Fitness coach and entrepreneur Mandy DiMarzo ’02 is helping her followers find strength in movement — and in rest.
For a professional fitness guru who specializes in intense workouts, Mandy DiMarzo’s wellness philosophy is surprisingly chill. Yes, her popular BURN by Mandy workout program is centered around high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but, according to DiMarzo ’02, tough sweat sessions are just a small piece of the overall fitness puzzle.
“Some days you might need to go hard and sweat it out, but other days, maybe your body needs a walk in the woods,” says DiMarzo, a former Colgate soccer player and triathlete who now considers walking one of the most powerful exercises. “It’s meditative,” she says.
DiMarzo, who lives in Clinton, N.Y., didn’t always take such a Zen approach to fitness. In an April 2024 TEDx event, DiMarzo spoke candidly about her battle with anorexia and her addiction to punishing workouts — and how her outlook has changed. “I equated strength with running over 110 miles weekly and minimizing my food intake to the brink of collapse,” she says. “My definition of strength was all wrong.”
In 2020, during the start of the pandemic, DiMarzo created BURN, a virtual fitness program that combines cardio and bodyweight strength training. A bevy of overuse injuries forced the lifelong athlete and long-distance runner to reconsider her relationship with exercise — and adopt a “less is more” approach.
The fast-paced 45-minute workouts, available to BURN subscribers, are tough but also accessible. They’re “scalable to any fitness level,” says DiMarzo, who livestreams sessions from home and peppers instruction with motivational quotes, quips, and real talk about her struggles.
Her authenticity quickly earned BURN a following — thousands of male and female devotees whom DiMarzo has dubbed “the tribe.”
“I’m sweating — and sometimes swearing — along with everyone else,” she says, noting that followers have gotten into the habit of sending their instructor “sweaty selfies” at the end of each session.
And while BURN workouts are intense, they’re also “joyful,” says DiMarzo. “I want people to laugh as they’re sweating, and to feel grateful for our bodies and what they can do.”
A frequent speaker at wellness retreats, corporate events, and universities, DiMarzo takes pride in talking openly about her recovery, and offers audiences advice for cultivating a healthier relationship with food and exercise. Here, DiMarzo shares her guiding mantras:
You are the CEO of your body; hire, fire, and promote accordingly.
“I want people to realize that they’re in charge of their bodies, and we have the power to choose only what serves us,” says DiMarzo. She encourages her clients to “fire” negative thinking and “promote” movement that brings joy. That idea of being the boss, says DiMarzo, is especially important for people like her, who once felt ruled by food and exercise. “It’s all about reclaiming control.”
Trade “Rise and Grind” for “Rest and Recharge.”
At the height of her disorder, DiMarzo remembers an alarming visit with an orthopedic surgeon, who warned that her regimen of extreme exercise and calorie restriction was wreaking havoc on her bones and joints. “Yet I had insisted on running 14 miles that day, ignoring his advice for rest,” she says. “I had mistaken constant pain for progress.” Now, DiMarzo relishes her rest days and tells her clients to “honor the need for rest. Constantly going hardcore is not sustainable,” she says. “When you choose movement that energizes you and brings you joy, you stick to it.”
Ignore the numbers.
As a former college athlete and runner, DiMarzo says stats — her weight, miles logged, calories consumed — once dominated her life. Today, she doesn’t weigh herself or count calories and eschews gadgets that quantify her physical activity. “I don’t even wear a watch,” she notes. When leading workouts, DiMarzo encourages her followers to gauge their effort “by feel” instead of counting reps. “Longevity doesn’t care about numbers,” she says. “Can you play with your kids without getting winded? Can you carry your groceries? Those are the health markers that matter.”
DiMarzo has returned to Colgate often in recent months. She delivered the keynote address during the TIA Incubator Weekend in February, helped train the field hockey and women’s volleyball teams during their offseasons, and led HIIT workouts with the Colgate Women’s Network