TRAINERS

HERMAN BAPTISTE, HEAD TRAINER & CO-OWNER

If someone had told me in 1981, when I graduated high school in New York City, that I would someday own a private training gym in Los Angeles, I would have laughed. Yes, I played high school sports, but all of my dreams and aspirations were scientific at the time.

That all changed in 1986 when I was recruited to represent the United States in the International Team Handball competition. I moved to Colorado Springs to train at the Olympic Training Center. After 7 years of travelling around the northern hemisphere with the team, I had a pretty good idea of who I was going to be.

When I left the team in late 1994, I moved to Redondo Beach, Ca. While waiting for a job to open at a tech firm, I did nothing but eat, sleep, lift weights and play recreational sports. One of friends suggested that I should get certified as a personal trainer while I waited and look for employment at a gym. Needless to say, I never looked back.

In 1995, I joined the training staff of a private membership gym in West Hollywood called the Athletic Club. My career as a personal trainer began there and took off quickly. Being a former representative of the U.S. in international Handball competition certainly didn’t hurt my reputation as a specialist, and I was in the best shape of

my life, which helped me to sell a lot of sessions. But what really gave me the most satisfaction was the change I saw in people when they trained hard and achieved their fitness goals.

When it comes to my training style, I’m a hopeless control, efficiency and value freak. I realized early on that I didn’t want to teach large groups if it meant I couldn’t give everyone in the group personalized attention and make sure they were doing the exercise correctly. It would make me feel like I was taking their money and giving them nothing in return and I just couldn’t do it.

After about a week of brainstorming and trying out various workout ideas, I concluded that a timed workout using weights that were normally easy to handle for a set of 12 or 15 reps, but would become challenging at 20 or 25 reps, would allow me monitor 3 clients efficiently at one time while another 3 rested. I wanted to give these clients a taste of serious athletic training; to push them a bit more than they were used to, get them sweaty and have them experience a real skin tightening, exhausting, rock hard muscle pump.

At that certain point in my professional life, owning my own facility became my obsession.

Even when owning my own gym seemed completely out of reach, I believed that my concept could work and that it would only be a matter of time before my dream would be realized. I kept current with training techniques, I constantly scouted gyms in different parts of the city looking for machines and ideas I thought would go well with the framework I already had.There were several gigantic speed bumps on my road to ownership. In summer of 1996, I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a disease that attacks your muscles. My life changed dramatically in the space of a month. Doctors who were seeing me told me that my athletic life was over. Fortunately, I was able to prove them wrong.

It took 17 years before the random elements finally aligned and an opportunity presented itself. Even after the investors signed on, it took more than half a year to find a facility. The hours are long and I’m probably working harder now than I’ve ever worked in my life, but the fact that I’m finally doing what I set out to do many years ago is really rewarding.

HOVIK JOHN SEROPYAN

Certified personal trainer John Seropyan’s proven approach underlines the word ‘personal’ with the knowledge that a ‘cookie cutter’ mentality never connects the client’s goals with their efforts to reach a successful outcome. John’s passion for fitness is reflected in a lifetime of physical activities that includes swimming, boxing mixed martial arts and hiking. His enthusiasm for health and fitness is infectious, a quality his clients rely on, as he challenges each one according to their own specific conditions. From seasoned athletes in baseball, football, mixed martial arts, to beginners who have never set foot in a gymnasium, John’s expertise has helped many attain the level of overall fitness they sought.

Whether your goal is to improve sports performance, gain muscle mass, enhance strength and endurance, or simply feel confident in front of the mirror, John will compose a fitness program that seamlessly blends with your lifestyle, psyche and schedule. Certified in sports nutrition,  John also guides his clients through the maze of proper nourishment for their individual needs. Visit his website at www.ultimatebodypro.com!