Built on a different
idea of what a gym should be

Ashleigh grew up in Canada, and spent all of her time outside of school in athletics. Chronic back pain had firmly set in by age 21, with MRI reports showing ‘advanced disc degenerative disease’. Having no answers anywhere, she just kept training and being an athlete. She landed in the US in 2009, kept going and also continued to experience worsening lower back pain.

In 2015, she re-herniated L4-5, resulting in complete neurological loss of most of her left leg, calf, and achilles reflex. Neurosurgery was the only option. She kept going, recovered well, and discovered what was at that time called Gymnastics Inspired Strength Training, founded by Christopher Sommer.

She bought all the training material, applied it to her own training immediately, and began to experience significant improvement in the health of her spine, and hips. She integrated this material into her clients’ training and began to duplicate her success with them. She worked closely with Christopher Sommer for several years, and MOVE was born.

Thus, MOVE was founded by Ashleigh Gass and Jim, who was a client at that time. Their shared conviction: that most people never reach their potential because they are training on a broken foundation. Generic programs, insufficient coaching, and an industry that values volume over quality all compound the problem.

The methodology at MOVE is rooted in gymnastics strength training — not because of the aesthetics, but because gymnastics demands something that most training does not: complete mastery of movement quality before load is ever introduced. You earn the right to add weight. You develop body awareness, joint control, and positional strength that makes every other form of training more effective and more durable.

Every program at MOVE — from Fundamentals to the 55+ Program to Nutrition Coaching — follows the same principle: find the root cause, build the right foundation, then layer on everything else. It is a slower start and a much better outcome.

Ashleigh brings 25 years of coaching experience alongside a Master’s in Human and Clinical Nutrition, the CNS Credential (Certified Nutrition Specialist), licensing as a Dietitian and Sports Nutritionist in Florida, CSCS, CISSN, and Functional Medicine Practitioner. Her approach integrates nutrition and physical training as a single system — because the body treats them that way.

Jim co-founded MOVE with the operational vision and entrepreneurial drive to make it real. Together with Ashleigh, he built a gym that operates on different terms: small groups, expert coaches, technical standards that do not flex, and a community built around actually getting better.

Fast forward to 2026, Ashleigh and Jim brought Jorge Reyes, Director of Coaching, on board as a partner.

Today, Ash, Jorge and Jim own and operate MOVE — a gym built not on trends, but on the conviction that people deserve coaching grounded in actual science and genuine expertise.