Before and After Success Story
Kenneth

Dear Ramon:

How can I thank you for the way that you have helped transform my life and health? As you know, when I started working with you as my personal training six months ago I told you I was hoping to "lose my love handles", keep my weight under better control and improve my performance as a runner. As a busy professional with young kids countless meals of take out Chinese and pizza left me feeling soft, sluggish and unhappy with the way my suits were getting tighter and tighter. When my doctor told me, during a routine physical, that my cholesterol was "borderline high" and I would have to go on medication to lower it, I made a decision that I wouldn�t allow myself to become another statistic and I would need, for the first time in my life, to take my nutrition and exercise seriously.

I have worked out with a personal trainer before - but I was never very impressed with the experience. Some trainers (at other gyms) were unreliable or too focused on helping me achieve the results they felt were important (such as "bulking up" or seeing how much I could "bench' ) instead of listening to what I wanted and helping me achieve it. Some trainers (again - at other gyms) were interested in chatting with me for an hour while walking me from machine to machine for a half-hearted and utterly predictable workout.

I started working out with you in September of 2006 - two (2) sessions per week for one(1) hour each session. I'm sure you can remember that the first time we worked out together I struggled to complete two (2) push ups and was quite winded after simply doing some basic warm-up exercises. Although I was a competitive runner in college - college was a long time ago and when we started working out together I was quite simply "out of shape" and was convinced that I would never get back to the shape I was in when I was in my twenties. You may recall that when I started working with you, I weighed in at 195 pounds and had 22% body fat. My waist was a snug 36 inches and my total cholesterol was 220 (borderline high). My body was soft and flabby and my "love handles" left me reluctant to wear clothes that fit or to take my shirt off when playing on the beach with my kids.

Working out with you has been unlike any past experience I have had with a trainer (even some that were double your hourly rates). Your knowledge and experience as a trainer as well as your own real life athletic experience has made working out with you amazing since the first session. Even now, after six months of training together, you keep the workouts fresh and challenging - never boring or predictable - and you know just how to change the pace and focus of each workout to make the hour fly past. I can honestly tell you that I look forward to my sessions with you and I always leave my sessions feeling tired but satisfied and ready to take on any challenge my professional or personal life can throw my way.

Here I am six (6) months later! What a difference! My life and my body have been completely transformed by the work we have done together. I now weigh 165 pounds and have a 6.9% body fat. My waist is 31 inches and my total cholesterol is 169 (below normal - or "totally healthy" as my amazed doctor put it during my most recent physical!). My body is leaner and fitter than ever and for the first time in my life I even have a "six pack" stomach. It�s embarrassing to admit it - but every time I walk past a mirror with my shirt off - I have to stop for a second and stare - I can't believe how amazing I look and how defined and toned my body has become!

Most important - I feel better than I have ever felt before! My energy level during the day remains constantly high and I sleep like a baby at night. My stamina and level of fitness have improved exponentially and my running and ability to do other exercise have far surpassed the level they were at when I was in my teens and twenties! When we started - I couldn't do three (3) pushups. Now I can drop down and do multiple sets of 25-50. When we started - I struggled to do 20 crunches. Now I blast out sets of 50 and don�t break a sweat. When we started - I huffed and puffed through ten minute miles while running. Now I hit the streets and can do eight minute miles as a "warmup" before I get to real running. I never would have dreamed this was possible - but I'm in the best shape of my life thanks to you and the work we have done together.

Thank you so much Ramon. Thank you for your advice - for your dedication to my fitness and for the way that you have transformed my body and my life. I know that the level of health and fitness I have achieved, and the joy that has come with it, will add years to my life and life to my years. It has been clear to me over the past six months that you are totally committed to my health and fitness. I owe you my sincerest thanks for all you have done to help me look and feel better than I ever have before.

With Warmest Regards,
James J. Sexton, Esq.

Dear Anthony,

It is hard to explain in words what you have done for me. When if first cam to you i was totally out of shape and knew very little about exercising. Growing up I had always been average weight but once I began middle school I began to put more and more weight on each year. By the time I met you I was 190 pounds  and a 28.6 body fat percentage. Through both your help and Warren with Apex I as able to lose the weight and go down to as low at 10 percent body fat. You have taught me so much about exercise and I never know there was so much to learn. I always thought people just benched and did bicep curls but you taught me how not only to do upper body but also lower body which have become my favorite exercises. At first, I only like working out because I wanted to be healthy but now I do it because it is something I have fell in love with. I look forward to the gym all the time and when I am not there I can't wait to go. You have been such a great trainer and you have become a friend to me. We can talk about anything and I feel so good about myself when I am training with you. It has been exactly a year now since I first started training with you and started Apex and I cannot believe all the changes that were made. People come up to me all the time, barely even recognizing me and begin to tell me how good I look but the best part of it all is I feel much better about myself. When I was overweight I had very little confidence in myself and had very low self esteem but that has all changed now. You have changed my life and I cannot ever stop thanking you for that. Thank you for being such a great trainer and a true friend. I am so happy with how I look and feel and I owe most of that to you. Thank you!

Sincerely, Danny Borakove

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for offering the program, 'I Lost It At The Club.' All though I didn't lose that much weight, the program has gotten my back on track. Hopefully I will now keep going to the gym and making progress even if slow.

I would also like to thank my trainer Paul Fuchs. He was very helpful in showing me how to use equipment and giving me a weight lifting regime that I otherwise was not aware of. Every week when I checked in with him he was very encouraging. If he saw me in the gym on other days he always said hello. He was definitely instrumental in keeping me coming to the gym 3 to 4 times a week.

Again, thanks for the program and I hope that you will have other such ones in the future.

Sincerely yours,
Lynne H. Garfinkel

Before and After Success Story
Karen

Through dedication, commitment and hard work, I am now toned, 134 pounds and happy. Let me start from the beginning. I was over weight, my body was, let's just say flabby and I was not happy. I decided to get a personal trainer. I was paired with Evan Hoffer. We talked, I explained my goals and he listened and put together a workout plan for me. Evan challenges me at every training session. He makes my workouts interesting and fun every time. I have been training with Evan since the last week in August 2006. I work out with weights 3 times a week. I do cardio, as he has suggested at least 3 times a week for 35 minutes. In October, I incorporated a diet into my plan. It is now the end of February 2007. This is my new beginning.

Karen Steffanato

Before and After Success Story
Laura

Dear Ellen,

I wanted to take a minute to write you and offer my appreciation and gratitude to your premier trainer, Dave Hubbard. Along with my training partner, maria, I have been working with dave now for almost a year.

During that time, I can honestly say I have become addicted to working out with him and I look forward to our sessions each and every week. Dave doe many things to make the sessions enjoyable but what I appreciate the most is his commitment to making the sessions fresh, enjoyable and challenging each and every day. He never fails to push us but, at the same time, he demonstrates genuine concern and support for our performance and the results we have attained.

During this period of training with Dave, I have been able to attain a level of fitness that I never thought possible when I first started. That fitness level, in my estimation, not only encompasses increased strength and flexibility but also vastly improved balance, coordination and rhythm.

I have a great deal of respect for all of the trainers and other staff at Premier. I think the friendly, supportive atmosphere is truly a part of the value you have to offer your clients. In that regard, though, I have to say that Dave stands above and beyond in my estimation.

Sincerely,
Laura L. St.Onge

A Premier Workout

My girlfriend is like me, she hates change. When my gym relocated to another county, I needed to find a new one. My friend recommended Nanuet's Premier Fitness. I tried to get my girlfriend to come with me, but she stayed at her ritzy gym in Bergen County.

Today was the gym's busiest day, the 5th year anniversary, a party for Premier members! The gym offered enrolling fee specials, free blood pressure screening, plus discounts on everything from food and drink at the juice bar to massages and all items in the Pro Shop, like supplements and clothing.

The floor was crowded, but I didn't have to wait in line for anything, not even the free food up front! I also had a free Body Fat Analysis by a professional Apex nutritionist. I was asked to participate in the special Nautilus Circuit Class upstairs, or jump in the marathon spin karaoke with the live DJ, but that food looked good! I wanted to eat first.

After my 'snack' (which was a little of everything: a sandwich, a wrap, some cookies half of a bagel, a cup of tea - ok nobody's perfect!), it was time to get down to business and hit the legs and core. People think the typical 'gym' as a place filled with intimidating muscle-heads. However, on the floor there were guys from the Team Torque lifting club, the local high school baseball team, middle-aged women just out of the aerobics class. I, as a slender cyclist, fit right in!

The leg machines were in impeccable working order, the cable machines smooth, balance, clean. there were 5 squat racks, and endless line of neatly stacked dumbells running the length of one gym wall, 4 leg press machines, 9 benches. Brian Fahrenfeld, the gym owner, told me, "For the popular exercises, we make sure we have more than enough. You give people more than they expect."

Giving people more than they expect? How about employees cleaning gym equipment with disinfectant and towels, using backpack jetbag vacuums to keep the floor immaculate. The gym employs six full-time housekeepers. Did I mention this place is CLEAN?

A fleet of floor supervisors roam the floor, assisting gym members, answering questions. I asked one of them for a spot on barbell squats, since I hadn't done heavy lifting for a while! She made sure I finished my last set, repping out the perfect form. she then offered advice for my next exercise. Hack squats, so I wouldn't injure my knees.

When I was time to hit the core, she found the biggest Swiss ball I usually use, then introduced new exercises and a balancing platform that left me hurting afterwards! Having this involved help on the floor is an immense plus, leading to an uplifting and productive gym environment.

Time to hit the cardio equipment. There was an entire army of new machines on the upstairs landing. Tons of people up there, but I found a machine without waiting, immediately pumping away and flushing some of that toxic lactic acid from my quads.

My girlfriend called me as I as at the Free Food table again, on my way out. She could hear the fun, festive environment in the background, and I sensed some jealousy as I listened to a story about waiting and waiting to get on a Stairmaster. I could only smile: I was in and out while she waited in misery. Change for me can be tough, but in this case it was truly beneficial.