AJ Canzolino sat at a desk for 20 years working in the financial sector. He liked his job, though it was stressful and never truly was his passion.
"About five years ago I started to think about what I would do with my life if I had the opportunity, and owning a gym was at the top of that list," he said. "For the next five years I studied fitness and worked part-time at gyms to learn the industry."
Last fall, he opened Urban Athlete—and two more locations are scheduled to open later this year.
"The experience has been amazing," he said. "I tell everyone to follow their passion. Although the jump was scary, I am not looking back."
Canzolino stresses that fitness should be fun. "I try to insure that workouts challenge each individual to push their limit through exercises that combine both cardio and strength," he said. "I want my clients to have new experiences each time they are with me. This helps keep them engaged in their program."
Canzolino said opening a gym has given him the opportunity to share his passion for fitness and work with individuals on a daily basis.
"One of the toughest aspects of my job is keeping clients motivated to exercise and eat right over the long term," he said. "Life is unpredictable and people tend to find excuses for why they can't come to the gym. One of the biggest challenges in our industry is keeping clients motivated to stick to a routine. At Urban Athlete, we pride ourselves in our exceptional customer service. We know all of our clients by name and try to develop personal relationships with those clients over time. The best way to keep someone interested in coming back week in and week out is making them feel like you care about them. If you care about your clients and care about their results, success rates become much higher."
Canzolino meshes training and nutrition, tailored to his client's goals.
"No two clients are alike. The trainers spend time to understand their client's goals and physical limitations before engaging in the program. We continually monitor client progress to insure we are making progress towards these goals."
Urban Athlete has 11 different boot camps that offer a variety of options, with 22 boot camps a week to support the demand. Last year, Mens Book Chicago published Urban Athlete's boot camps as one of the toughest workouts in Chicago. "We want our clients to continually be pushed with new and innovative exercise programs," he said.
Photos by Ross Forman
