Group Fitness Instructors - Staff - Get Healthy - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

A native of South Texas, Cynthia moved to Arkansas four years ago. She has been active throughout her life in several sports, such as long distance running, basketball and swimming. She has been an NETA fitness instructor for four years. Cynthia teaches yoga, weight training, cardio, and interval classes. She is known for her logic of cross training. Cynthia hopes to provide encouragement and results to all who take her classes.

Lillie Murphy, group fitness instructor Lillie Murphy, personal trainer

Lillie is a former UAMS employee of 20 years who believes that it is never too late to get in shape. At the age of 39, Lillie decided to make a change in her appearance, and her life, and started training for body building competitions. After a year of extensive training, Lillie entered her first competition at the Memphis Big River Classic where she earned first place honors. Lillie went on to compete in the Arkansas Classic where she placed third. Lillie has propelled her body building success into training and coaching others to "bring out their best body." Lillie's philosophy is that a beautiful body builds a beautiful mind and a beautiful soul. Lillie is certified through NETA and AMFPT.

Stephanie Byers, group fitness instructor

Stephanie has a passion for fitness and knows it takes discipline to get the results you want. She believes in positive attitudes, having fun, and adding variety to your workout! She graduated from Saint Louis University with degrees in management information systems and finance, and is currently a client services delivery leader with Acxiom Corporation. Over the years Stephanie's classes have included step aerobics, body sculpt and abs. Stephanie is certified through AFAA. She and her husband Jeff were married in May, and are still enjoying the honeymoon.

Addie Sayre, group fitness instructor

Addie recently moved to Little Rock from Charlotte, North Carolina. She has been teaching aerobics for seven years. Her background is in dance and team sports. Thus, her classes are a fusion of choreography and power moves. She enjoys teaching just about any kind of group exercise class but she is known to be a "cardio junkie!" Fitness is a passion of hers and she hopes to help you develop the same passion. Addie is a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer through AFAA.

Jenny has a B.S. degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and is currently a fourth year medical student at UAMS. She believes that exercise is key to stress relief and the foundation to a healthy body and mind. Jenny began taking dance at the age of 3 and has extensive training in ballet, tap, and modern dance. She began teaching kickboxing in 1999 and is certified by ISCA. Her high energy and positive-attitude make for a fun and motivating exercise experience.

Jennifer is a certified group fitness instructor and personal trainer. She received her B.S. degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Jennifer has been teaching a variety of classes the past six years and incorporates exciting new techniques in her strength training and movement workouts. She believes that group exercise provides a fun, motivating, and an encouraging environment to fulfill workout needs. Jennifer is an outdoor sports enthusiast who loves to hike, mountain bike, canoe, wakeboard and play kickball. She has her certifications through AFAA.

Tywana Lambert, group fitness instructor

Tywana has a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communications, with a minor in creative writing, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is currently employed by UAMS-Kids First, where she enjoys working with children. She considers herself at her best when she is helping other people. Tywana is certified through NETA and specializes in step aerobics, kick boxing and high/low aerobics.

Abeer Washington, group fitness instructor

Abeer is a resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry. She completed medical school at UAMS in 2007. She feels that total body wellness - the mental, physical, and spiritual is the key to a healthy lifestyle. She is especially interested in women's mental health and feels that regular physical activity is essential to reduce stress and fight depression. She teaches kickboxing at UAMS, War Memorial Fitness Center, and Powerhouse gym. She also enjoys teaching interval training courses like the Body Blitz! class and strength/stretching techniques of Pilates. She participated in the Little Rock Marathon and her short term fitness goal is to run a full marathon. Abeer lives in Little Rock with her husband and, in her spare time, enjoys outdoor activities with him.

Thea Price, group fitness instructor

Thea Price is a native of Little Rock. She graduated from Hendrix College with a BA in Chemistry and is currently pursuing her doctorate of Medicine from UAMS. She strongly believes that a healthy and active lifestyle is necessary for emotional well-being and prevention of illness - an ideal she hopes to incorporate into her future medical practice. She is an avid follower of power yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, and weight-training.

True Alisandre, yoga instructor

True Alisandre, has taught the Astanga Yoga system since the 70's. He was trained in Philadelphia in 1974 by the Ananda Marga Yoga Society and has traveled to many of their centers, even abroad in the Philippines, to continue his studies. True has taught yoga throughout Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida, and most recently in Mississippi. He is registered through Yoga Alliance as an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher qualifying him to train yoga instructors. True strives to teach his students how to apply the principles of stretching and breathing from yoga to their everyday life. True has produced a Smooth Yoga DVD, as well as a book on CD titled: Pictures of Health to Breathe & Move With, which presents his breath / movement exercises and yoga workouts. True teaches classes at several locations throughout Little Rock and is available for private training lessons in stretching, breathing, and yogic meditation. True is a licensed massage therapist and a featured part of his classes is a short neck / shoulder massage at the end to enhance the students deep relaxation!

UAMS Fitness Center
4301 W. Markham St., #838 Little Rock, AR 72205
phone 501-526-2222 fax 501-526-7672
gethealthy@uams.edu