Manny and Irene Makiaris

Just a couple of weeks after Advantage Personal Training opened its doors, my wife and I were running errands in downtown Niantic where we saw the newly-opened Advantage Personal Training. Even though I was handling the normal activities of daily life pretty well, I was severely overweight, not exercising and had tried every weight loss program under the sun. On a whim, we went into APT, met Calvin McCoy and was immediately very impressed with him, his staff, their professionalism and the relatively small size of the facility as compared to the glitzy ?meat market? gyms. I signed up immediately, followed by my wife some time later. I began working out twice a week, eventually increasing to three times a week and rarely miss an appointment.? I look upon the decision to become a client of APT as one of the most important decisions of my life. Calvin, and later Paul Palazzo, worked with me in designing varied exercise programs that took into account my physical reality.

I was severely overweight, had osteoarthritis in one knee, and lower back pain. As time went on, my physical condition significantly improved but I still did not permanently lose significant amounts of weight.? In fact I actually gained some weight to where I weighed over 370 pounds. I realized that I had to do something.? To make a long story short, after doing lots of research and consulting with my personal physician, I made another milestone decision: gastric bypass surgery.? After a long and difficult process I am happy to say I?ve lost more than 150 pounds and have maintained my current weight for almost ten years.? Calvin, Paul and occasionally other APT staffers continue to play an important role in my efforts to stay physically fit and to maintain my weight. They have risen to the occasion, continuing to assess my personal needs in designing exercise programs modified to account for those needs. In recent years I have had back surgery, which unfortunately has not worked.? There is the possibility for more back surgery and perhaps other procedures. If this comes to pass, I will once again lean heavily on APT for their expertise and counsel. Thanks a million!

IRENE MAKIARIS: My original goal in joining APT was to encourage my husband to stay with his weekly workouts. I soon realized that I felt much better after working out and joined my husband regularly twice a week at the gym. I also began to walk daily and at times would ride my bike to the gym before my workouts. Calvin continued to encourage me and with weight training as a focus, I was quickly taken off my medicine for osteopenia and showed great progress in my bone density scans. ?Paul joined APT and became my regular trainer and he continues to train me as if I was 50 Years old ? but I love it!? My workout sessions are on my calendar and I schedule the rest of my life around my training.? Working with a group of individuals who are customer-focused has kept me on top of my strength and balance training which has allowed me to keep up with our 4 grandchildren.? I look forward to very long and continued successful training through my golden years. Thank you Paul and Calvin for keeping us fit and young!