Wellness, Exercise, and Aging Expert

Education & Background

Cheryl Simmons, PhD, is a Wellness, Exercise, and Aging expert who brings her lifetime of experience as an athlete, coach, teacher, and exercise scientist to helping older adults feel better through movement. Her expertise is backed by an interdisciplinary educational approach she has developed over 30 years of working with older adults. Her passion stems from seeing firsthand how building connection and fitness levels directly improves the quality of life for older adults. With the launch of Golden Years Wellness, Cheryl is broadly sharing her expertise to make it easy for older adults to live their lives fully and do more of the things they enjoy with the people they love.     

While pursuing a double major in Psychology and Sociology as an undergraduate, she swam competitively for the University of South Florida. Cheryl then earned her Master’s in Exercise Science from the University of West Florida and her doctorate in Sport Psychology from Florida State University. Currently, a lecturer at California State University, Los Angeles, Cheryl has taught in the areas of Exercise Psychology, Exercise for Older Adults, Lifespan Psychomotor Development, and Aquatics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

Outside of Work

Outside of her academic career, Cheryl swims competitively for the Rose Bowl Masters Swim Team and has earned several National Champion finishes and world rankings. An ACSM-certified exercise physiologist, she also works as a swim coach and water fitness instructor at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, where she has helped senior members build their strength, flexibility, balance, and cardiovascular endurance since 2012. She draws on her background in psychology to understand the global picture of her clients’ lives and her expertise in exercise science to create movement solutions to help them reach their activity goals.