If you have spent time around Orangetheory Fitness in East Cobb or Sandy Plains in Marietta, you may have heard Vicki Feldman before you ever met her.
And, no, we’re not joking about her ability to amplify her voice, though anyone who has coached group fitness since the late 1980s is adept at this. It is presence. Vicki can push one athlete toward a faster split, give another permission to back off, notice an injury and still keep the room moving together.
Her story is part fitness, part mental health, part community, and part proof that the best coaches do more than count reps.
From Clinical Social Work to Group Fitness
Vicki did not grow up as the obvious future fitness coach. In high school, she describes herself as the student-government girl, not the athlete. The shift came in graduate school, when group fitness classes changed her physical fitness and helped manage stress.
One day, the instructor did not show up. Vicki picked up the mic. And who was to know how transformative that moment was to be.
She earned her group fitness certification in 1987 and started teaching high-impact aerobics, low-impact aerobics and early step classes. One favorite memory: learning step on a wooden box before Reebok made step training mainstream.
At the same time, her professional background was clinical social work. After moving to Georgia, she worked at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in the endocrine area, supporting kids with type 1 diabetes and families navigating chronic illness.
That combination still defines her coaching. Fitness is physical, of course, but for Vicki it has always been tied to stress relief, confidence and mental well-being.
The Orange Sign at the Stoplight
She was sitting at the light outside what is now the East Cobb Orangetheory Fitness location, talking with her sister in Florida. Her sister asked, “Do you all have Orangetheory there?” Vicki wondered if her sister meant something like Orange Julius.
Then she looked up and saw a sign in the grass: coming soon.
She met with the owners, auditioned, and walked into a studio that was not even fully built out yet. She had taught in big-box gyms, but this was different. The concept clicked once she saw how the pieces fit together.
She started coaching in November 2013 and soon became one of the familiar coaching voices connected to Orangetheory Fitness East Cobb and Sandy Plains.
Why Orangetheory Fitness Has Lasted
Fitness concepts come and go. Orangetheory Fitness has endured because it offers something people can understand, repeat and measure.
For Vicki, the science-based structure matters. Heart-rate training gives members a real-time look at effort, recovery and progress. Data helps you tune into what you are doing and how the body responds. It is information.
Just as important, the workout gives people a full training experience in one class. Strength, cardio, endurance, power, treadmills, rowers, TRX, dumbbells, BOSU trainers, mini bands and floor work all live under one roof. People tend to gravitate to what they like to do when they sometimes need to focus on the things that challenge them. A runner can build strength. Someone coming back from an injury can make the workout scalable as they build back. The key is what CAN be done, not what can’t. At Orangetheory they will help you with that.
That variety keeps it interesting. Vicki remembers the early heart-rate-monitor days with Polar Chest straps. Now there are wearable arm bands that light up the color of the zone you are in.
Goals Make People Show Up Differently
Ask Vicki about Orangetheory challenges and her voice changes. Hell Week, Marathon Month, DriTri, Season of Strength, HYROX-style training and benchmark days all serve a purpose beyond novelty.
When someone has a goal, the intention and focus changes. A row becomes, “Can I beat my last one mile benchmark by one second?” Marathon Month becomes a reason to show up to nail the distance that was committed to. Season of Strength turns familiar movements into proof that strength can grow over time. And, of course, everyone wants the Hell Week t-shirt!
Push Them With Kindness and Empathy
Vicki’s coaching style is direct, but never careless. Her phrase for it is simple: she will push you with kindness and empathy.
And that can make a real difference in a room full of different bodies, goals and personalities. Some members are encouraged by Vicki saying “David, can you hold this split for the next two minutes. You got this!” Others may want a green day or validation for just showing up, or an option for an injury no one can see.
A trainer asks you to perform. A coach guides you safely and effectively, with the right pressure for the right person on the right day.
Vicki takes class whenever she can before coaching it. That gives her empathy and understanding for what the workout actually feels like. That lived experience helps her coach with both encouragement and empathy.
The Voice in Someone’s Head
One favorite coaching story involves Cindy, an avid runner who completed an Ironman. After the race, Cindy brought Vicki an Ironman hat, as if Vicki had done the race too.
Her explanation was the real gift: “You were in my head the whole time.”
When the race got hard, Cindy could hear Vicki’s voice. There is the finish line. You can do this. Keep going.
This is the kind of impact that’s impossible to measure on a leaderboard. Vicki has watched power walkers become runners, members lift weights they never thought they could lift, and people who were once intimidated by the studio realize they belonged there all along.
One member, Lori, told her she had walked by the studio for four years after a hip replacement, thinking she could not do it. Once she came in, she found the bike, modifications and coaching she needed. Her regret was that she had waited so long.
More Than a Workout
The best fitness communities eventually become more than fitness communities.
Vicki has coached joyful classes, including a 90-minute disco-themed workout where she dressed the part so completely that it took people a moment to recognize her. She has also coached deeply meaningful classes, including a cancer-awareness workout where members, coaches and survivors shared stories afterward.
Sessions like that change the mood of the room. People who see each other only at different class times suddenly understand that everyone is carrying something.
The COVID days showed that in a different way. Like every gym, Orangetheory had to balance distancing, health concerns and the need to keep people moving. During that surreal 2020 or 2021 stretch, Vicki invited Big Peach East Cobb into the studio for a video call with members. It was just Vicki, Steve (from Big Peach) and a laptop, talking with a robust virtual audience about staying fit at home, getting outside safely, running shoes, walking, running and walk-run questions. Nobody could have imagined it before COVID, yet it worked because the community still wanted to connect and keep moving.
That connection is why the relationship between Big Peach East Cobb and Orangetheory Fitness makes sense. Our mission is to support a Pedestrian Active Lifestyle and help people move comfortably, consistently and confidently. Orangetheory gives runners, walkers and fitness-minded neighbors a structured place to build strength, stay connected to movement and build a foundation of health.
Still Moving Forward
Vicki is not especially interested in slowing down. Despite getting older, she wants to move as much as possible, her goal is to die young, as late as possible.
That philosophy has become personal. With a family history of heart disease and diabetes, and as an aging female who knows the importance of lean muscle mass, strength training has become central to how she thinks about long-term health. It supports metabolism, bones and independence.
She also teaches at CycleBar. She coaches a structured wellness program focused on metabolic health, and improvements of overall body composition, also backed by science. The most frustrating comment she hears repeatedly is that “this is what happens when you age” as if you have no choice. We all have choices. The key is education and the willingness to be coached and supported. And soon, she will add a new role: grandmother.
There may be a little pivoting in her schedule, but the throughline is not changing. Vicki will keep moving, keep coaching and keep helping people find what exists on the other side of showing up.
FAQs: Vicki Feldman, Orangetheory Fitness and East Cobb
Vicki Feldman is a longtime Orangetheory Fitness coach in the East Cobb and Sandy Plains community, with a background in clinical social work, group fitness, personal training, running, cycling and health coaching.
Orangetheory Fitness is a science-based group fitness workout built around heart-rate training, strength work, cardiovascular training and scalable coaching, laying the foundation for long term health.
Absolutely! Orangetheory can help runners build strength, power, endurance and durability, with treadmill miles available when outdoor conditions are not ideal. Orangetheory has treadmills with a patented shock-absorption system that gives the deck a “bouncy” feel. It is designed to reduce impact on the hips, knees and ankles by up to 52% compared to running on concrete.
No. Workouts are scalable. Members can run, jog, power walk, bike or use the strider, and coaches can give options for injuries or current fitness levels. There are members with plantar fasciitis, issues with knees, hips and backs. Even though it’s a class, they offer individual coaching for success. There are many ways to hit the muscle groups from different angles.
Start with our Fit Process at Big Peach Running Co. East Cobb. We can help you find footwear that supports your running, walking or training goals. Whether it’s Brooks, Hoka, Asics, On or others, Big Peach has a wide selection to ensure you find the shoe that fits your foot and best complements the way YOU move.
If you hear a coach’s voice in your head during the hard part of a workout, race or life season, that is not a small thing. That is coaching that sticks. In East Cobb, Vicki Feldman has been giving people that voice for a long time.