the gym as much as she does. Katie has taught boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai all over the country to ages 3 and up! She is an actress and stunt woman who specializes in fight choreography as well as working with swords and sticks.
Bernard Baski
Founder
Sports and fitness have always been at the center of Bernard’s life, which began with fifteen years of amateur and professional hockey training with Canada’s top coaches. His desire to help other young up-and-coming hockey players excel was the turning point of his career. His devotion to the sport of hockey motivated him to pursue a career as a trainer and a coach at one of Canada’s top internationally renowned training camps. His experience with aerobic, anaerobic, and strength training allowed him to develop a successful training formula for athletes of all ability levels.
Kimberly Vandenberg
Group Fitness/Yoga
Kim Vandenberg is an Olympic bronze medalist in swimming from the 2008 Beijing Games. Specializing in butterfly and freestyle, she has over 30 years of competitive swimming experience and 20 years of coaching all levels of swimmers. After competing in the Olympics, she trained in Europe with international swimmers and coaches, gaining valuable knowledge of stroke technique and the elite athletic mindset. She is also a Vinyasa yoga teacher and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Psychology to compliment her coaching style. Her focus is a holistic approach emphasizing the mind-body connection in order to reach the highest level of performance.
Rob Phillips
Yoga
Rob approaches his yoga classes with an emphasis on simplicity, precision, and attention to the present moment. Even when you're working really hard, you'll be doing so from a place of calm awareness. His flow classes draw inspiration from classic styles like Ashtanga and Iyengar but infused with an awareness of functional anatomy and organic movement. He also specializes in the much slower practice of Yin Yoga, which uses long-held poses to access deeper tissues and provides an ideal place to learn mindfulness.
Moses Wolfe-Polgar
Performance Testing & Coaching
A lifetime athlete from NorCal, Moses discovered his love of triathlon while attending UC Davis, where he was a USAT All-American triathlete and graduated with a major in Biochemistry and minor in Exercise Biology. Moses worked at the UC Davis Sports Medicine Center, before going on to study human performance at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Master's in Kinesiology, helping to develop programs for injury prevention and recovery. Moses is a Level 1 USAT Triathlon coach and successful age group racer. He is available by appointment for biometrics screenings, metabolic testing, bike fitting, race programming, and one-on-one coaching.
Dara Joseph
Yoga
Los Angeles based Personal trainer, yoga instructor, and mind body wellness practitioner dedicated to helping people become their best self. A calm yet uplifting energy, Dara believes to achieve one's optimal level of health the body, the mind, and soul must work together. She also believes fitness should be fun! She wants everyone to be motivated to show up day after day, and truly believes In empowering others through movement and mindfulness. Whether working together one on one, or taking class, you will feel supported in creating your best, most happy, healthier you.
Yasmin Shirangi
Yoga
Yasmin was introduced to Iyengar yoga in 2008 at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Tehran, Iran. She was fascinated by the technicality and precision of the Iyengar method and the fact that it is a never-ending path that always evolves. She started teaching in 2016. Yasmin had the opportunity to study and practice with senior teachers in multiple countries, learning various ways of sequencing, which she likes to share with her students to provide individualized care and guidance.
