Interview with Personal Trainer Edmundo from Fitmundo

Posted on | August 2, 2012 | No Comments

By Styling Amsterdam is always curious to get usefull tips for body & health. Meet the inspiring Edmundo from Fitmundo and find out what he likes about being a personal trainer and read his tips!

Why did you become a personal trainer? And If you weren’t a personal trainer, what would you be?
Four years ago I was a student at the University of Amsterdam and I had two jobs. One of them was at the gym. My tasks were cleaning and doing sales for new members. Pretty boring if you ask me. When I was cleaning I was always observing the personal trainers who were working over there. Being pretty jealous of their job and thinking that I could do it maybe even better I decided to quit school. After quitting school I directly followed a personal trainer-course at Fitvak and told everybody that I wanted to become a personal trainer. I was so unhappy being a student without any money so I forced myself to quit with school to become happy and a successful personal trainer. If I weren’t a PT I probably also quitted school to become an entrepreneur. I always dreamed about having my own company.

How long have you been a personal trainer ?
I’ve been a PT for four years now and I’m still learning every day. Every client adds something to my experience and development to become a complete PT. Two and a half years ago I started up FITMUNDO.

Why did you decide to begin your own personal training business? Tell us a little about your company.
Starting as a PT in my first two years I had the chance to see how other gyms and companies did their stuff. There were always things that I wanted to do different and sometimes I found it hard that I had to do things their way and not my way. After a while I decided to do it only on my way and to break up with the gym. This was the only way that I could become completely happy and satisfied as a PT.

When I started FITMUNDO I did PT and I was a running-instructor. After a year a friend that lived in Bangkok told me about a workout that was called: boot camp. It sounded very cool so I decided to create my own boot camp-workouts for my PT clients. Every Sunday we went to the park and everybody reacted very excited. After a view months I made the step to see if more people in Amsterdam were interested and started up 4 new locations. Now FITMUNDO is known more as a bootcamp company but my own core-business is still giving PT’s.

Edmundo, you created a bootcamp program for your clients: tell us what spawned the idea and how you’ve generated interest?
FITMUNDO’s main goal is to make the whole world fit and to make workouts accessible for everyone. I created a boot camp program that makes it possible that beginners and professionals can work out in the same group on their own level. Everybody is welcome and everybody will have the same great feeling at the end of the boot camp. For example: my youngest boot camper is 18 years and my oldest is 74 years old and they can work out together. The second thing that I find important is the price. My opinion is that everybody has the right on a proper workout. So with a minimum price of €2,60 a week and a maximum of €5 per boot camp I try to give everybody a chance to enjoy workouts in the open air. When I start a new location I use social media to attract new boot campers and I also spread flyers near the park. The rest of the promotion will be done by my clients mouth to mouth.

What is your favorite piece of equipment and also your favorite exercise?
For sure the TRX-suspension trainer! This fitness tool gives you endless possibilities and challenges to become stronger and more fit. You can use it everywhere you want: at home, in the park, at a playground. I also take it with me on holidays because it weighs only 1kg and takes about 20x20x10 centimeters of space in your suitcase. My favorite exercise is the atomic pushup. Check it out on YouTube and give it a try. Or mail me (info@fitmundo.nl) and I will learn you….haha! Great for your core and upper- body

Fast food has been a common problem for the young generation and for me. How would you instruct a new client to kick their fast food habit, and choose to eat healthier?
I would never forbid a client to eat fast-food. Forbidding people things will make them even wanting to do it more. I would give a new “more healthy” eating-schedule for a week even with a moment where you can decide to have a burger or not. This moment will be somewhere at the end of the week, for example: Saturday evening between 19-21h. I believe that when you eat more healthy from Monday to Friday including doing some good workouts and knowing that you are allowed to eat a burger on that given time, most of the people will experience the good feeling healthy food gives you. If the good feeling and the common sense come together the fast food habit will slowly disappear.

What are the most common mistakes that a woman do when working out? Any suggestions how to fix them?
The magic word for women is CARDIO. As soon as they hit the gym they jump on a cross trainer or treadmill. The magic word for women should be WEIGHTS. Doing workouts with weights will give your metabolism a great boost, makes you stronger and gives more definition and sexier lines to your body. So ladies, please quit the boring slow cardio and lift some weights!

What are the rewards of being a personal trainer?
The only thing that I watch is reality TV. I love to observe other people and learn from others experiences. Being a PT gives me a chance to meet new people with great stories. I really learn a lot from my clients. The second thing is that after a workout people get “high” and are grateful. So you always receive a honest “thank you”. That’s something most people won’t hear from their boss everyday. It’s really simple: if the client is happy, I’m happy.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I have big plans with FITMUNDO but I also want to do something in de food-industry. So 5 years from now I’ll probably have more than one company. My passion will still be helping people to get and stay fit, but I will be able to help more people and also in more ways.

By Styling Amsterdam really appreciated your time. Do you have any last comments that you feel would benefit most of our readers?
I’m honored being interviewed by By Styling Amsterdam. My last words are: enjoy life and be grateful if you are physically capable to do a workout. A lot of people unfortunately aren’t so take your chance and work your body!

Thank you for your time Edmundo!

For more info about the bootcamp contact Fitmundo: www.fitmundo.nl