WATCH: Cocoa Beach Native and Certified Trainer Haley Denemark Inspires Others to Get Fit
By Steve Wilson // September 6, 2025
Haley Denemark: A visit to the gym, could avoid a visit to the doctor!
WATCH: Haley Denemark talks with the Friday Night Locker Rooms’ Steve Wilson about her fitness journey. Denemark, a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Trainer, transformed her mind and body after her second child was born.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The definition of “inspiring” in the Oxford English Dictionary is “giving someone positive or creative feelings.” There are many ways to inspire someone in every walk of life. I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with a truly inspiring young lady, Haley Denemark.
Denemark told me she had gained weight after her second child, which is not unusual. The problem for her was that, with the extra weight, she could not keep up with her kids, play with them, or do the things she wanted to do with them daily.
That is when Denemark decided to make a change. And make a change, she did! She started going to the gym regularly, and the transformation in her mind and body is truly inspiring. She looks and feels like a different person.
I asked Denemark how she feels today, both physically and mentally, compared to when she first started her fitness training.
She told me, “Physically, I feel more energetic and strong, which is nice, but it doesn’t even come close to the mental improvements I have had since going on my fitness journey.
“Being fit enough to keep up with my two beautiful children has been the most significant benefit in all of this, the guilt I would feel before for not being able to play with my kids the way they wanted to by running around used to eat me alive and now I’m able to run around on the beach with them and play at the park, and you can’t put a price tag on that kind of joy.”
Denemark has gotten herself in such good shape, both physically and mentally, that she is now a NASM Certified Personal Trainer. You can find her most days at Cocoa Beach Health and Fitness, where she works out and serves as a personal trainer.
I asked Denemark what she would tell someone, especially the elderly, if they had never been to a gym. She said, emphatically, “It’s never, never, never too late to get started!”
Haley Denemark is indeed inspiring. She is, as the Oxford English Dictionary reads, a person who initiates “positive and creative feelings.” Denemark summed it up best when she told me, “A visit to the gym could avoid a visit to the doctor!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Steve Wilson was born in DeRidder, Louisiana and grew up in both New Orleans and Macon, Georgia. He moved to Brevard County in 1984 and retired from local government as the Community Advocate/Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Rockledge in 2018.
Among the awards and accolades Steve has received over the years are 15 + year Rockledge Little League volunteer, Brevard Public School Jefferson Award Recipient, Rockledge High School Raider Booster Award 2001, 2006, City of Rockledge Employee of the Year 2006, Rockledge Kiwanian of the Year 2006-2007, City of Rockledge Quality Public Service Award 2008, 2012, 2017, Rockledge Kiwanis Citizen of the Year 2012-2013, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Sportscasting 2015, Rockledge High School Leadership and Service Award 2016, Central Florida Humanitarian Award 2017, Space Coast Inspiration Award – 2018, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Lifetime Achievement – 2020, Ecofest Achievement Award – 2022, Quality Floridian Award – 2022, presented by U.S. Congressman Bill Posey, Florida House District 32 Constituent of the Week 4/20/25.
Wilson is especially proud of his chairing two fundraisers in support of pediatric cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of Merritt Island resident Julie Spurlock that raised over $25,000.00.
He has been a partner, along with Orville Susong, for the past 26 years with the Friday Night Locker Room, a broadcasting team that covers and reports on a wide variety of local events that are of significance to the residents of the Space Coast and beyond. Their mission is to promote youth sports, support first responders and law enforcement personnel, and showcase community and charitable events that are produced by our nonprofit partners in central Florida.
The Friday Night Locker Room has awarded hundreds of sports achievement plaques to Brevard County student-athletes over the years. They have also awarded more than $18,000 in academic scholarships to Brevard County high school seniors.
