Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Bernal.
Daniel, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in San Gabriel Valley. My parents always kept me involved in sports, which helped keep me off the streets. We were poor but I never really knew until I got older. I was a standout football player in high school but I injured myself my senior year. I had some scholarship officers but decided to try my hand at junior college to get a better offer. After my freshman year, my dad’s health took a turn for the worse and my family really started struggling to make ends meet. I had to quit school for a year and I basically turned to partying to cope with my loss of school, sports and my dad’s cancer. I ended up going back to Pasadena city college for two years later and earned myself a football scholarship to a Division 2 school Harding University located in Arkansas. Arkansas was an interesting place but I was enjoying football and my new friends.
Unfortunately, my dad passed away during my senior year and it kind of took all my energy and focus away. Once I got home from school I kind of hit rock bottom but managed to snag an office job selling to support myself with the bare minimum. I had worked extremely hard in the weight room since my freshman year in high school but the year after my dad passed and school was done I had no motivation to work out. But one day I decided to give a another go, maybe I can try my hand at MMA or something. I loved being back in the gym and one day, while I was working, I noticed a personal trainer training a client and thought “Wow that looks like a cool job”. I decided to talk to the manager and told him I want to be a trainer. He told me to get a certification and three months later I was back with it. I ended up getting hired and trained there for three years, eating my master trainer position. I decided to train privately as a couple of my entrepreneur clients nudged me forward. Six years into my private training journey I had saved some money and decided to partner up and invest with the gym I was working out of. This is where I currently am in life. I own Fitness 100 and train a lot of great people amongst my fellow awesome trainers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were lots of bumps along the way but what good journeys don’t? I had family and friends pass away, times where my business was failing, times where I would question if this was my true purpose.
As you know, we’re big fans of Fitness 100 / Daniel Bernal Training. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I own a private gym designed for private personal trainers to thrive in training clients. I also train a full slate of clients myself ranging from young athletes to the elderly looking to keep their quality of life high. Hearing about the positive takeaways, my clients get from my training keeps me motivated to keep giving them the best me I can give.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people maybe don’t know I was once ranked in the top 1000 of the Madden football video game.
Pricing:
- 1 on 1 sessions range from $60-70 a session
- Online programming $120 a month
- Group training $40 a session
Contact Info:
- Website: Dbernaltraining.com
- Instagram: Daniel.James.bernal
- Youtube: AthleisureFam
- Yelp: Db fitness
Image Credits
Caleb Chen
