Trainer of The Month: Zak Altenberg
Hey Fusers!
Zak is a Bay Area Native who grew up right here in Kensington and attended Hilltop Elementary School. The way that he became a Fitness Professional all started with his own fitness journey. He played sports growing up and due to numerous injuries from basketball, his path to recovery was through strength training. Although he came from a sports background, Zak has been able to adapt his training style after consistently learning.
A few words from Zak:
“Trial and error has helped me gain experience and become more specific with my plan. I’ve learned so much and have become much better at addressing goals and not using a cookie cutter approach. The more I get to work with clients that have a wide range of fitness levels, the more it humbles me, because I came from a sports background.”
Through experience, he knows how daunting this journey can be for anyone just starting out; which is why he tries his best to help people with realistic expectations on how to achieve results. He wants his clients to look at the big picture, instead of through just one workout. Zak believes that getting out of an outcome oriented mindset, creates more of a process mindset. Once a foundation is established, then you are able to build consistently from there. This is what translates his passion for helping others.
Zak was introduced to us by way of a mutual dear friend, Julie Moore. Julie, who sadly passed away a year ago, was the owner of Circle Salon on Colusa Ave, and had cut Zak and his family’s hair since he was a little boy. Julie was one of the most warm, inviting and generous people we’ve ever met, and she welcomed us to the Colusa Circle right away when we first opened in Kensington. She took classes at Fuse and also did some personal training, often leaving beautiful, home-grown bouquets of flowers for us.
As Zak was beginning his career as a personal trainer, Julie introduced Zak and Kristin, asking her to take him under her wing. And that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship with Zak. What Kristin immediately saw in Zak was a real, genuine desire to learn and ask questions, no ego involved. And what she appreciated was how he paid keen attention and always had great questions that were smart and thoughtful. Zak has truly developed into a great trainer over the last few years, creating his own unique style, and has a great rapport with his clients.
Zak’s quote on what inspires him:
“How life transforming fitness can be for people. There's the working out itself, and it extrapolates out in every aspect of your life. Your relationships improve with other people. It makes me want to impact more lives and just meet more people and continue to make the world a better place.”
Fun Facts about Zak
Guilty Pleasures:
Pastries in the morning with coffee. Baked goods. Pepperoni Pizza on fridays.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Hang out with my fiance. Netflix and chill with her every night. Cooking. Fun activities with her such as dancing, cooking, and going to museums. I love making music. I’m on Spotify. Open mic on Monday nights at Kava Kava bar at 9pm, and Tuesday nights at Starry Plough Pub. Workout, and play basketball and go to the movies.
Favorite movie(s):
Ferris Bueller’s day off. Zoolander.
What is your training style?
Strength Training with a barbell, focusing on compound movements and finishing with a circuit to get the heart rate up. I also have a class called “Six Pack with Zak”.
What does a typical training week look like for you?
Total body strength training on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Wednesday and Saturday are my cardio days where I either run or play basketball.
If you could be an animal which one would it be and why?
A zebra. My name is Zak and a zebra starts with a Z, and it’s always been my favorite animal growing up. The zebra is the dopest looking animal; it looks very musical, sort of like a piano. I enjoy looking at zebras because of their pattern.
