Maura Barclay is a Certified Personal Trainer, registered Yoga teacher, certified self-defense instructor, senior Budokon teacher trainer and a licensed Yoga TuneUp® practitioner and teacher trainer. Currently, Maura is Group Fitness Manager for Equinox in Los Angeles where she also teaches on-going Yoga Tune Up® classes, Physio Tune Up™ and Unbreakable Woman® seminars.

She has been featured on CNN’s Bod Squad, E! Entertainment, VH-1’s Fab Forty, Exercise TV and in the Los Angeles Times.

Maura has been in perpetual motion her entire life - literally. Her movement training began at four years old when she attended a program, called Motor Performance, which taught swimming, tumbling, climbing, etc. To this day, Maura fondly recalls her first cartwheel. “It felt amazing to go upside down and be in control. That inspired me to begin formal gymnastics training.” By age 10, Maura was a two-time Junior Olympian.

Fast forward to the University of Colorado at Boulder where she won her first of two natural body-building titles and she began personal training. After graduation, Maura became a professional fire fighter. “For the first time, everything I did in the gym had a direct impact on my ability to do a job where physical performance could be the difference between life and death. Unlike the first cartwheel, I was terrified I wouldn’t be strong enough and quickly learned the value of functional training or what I like to call training with purpose. This really became my new mantra and has continued for me throughout my fitness career. It wasn’t and isn’t just about building a strong, lean body. It’s about being truly healthy and strong and being able to push, pull, lift and carry my weight." With a passionate desire to stay connected to the fitness industry, she continued to work as a personal trainer, nutritional consultant, certified kick-boxing instructor and also served as a founding member of Boulder Fire Department’s Fitness Committee.

When Maura re-located to Southern California , she began practicing Hatha Yoga, training in Mixed Martial Arts and a new Zen art called Budokon, a fusion of martial arts and Yoga. She studied under the Master and creator of Budokon, which allowed her to submerse herself in the purest form of the discipline. She quickly earned the rank of sensei and the privilege to teach at the prestigious Equinox Clubs across the greater LA area. "Martial arts taught me the power of mind and body. When the mind is focused on the movement, the kicks and punches become twice as powerful! Yoga taught me how to use as many muscles as possible at the same time so the entire body is working in a pose."

Using the lessons she learned from martial arts and yoga, Maura created Awesome Arms: a unique and effective way to work every muscle from the fingertips to the shoulders in super efficient 2-minute workouts. "By working out with purpose and concentrating on every movement while you’re doing the workout, you make the workout twice as powerful so you can quickly see real results."