We live in a world where our live is becoming more and more commercialized. Everything comes up to getting more money and the use for people who use our services is left somewhere behind. Though, there are still people-idealists, who are trying to confront the trend and are trying to show that with more desire, motivation and the right approach, the profit and client’s satisfaction can work together!
Nowadays more and more gyms, become places that offer a couple acres of ground to everybody willing to workout, without caring if their clients will get the results, they work for. There is one place, where I assure you that you won’t receive such treatment. The place where the instructors are motivated to work hard, learn everyday and help you advance! Today we will go to one place in Bulgaria-called Pleven, where Atletikko fitness is situated. We will have the pleasure to read what Abena Damyanova shared about the gym, the instructors, the clients and their future goals!
IS: It makes pretty good impression that all the instructors in Atletikko fitness know what they are doing. They keep educating themselves all the time and don’t rely on their basic knowledge earned during their certification. How do you manage to motivate them to always expect more of themselves?
Albena Damqnova: Is that the way to start an interview? With the hardest question?;)
Ok, I am just kidding.
When there is motivation, a person combines his desire and his abilities and the conditions just add to the whole picture. Our instructors have the motivation and our gym has the conditions. Our team doesn’t consist of people with the same goals and points of view. All of them have their own personality, but combined with others it is a great mechanism to exchange experience and knowledge. Atletikko fitness in the face of its instructors has real athletes- the kind of athletes that have the sport’s fire burning inside of their hearts! For them a coach, an athlete, a psychiatrist are all the same- to learn, to burn and to be proud of your success! And their award are the outstanding results and the client’s admiration! What could be a better motivation than this?
Thus, a gym isn’t a pile of machines and weights, nor a fancy, snobby atmosphere! The gym is people, who work there! And Atletikko is proud to have a team of great professionals!
IS: Lately there is some kind of a split in the fitness community- bodybuilders, crossfiters, powerlifters and s on. Is there such a thing in your gym? Do you emphasize to exactly one method or do you have a different approach to each client depending on his
AD: Yes, that is really strange! It sounds like the never ending arguments – “Mercedes or BMW”; Nike or Addidas and etc. It never has “right answer”. The interesting part is that these different communities have a negative attitude and belittle the results of others. I do not have an explanation!
We respect the choice o our clients. We try to be tolerant to their sport’s preferences. We encourage everybody who has made the decision to workout no matter what will be the workout method!
Athletikko has never been directed to just one specific fitness group. Our goals are not to create competitors or professional athletes. In our gym everybody can find the conditions to workout. We aim at the mass of people, with a normal rhythm of life, willing to be healthy, beautiful and with self-confidence. Our instructors have a different workout approach with every client depending on his goals and preferences.
IS: Do the instructors in Atletikko fitness care about their client’s nutrition plan and do they encourage healthy eating or do they focus on just physical activity?
AD: Nutrition is 60% of success and the rest 40% are the quality workouts. Genes also play some role, but not that much as far as we talk about being lean. 🙂 I see that people willing to reduce their weight make one huge mistake- they think that starvation is the way to achieve it. They think that skipping meals will lead to loss of weight. We try to help everybody no matter their goals. It is kind of strange that young people don’t care being healthy, but rather than that they care how they look. I think that good health is the key to being beautiful and have confidence!
IS: Do you have group workouts or you focus on individual workouts?
AD: Yes we have a small pilates gym,yoga,different types of aerobics, zumba, and martial arts. We have conditioning workouts and we hope to make them more popular. Our instructors are certified in some of the best schools. That is why everybody willing to do something for his body and health or just have some fun, can achieve it in our gym.
IS:Atletikko fitness is pretty well equipped. Do you have some equipment that is not widely spread in globo gyms like kettlebells, medicine balls,bands and so on?
AD: We try to have newer equipment all the time. We follow the trends. Some time ago a client told us: if I don’t come for a month, you always have something new to surprise me the next time. 🙂 We have kettlebells- the first one is a gift from a crossfitter, who is a friend of our gym, and the second one- we bought it ourselves. We are expecting one more kettlebell that is the award for one of our instructors from a competition. With medicine balls, bands,pipes,ropes- we workout a lot. But we are proud with our latest acquisition- TRX.
IS: What is your vision for the future? Is there something you’d like to change? What is it?
AD: As I already said, we are constantly trying to be ahead. Our idea is to make our weight room bigger so we can have a bigger place for functional training. We hope to get the so badly wanted crossover( for which we never find place), to add hanging rings from the ceiling and put a better pave in the weight room. Besides that we will change the old benches with newer- from the highest class.
It is not a secret that nowadays with the economy crisis, it is hard to give money for sport, especially in smaller towns. That’s why sometimes the income is not enough to jump on the next level. We are happy, that we manage to cope with this and introduce something new all the time. We are really thankful to our clients!
IS: If I was a potential client and I was hesitating which gym to choose, why would I pick Atletikko fitness?
AD: Atletikko is the gym with atmosphere. The gym, where if you have goals, you will achieve them. First, because we have the conditions and second because even if you do not know the right way to do it, we have the instructors that will guide you. The clients of Atletikko are proud of their results, achievements, and their health.
Atletikko isn’t the typical globo gym, where they will force you to buy useless pills and wait for them to do the work. Atletikko isn’t a gym, where if you’d like to waste some times- you could go and hang out there. It is not the gym where you go to date, show off and etc. If you are looking for such a place, we will try to convince you that it is not appropriate to waste time without getting results. We won’t make you leave. We will work on teaching you how sport and healthy nutrition can make your life sterling. It is not by accident that our slogan is “Be in shape”
IS: Is there something else you’d like to share?
AD: Last week I was to a business meeting, when one of the employees( a man, about 55 years old) told me: Aren’t you ashamed to have a business that is ruining people’s health? I was shocked… from the impression that a person without a sport’s culture got from visiting the fitness! I can’t believe that there are still people who think that working out ruins your health. That taking supplements-ruins your organs… That the normal way of life is to go home after work and sit with some friends drinking beer and eating fries…and stay with pizza in front of the TV at night. He thought that everything physical, besides walking on the street wares out his joints. I hope that I contributed a little in changing his point of view! 🙂
I am glad that there are people like you, who work so hard to show people how to workout, eat healthy, look and feel great. I applaud you for the experience you share, the hard work you do for the good of others!
