Meet Michael Seril of Michael Seril Fitness Studio in Whittier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Seril.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Michael. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I played sports and enjoyed exercising growing up, but it was watching Rocky IV as a sixth grader that got me to do pushups, sit-ups, and eventually made exercising a huge part of my life. Now, my passion and mission in life is to motivate, inspire and educate my community & clients to adopt a healthier and fit lifestyle. This passion has afforded me an awesome career as a fitness professional and fitness business owner.

I earned my first fitness certification in 1997 and have been a fitness professional for over 20 years. I attended California State University Northridge and earned a Bachelors & Master’s Degree in Kinesiology (1999 & 2001) specializing in Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics. While attending college I worked as a personal trainer at a local private studio, a corporate fitness specialist at a Washington Mutual Corporate headquarters and during graduate school, I was a graduate instructor teaching fitness for life & weight training classes. This combination of school and practical experience has helped me tremendously throughout my professional career. Working at multiple levels of the fitness industry gave me the opportunity to work with many individuals, an experience that has benefited my career and fitness business.

After receiving my Master’s degree, I focused on maximizing my knowledge and skills as a personal trainer and becoming a future business owner. I attended many fitness conferences and seminars and learned from some of the best fitness professional in the world. Along the way I began earning many writing assignments from some of the top publications in the world. For many years I wrote fitness articles for Men’s Health, Muscle & Fitness, Shape, Experience Life magazines as well as the Washington Post, NY Times & LA Times newspapers. Additionally, I became very involved giving free fitness seminars and presentations at local medical facilities, hospitals and nonprofit organizations in my community.

With pride, I opened my first fitness studio in the city of Whittier in 2005. It was a 900 sq. foot facility and we specialized in personal training for the general population, older adult fitness, post rehab, group fitness as well as children’s fitness. We also offered corporate fitness programs, sports team training and fitness & nutrition seminars for local businesses. We created many partnerships with local hospitals, medical facilities, nonprofit organizations, schools and businesses. This tremendous partnership has been the driving force behind our fitness business success in the city of Whittier. Currently, our studio is now 4,000 square feet with over 150 private and bootcamp clients. We continue to grow and succeed by providing the best service for our clients and the community for the past 12 years.

Along the way, I’ve been fortunate enough to win many national and local awards. Local television’s highlighted my community service and business leadership as well as my knowledge and skills as a fitness professional. In 2006, I was named the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) Personal Trainer of the Year — one of the most prestigious and respected fitness certification in the world. It was a very high honor as a personal trainer in our industry. ABC 7 News featured me for earning the award as well as showcasing my highly successful free walking program for my community. This year truly propelled both my fitness career and fitness studio business. In 2007, I was a recipient of the Community Leadership Award from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports given to 50 fitness professionals nationwide for their community service & leadership. And in 2011, I was awarded the Jefferson Award by ABC 7 News — a national award given to individuals for their continued community leadership & service.

I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished as a fitness professional over the past 20 years, but it’s not enough. So I keep trying to find other ways to have a positive impact on my community beyond teaching, educating, motivating, and inspiring clients by creating Pay it Forward campaigns. These events have benefited thousands of people in my community. Over the last 12 years, we have raised and donated more than 8,000 pieces of PE equipment and toys to local elementary schools & nonprofit organizations, over 40,000 pieces of food items to local food banks, inspired & educated more than 12,000 children about the importance of physical fitness & sports through our various free champ camps & lunchtime Fitness Tours to local elementary & middle schools.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My biggest challenge as a fitness professional occurred during the first couple of years into my fitness career.

Motivating and inspiring clients to achieve their health & fitness goals was very challenging at the beginning of my fitness career. My standards for each of my clients were very high and it would often frustrate me when clients were not losing unwanted weight or inches. I was doing all the necessary follow ups — constantly communicating with each one and figuring out what we can do together to achieve their desired goals.

But sometimes it didn’t seem to work. I couldn’t figure out why. Then, I attended a fitness seminar and something clicked. I realized I was not listening enough to each client and asking the right questions. I was so caught up in telling them what they should and should not do, that I did not listen enough on what motivated them — what inspired them — and ultimately what was the motivation for each client to adopt a healthier and more fit lifestyle. Not just temporarily, but for the rest of their lives.

The key was understanding that each person was driven by different reasons. Some do it for aesthetic reasons, some for health & fitness, some to lose weight, some for their kids and family and some just for fun and excitement. But ultimately this needs to be addressed at the beginning between trainer and client.

Empowering clients to figure out their potential is the key in being a successful fitness professional. Providing them with messages, emails and information about health and fitness is pointless unless they realize why they’ve chosen a path towards better health and fitness. Our job as fitness professionals is to help our clients figure this out. Constantly educating, inspiring and motivating clients are a must for all fitness professionals. However, you must empower clients to figure it out on their own as this will be more effective and sustainable in the long run. I was very fortunate to figure this out early in my career.

This has been my fitness philosophy when working with clients for the past 19 years. It’s been a very successful process. Adjusting my philosophy at the beginning of my profession has prolonged my fitness career and provided me with significant success.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Michael Seril Fitness Studio – what should we know?
“Best & Safest Workout in Whittier”

Michael Seril Fitness Studio was founded in 2005 in the city of Whittier and we’ve grown every year since then. Our studio was a 900 sq. foot facility with 25 clients but have since grown to a 4,000 sq. foot facility with over 150 motivated & inspired clients.

MSF specializes in 6 weeks Transformation bootcamp classes — from one-on-one sessions and small group training, to Older Adult fitness, Post rehab and Children’s fitness. We also do sports team training as well as corporate fitness programs and seminars. Our mission for our clients is not just to lose weight, it is to improve the overall quality of their life and their family. A healthier, happier and stronger client is a better mother, father, sister, brother, daughter and son. Our focus is to educate, inspire and motivate each of our clients to adopt a healthier, sexier, happier, and stronger lifestyle.

Our bootcamp classes focuses on functional, high intensity, interval training. Our classes are opened to beginners, intermediates and advanced bootcampers from a 40 year old mother of 3 to police & SWAT officers. Our very high client success rate has earned us numerous local awards & media attention. In 2015, MSF was featured on Channel 5 news 3 times in a six week span in which one of our client was highlighted during his weight loss journey. He lost 32 lbs during our six week Transformation program. In 2016, MSF was voted “Best of the Best” Fitness Studio in Whittier. This award was voted on by the Whittier community. In the same year, MSF Studio was awarded the 2016 Small Business of the Year in 57th District. Only 80 small businesses in the whole state of California were awarded this very prestigious honor in 2016. This award was in recognition for our continued business success in the community as well as our pay it forward events that benefits thousands of people every year. Recently MSF was voted the 2016-2017 Whittier Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. This was voted on by the board members and ambassadors of the chamber. The Whittier Chamber of Commerce is made up of over 600 small businesses and it’s one of the biggest chambers in southern California. To say the least, 2016 was truly an awesome year for Michael Seril Fitness Studio.

MSF is very active in supporting local nonprofit organizations to help with their mission and vision in helping the city of Whittier. My studio has supported and sponsored many local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier, CAPC, Spirit Family Services, Whole Child, Interfaith Food Center, Special Olympics of Southern California, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Whittier Chamber of Commerce, Whittier Police Department and the Whittier Community Foundation.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My parents and sister have been my biggest supporters. They have motivated and inspired me to continue to improve each and every day both as a fitness professional as well as human being. Their continued love and support means the world to me.

My fitness partner Adina Cozma has been with me at the studio for over ten years, and her support and love for Michael Seril Fitness Studio is unmatched. I am very fortunate to work with her and her tremendous passion in helping clients achieve their best. My professor from Cal State University Dr. Steven Loy was my mentor, friend, motivator and biggest supporter during my college years. His belief in me made a huge impact in my professional career, He gave me a lot of confidence that I could achieve anything I wanted just as long as I worked very hard and very smart.

Our wonderful and supportive clients in the studio has also made a huge impact in my community, without them, our Pay It Forward events would not be as successful. Their support and passion for helping our community pushes more every day to continue my vision and mission for the Whittier community.

Pricing:

• 6 weeks unlimited bootcamp for $179 (save $100)
• 10 (1/2 hr) Personal Training sessions for $400 (save $50)

Contact Info:

• Address: Michael Seril Fitness Studio
  14628 Whittier Blvd Suite B
  Whittier, Ca. 90605
• Website: www.msfwhittier.com
• Phone: 7143069002
• Email: mseril1@gmail.com

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