Introducing my Coach

Article featured in the Marina Del Rey Patch.

SPORTS

David Paradiso, Fitness Trainer

The owner of Paradiso Crossfit in Marina del Rey helps keep 95 gym members healthy and fit.

David Paradiso, 31, Fitness Trainer

Athletes pulling on rowing machines, skipping rope and doing pull-ups fill the workout floor ofParadiso Crossfit in Marina del Rey under the watchful eye of fitness trainer David Paradiso.

Paradiso is at the gym six to seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to about 9:30 p.m. and has been blogging daily for the past two years about the benefits of staying in shape.

"I had a history of digestive issues that I addressed and I've become stronger and happier and I see a better way for a lot of people out there," he said.

The Crossfit regimen consists of a different workout each day of less than 20 minutes. The exercises are described online and based on several realms, including gymnastics, lifting, and sprinting/rowing. Gymnastics focuses on controlling one's body. Lifting is designed to help people carry any object outside their body, whether it's a bag of groceries or a baby. The sprinting/rowing exercises focus on getting the body moving.

"It changed my life," Paradiso said. "When I look around I see other people who have the same desires I had to be adventurous and capable and healthy."

The rates start at $150 a month for three times a week and $200 a month for unlimited workouts. The prices might sound high compared to normal gym memberships, but Paradiso said it's actually a good deal when you consider it's about $12.50 an hour for a workout that works.

"We don't do any long-term contracts, everything is month-to-month because we want people who want to be here and not stuck in their contract," Paradiso said. "We have to prove ourselves month to month."

The Crossfit philosophy has been summed up in a pyramid with nutrition at the bottom and the gym buys bags of groceries on behalf of members to make it easier for them to eat healthier. A full $25 bag of groceries last about a week and focuses on 75 percent local foods that change during the seasons, with more root vegetables in the winter, for example. Grocery bags at the gym were  stuffed with eggs, kale, collared greens, escarole, free-range chicken and steaks and pork chops that are all hormone, antibiotic and cage free.

"It's something different," Paradiso said of his gym. "It needs to be experienced to be understood. "

He said one of the hardest parts of his job is getting people to believe that, partly because there are so many health and fitness gimmicks out there. 

"The only thing I can do is tell them to come in and see what we do and see that it's different," he said.