Education in fitness

If looking at John Pirlo doesn't inspire you to plunge into a fitness program, then talking to him certainly will.
The lean 32-year-old has only six per cent body fat on his 95kg frame, the result of an intensive exercise regime that includes cycling and triathlons, combined with healthy eating.
But this wasn't always the case.
Mr Pirlo weighed 124kg in his late teens, which followed heartbreaking school years characterised by constant teasing and taunts of "fat Johnny".
His family was Italian, so mealtimes were filled with salamis, other delectable meats and plenty of cooking oil, but he was "relatively big-boned as well".
"I tried to play sport. I played basketball all the way through school and I had to give up rugby league. Because I was so big, I had problems with my ankles," he said.
Living in Lismore where his father ran a fruit and vegetable shop, his dream was to leave the Northern NSW town.
"I was coming to Newcastle university to study radiography and I always said I wanted to lose weight before I came away, but it never happened."
That was until he arrived on campus.
Mr Pirlo may have enrolled in a radiography degree, but he was also about to receive an education in health and fitness that would change his life and set the course for his career.
"A friend of mine in second year was doing weight training at this shabby gym and he encouraged me to give it a try," he said.
"So I started doing weights and I got strong, but I still had the body fat because I had a shocking diet ... I would do weights and then go to McDonald's and have a triple cheeseburger."
Then a friend challenged him to try a gym class.
"She said that I probably couldn't handle it because I'd be too uncoordinated.
"So I went to a circuit class ... and I couldn't even put one foot in front of the other.
"I said to myself: I'm going to keep doing this until I can get it right.
"All of sudden, I was doing two classes a day and in four to five months, I was 80kg."
What started as a focus on losing weight became more than a diet - it became a way of life.
In addition to his university studies, Mr Pirlo did a fitness leader course through TAFE that eventually led to managing the gym at Wests Leagues Club and creating the Balance fitness concept.
He also did some modelling and in 1999, was named the "ultimate man" in a Newcastle nightspot-run competition.
"I participated in class after class ... eventually, I thought I might as well do the course and I ended up teaching," Mr Pirlo said.
"In my fifth year at uni, I was studying full time and I was offered a job managing the gym.
"At that time there were 300 members on deck, I was teaching classes and pretty much doing everything.
"It was my best year at uni - I got the best grades."
Mr Pirlo may not have used his degree in a professional sense, but said the lessons he learnt in anatomy assisted his rise in the fitness industry.
He stayed on at Wests after his degree and during his time at the helm membership increased eight-fold.
After two years he proposed the board of management build a new facility. Combined with the introduction of a range of new programs, such as the Heart Movers program targeted at older people, membership went from 300 people to 2500.
More than 2500 children took part in learn-to-swim programs and Newcastle Knights players were attracted to the centre.
But Mr Pirlo wasn't content to run a centre for somebody else - that's why he will open NSW's first multi-million-dollar Genesis facility in Maitland early next year.
In doing so, he set himself another challenge.
"Even though I built up the centre (in Newcastle), you've always got a board to answer to," he said.
"Owning my own centre allows me the opportunity to grow further if I want to."
Although he has a focus on recruiting the right staff and training them, as well as a young family, he intends to continue his hands-on approach.
Despite his transformation, Mr Pirlo hasn't forgotten the "rolls of fat" that plagued his childhood - and he wants to spread the message to other people that they can change their bodies and lives.
His passion for exercise goes beyond the benefits of looking good.
As well as the physical benefits - lower cholesterol, reduced body fat, better blood circulation, stronger bones and stronger muscles - there are also mental benefits.
Mr Pirlo is talking from experience when he says exercise not only makes you look better, it makes you feel better.
But he's realistic.
"There isn't a magic pill to make you lose weight," he said.
"It's a long-term thing and you've got to be consistent.
"You've got to eat well and exercise religiously.
"It all comes down to common sense - if you want to lose weight, you eat a bit less and do a bit more exercise.
"If you want to stay the same, you balance what you eat with how much you exercise.
"If you want to gain weight, you eat more than you exercise.
"It's hard work but I believe anybody can do it."

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