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A day on the job in South Pinellas
By JOHN REINAN JOE WARPEHA, 25
Three years. How did you get involved with personal fitness? I've been working with weights for 10 years now. I'm a two-time national champion in the bench press and set a national record of 407 pounds for my weight class, which is 165 pounds. Over the last four or five years I started to get involved in personal training. Do you have any specific credentials, or are you just a guy who's in really good shape? I'm a certified strength and conditioning specialist and a certified personal trainer. To be a certified strength and conditioning specialist, you have to have a four-year college degree and pass a four-hour written exam. This fall, I'll be starting a master's program in exercise physiology. Why do you work at the YMCA and not a private health club? There's one main reason, and that's the sales aspect. I'm not here to sell you something in a bottle, and that's what the private clubs push. When you work for a private club, you have quotas to meet. I've worked in those clubs, and I've heard managers say about someone, 'He's a great trainer, but he couldn't sell." At the Y, it's, 'Here's the equipment, here are qualified people to show you how to use it." And that's it. You're an elite athlete. Isn't it frustrating working with people who are at such a different level from you physically? Not at all. I tell people, I was where you are. I was always the smallest guy in my class. I was the last guy anyone would think could do what I did. I told people what I wanted to do, and they laughed at me. And I didn't let that disillusion me -- I let it fuel me. You speak very passionately. Is this a calling for you? I do feel that way. The thing I hate to see is the trainers who are academically learned. They've read all the books, but have they been under a 400-pound bench? The reason my passion is so strong is because I've been through it all and I know the benefits fitness can bring, both physical and mental. Yet American schools have steadily cut back on physical education for the last 20 years. That's a huge concern. That's the age when you form habits that you're going to carry with you for the rest of your life. What's your favorite thing about this job? Seeing people find themselves in places they never thought they'd be. You can do it with discipline. Never underestimate the power of the mind -- it's 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. What's your least favorite thing? When people are here, I can work with them. But when they leave here, they are bombarded with ads from the supplement industry. Drink our drink, take our pill, use our machine for three minutes a day. Me as an individual, there's no way I can combat that. No substitute for hard work, is that what you're saying? Yes. My dad was a doctor with a Ph.D. in anatomy. He grew up the youngest of 14 children in post-Depression Minneapolis. Nobody gave him anything. He taught me that if you want to do something, you can do it. How much do you make? When I'm personal training, $18 an hour. What percentage of people who start a fitness program don't follow through? Conservatively, at least 50 percent. I tell them, if you stay the course, you're going to see results. But it might take months -- it might take years. They're fired up for a few weeks or months, and then they start to lose it. What are your favorite exercises? Okay, say if I had to do just five for the rest of my life, they would be, in order of importance: 1. Parallel bar dips. 2. Pull-ups. 3. Barbell squats. 4. Bench presses. 5. Some form of grip exercise. What do you hope to be doing long-term? I want to be the strength coach for a pro sports team or a major college program.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
