bchernoff, Thu, March 5th, 2009
The second thing that will strike you is their personal trainer. He’s built like a Mack truck and he’s the nicest guy you could ever meet. This is his story.
Anton Kowalski has been a personal trainer for eight years. He is AFFA certified and when I asked him why he does what he does this is what he told me.
“I love watching people transform their bodies. It’s such a confidence builder for them. I have one client that I watched go from 440 pounds to 260 pounds in 18 months. It’s amazing,” he said. “I also love to develop relationships, meet new people and really get to know them and what their goals are and helping them to accomplish them. I also like to see concrete results. In some lines of work you just work for the sake of working. I get to visually see the progress people make. It’s very rewarding.”
I had the pleasure of running into one of his clients this week at Ja Spa. Author of his new book and star of the HBO documentary, both titled “Hard as Nails. A mission to awaken youth to the power of gods love,” Justin Fatica. I asked him about his personal trainer.
“Anton cares about the people more than he cares about the workout and that’s what makes him special. I gave him the idea of working out for someone other than yourself. It’s a great motivator to get yourself to the gym and work hard while you’re there and it’s so selfless,” Fatica said.
Based on that Kowalski decided to dedicate one workout a month to the late John Edward Kelly IV, the Skaneateles native who lost his life along with his girlfriend Heather Wilkins on Skaneateles lake two summers ago.
“I used to work out with John and he was such a great guy. He was a cop in Richmond, Virginia, (a city) with one of the highest crime rates in America and he told me one time that he would go to random houses in the worst part of town and bring them groceries. People he didn’t even know,” Kowalski said.
The first thing you can expect when you come in for a personal training session is the initial evaluation. You get your weight and body fat measured and depending on your goals there can be other evaluations. This gives you a starting point of where you are so you can track improvement. Kowalski specializes in weight loss, strength building and also works with student athletes that want to improve in a specific sport.
You can plan to work out with a trainer one, two or three times a week and your trainer will draw up a program for you to follow. Now is the time to start if you want to slim down and tone up for those summer months. You can train with Kowalski up to three times without a gym membership and he also offers personal training in Auburn and Skaneateles.
If you are interested in gym memberships, they are only $20 down and $20 a month for the gym and just $10 more for a VIP membership which gives you access to the locker room and steam room and all the classes you can take for no additional charge. Prepay a one-year VIP membership and for a limited time get a year of free unlimited tanning.
“It’s never to late to start an exercise program, I have one client now who is 70 years old and lost 60 pounds and made huge gains in his strength,” Kowalski said.
Kowalski can also make recommendations for eating habits and nutrition. To schedule an appointment or ask any questions you might have call Kowalski at 567-6502 or email him at antonkowalski@yahoo.com.
Ben Chernoff is the advertising representative for the Marcellus Observer and Skaneateles
