ABOUT FILLEY FIT
Live virtual personal training, built on the belief that great fitness guidance shouldn't depend on where you live.
-
Fully virtual — serving clients nationwide
-
Specialized expertise in training adults 55+ and managing chronic pain and injury
-
Research-based programming, individualized for every client
-
Proudly affirming and welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community
Filley Fit was founded in 2020 on a simple but powerful idea: that all people — regardless of location, schedule, or circumstance — can benefit from regular, expertly guided exercise.
Our mission is to help every client discover their own personal reasons to commit to consistent movement, healthy habits, and long-term wellbeing. We do this through individualized programming, ongoing accountability, and research-based methods — delivered live, one-on-one, over video call.
Today, Filley Fit is fully virtual, which means our clients live everywhere. What they have in common is a desire for real expert guidance — without the friction of a gym.
DEREK FILLEY
Exercise Physiologist | Owner
Derek's relationship with fitness began in high school — first as a way to manage the awkwardness of adolescence, and then as a genuine passion for what the human body is capable of. What started as recreational lifting and high school sports became a life's work: helping others experience the same transformation Derek did — from self-consciousness to confidence, from pain to capability, from uncertainty to independence.
He took that passion to The Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science (Summa Cum Laude), and then to San Diego, where he has been coaching clients professionally since 2018. Filley Fit was officially established in March 2020.
Today, Derek trains clients entirely over live video — a format that, in his experience, removes nearly every barrier that once kept people from committing to consistent exercise. 'The best workout is the one you actually do,' he says. 'Going virtual means there are fewer reasons to skip.
When he's not training clients, Derek stays active through recreational basketball, road biking, and adult lacrosse — and volunteers several hours a week coaching high school lacrosse at The Preuss School UCSD, a college-prep charter school serving first-generation scholars in San Diego.
"In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline...and effort."
~ Jesse Owens
EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Derek holds a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from The Ohio State University, earned with Summa Cum Laude honors. His coursework covered exercise physiology, human nutrition, behavior change theory, and body composition assessment — applied to populations ranging from youth athletes to older adults with chronic conditions including osteoarthritis, Parkinson's, Lupus, and cardiovascular disease.
He also contributed to research in Ohio State's exercise physiology lab, assisting with studies on sleep deprivation, supplementation, strength assessment, osteoarthritis management, and women's progressive resistance training.
-
SDCCD Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program
-
SDCCD Acute Care Nursing Assistant Training Program
-
The Edge University sports performance education platform 2020–2022)
-
Pinnacle Performance Biomechanics Program (completed 2021)
-
+ Ongoing independent study: exercise physiology, strength and conditioning, post-injury rehabilitation, nervous system function
CONTINUING EDUCATION
His virtual clients have achieved results across a wide range of outcomes:
-
Strength and muscle development
-
Power and explosiveness (important for all ages, not just athletes)
-
Core strength and mobility
-
Cardiovascular endurance
-
Balance, coordination, and fall prevention
-
Chronic and acute pain management (back, knee, shoulder, hip, ankle, and more)
-
Nutrition education and programming
-
Weight management — loss, gain, or maintenance
Prior to founding Filley Fit, Derek also worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant in a long-term acute care setting — an experience that deepened his understanding of aging, pain, and what it means to help someone maintain independence through movement.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Starting in Spring 2022, Derek volunteers 3–4 hours a week coaching the boys' high school lacrosse team at The Preuss School UC San Diego — a college-prep charter school on the UCSD campus, serving first-generation scholars from low-income families. Nearly 100% of Preuss graduates go on to higher education.
For Derek, coaching lacrosse is an extension of the same values that drive Filley Fit: the belief that discipline, growth mindset, and consistent effort — applied to anything — build a better life.