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Questions For Gym Guru David BartonDate: 09.01.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
David Barton is not your typical fitness guru. This former club kid has both an Ivy League education and weightlifting records under his belt and his four eponymous gyms are known equally for their tough trainers and high-fashion design. With New Year’s our resolutions in mind, we talked to Barton about getting in shape for 2007.
How were you able to turn your experience as a bodybuilder into a growing gym empire?
DB: Bodybuilding is about taking the body and making something bigger out of something small and just changing the shape of it. Through that I really learned you can take any body and anything is possible over time. I was able to get great results with clients and became really successful as a trainer.
Your gyms are known for the trainers, but what else sets them apart?
DB: We are known for the trainers. The other thing that sets us apart is we’re just very focused on changing the body. Maybe you want to look better, feel better or do something better –we’re very focused on getting them from A to B.
I think something else that attracts attention to your gyms is the design element, how does that fit in?
DB: Designing gyms is one of my loves. When I was little I had this dream of being an architect and I’ve been able to create these environments that have come out of my imagination and seen them come to life in the gym. When you walk into a space it can get you energized, or relaxed, or make you feel at home. Or it can make you feel like you’re in a shopping mall, a strip mall, which a lot of gyms do.
It must be important because people spend so much time working out.
DB: These people spend more time in my gym than they do in their living rooms. I know they spend more time with me than they do with their own mother. They might as well do it in a place that they want to spend time at.
What would you recommend to people with a New Years resolution to get fit?
DB: The best thing to do is hire a trainer. Equipment is equipment and without the right instruction it’s like having a bunch of building materials and tools and not having an architect. You’re not going to wind up with as good a house.
What about you – how do you stay in shape?
DB: It’s combination weightlifting, yoga, a little cardio. When I have time I’ll do all those things, and when I don’t, I’ll do something.
Are there challenges to staying fit in the city?
DB: In New York, yeah. People work more, sleep less and they do more. Everyone has less time. I think that’s the main challenge here, people finding the time.
You and your wife [club queen Susanne Bartsch] are active in nightlife; how do you balance the temptations of restaurants and clubs?
DB: Like you said, balance. The more eating and nightlife the more you work out. I can stay out as late as I want as long as I work out like a maniac the next day in the gym. That’s the rule: play hard, work out hard.
Do you have any places to eat out or go out for the night?
DB: I love Employees Only. It’s fun, the food’s great, it’s open late and it’s really casual and loud. It’s like a party in there every night. I love Il Bagatto, one of my favorite little places – fantastic Italian place in the East Village. The other place I love is Town. Those are my three favorites.
It’s funny, because I would expect you to say health food places, vegan places.
DB: You can go anywhere in New York and eat fantastic and healthy food. I don’t chase vegan or so-called health food, but I like good food made with healthy ingredients, and you can find that all over New York. You could spend a week in Chicago and never see a vegetable.
A lot of well-known people have been seen in your gyms. How is it different training a celebrity?
DB: The stakes are high when you’re training somebody whose career depends on their body. They’re going to be a walking advertisement for me, for what I do, so I want them to look good.
Who has the best celeb body?
DB: The best body that I’ve ever seen on a woman was on my wife Suzanne when she first came to the gym. I had stopped training people at that time, but I trained her and then I married her. She still has the best body I’ve ever seen.
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