Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Mahoney.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brian. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a young city kid, I was a serious long distance runner – but not by choice! My crazy dog, Budweiser, was a St. Bernard who would often escape to terrorize in our North Side Chicago neighborhood. While Bud never bit anyone, smaller dogs and unlucky passers-by would jump and run at the site of him on the loose! Since I never knew where he might go, I’d have to run miles in all directions until I found him. Later in life, I found that I loved distance running and triathlon…what a shocker!
My strength training began with some rusty weights I found and curled endlessly in the basement. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I probably had big arms and thin runners’ legs back then. But anyway, I knew I wanted to be strong like the big guys I looked up to in the neighborhood, so I hit the weights and never stopped.
I fell into personal training in a natural way – by training myself in the gym! I’d go there to escape the tedium of my job as a software and web developer. I loved trying new exercises, and after a while, I’d get questions like “What’s that crazy exercise you just did?” and “How did you get those abs?” I’d answer them, give advice, show them a thing or two – so I guess that’s how it started.
I turned a corner when I started training with an experienced personal trainer. I worked super hard, and she was tough, relentless, and never impressed. You could bench press a bus, but it was never enough! In a short time, we got amazing results and wow, was I hooked! Then I knew what a huge difference a personal trainer could make in someone’s life. And I knew I could train better and smarter than most of the personal trainers out there. So I went out and got my ACE (American Council of Exercise) certification, contacted a few gyms, and started training. I earned more certifications and gained experience training North Shore clients of all kinds.
After a few months of North Shore gym training, I got real popular, real fast. Word got around, so my training schedule started blowing up with new clients. Suddenly, I was motivated to leave my “real” job and start personal training full time. To me, it was a natural progression: training is fun, hard, fulfilling, inspirational, and brings huge benefits – why shouldn’t I do it?
After a few years of gym training, I was super-psyched to start my own business and get out of the gyms. Bodystar Fitness In-Home Personal Training was founded to bring the best personal training home to my North Shore clients. It was founded on the premise that you can get a better workout at home and save a ton of time each week – no more driving for each workout! I find that most clients are surprised at how easy it is to fit top quality training into their lives. Suddenly, they’re training like VIPs: no more training in public with shared equipment, their personal trainer comes to them with tons of variety and good energy…then they go on with their day!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The challenges I’ve faced with Bodystar Fitness are mostly related to expanding the Bodystar brand. With over 20 years of fitness training, I’ve invented almost 50 new exercises, and I’ve shot over 100 fitness videos so far. I’m currently building my online presence up and I’m ready to pitch a new kind of fitness book. So for me, the greatest obstacle is finding enough time to bring all my plans to fruition. I hope you’ll see more of Bodystar in the near future…I’m working on it!
Bodystar Fitness – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
What makes Bodystar Fitness better than other fitness training companies is our personal attention to our clients. The client is king (or queen), so to listen carefully to their concerns and difficulties is key to guiding them past their old plateaus and fitness failures. We bring a lot of experience to the table, and we’ve had great success in pleasing our clients. We specialize in “zero to hero” transformations – if you’re out of shape, we can start you out easy and slowly turn you into a super fit client.
We specialize in in-home personal training and variety: strength training, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), cardio training, bodyweight training, Pilates, boxing, and more!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Our success depends on how well we meet the needs of our clients. Their goals become our goals, and our task is to create the plan that will make those goals a reality. It’s a struggle, and it’s not so easy, but we love a challenge in this industry.
So we measure success by more than just fat loss, we also build muscle, we add agility and balance, we create a real sense of confidence, and we help clients develop a happier, healthier lifestyle. My favorite measure of success comes in at random, could be a Tuesday night and I’ll get a text or call that says “Wow, today I felt great about my body” or “Thank you, Brian, for everything” – that means the world to me. I share the struggle with each client, one exercise at a time – so now I can share their success with them, and it’s a great, great feeling!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bodystarfitness.com
- Phone: (847) 256-3636
- Email: brian@bodystarfitness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodystarfitness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodystarfitness/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bodystarfit
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bodystar-fitness-wilmette-3
- Other: www.bodystar.fitness
Image Credit:
Photos Bodystar Fitness, Inc.
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