When a fitness trainer is so dedicated, he drags you to the supermarket for a lesson on food shopping, it’s hard to not get fit. But that’s Dan Berlin. Ever since he opened shop in the South Shore, residents feel like they’re getting their very own Biggest Loser boot camp in their backyard.
“Once I started with him I was addicted,” said Michelle Pevarnek of Hanover. Berlin, 28, has been a Massachusetts based trainer for years so when he opened his own gym a month ago in Rockland, his clients followed.
For as low at $13.75 a session, paying for a personal trainer suddenly doesn’t seem so unrealistic. Six days a week, Berlin gathers small groups of six people or fewer for group training sessions. Everyone gets such individualized attention it nearly feels like one-on-one training, say gym members.
Oh and he makes you book an appointment – so chances are slim you’re not going to show up. End result, you actually lose that weight, sculpt that fat into muscle and sort of enjoy the process.
To get your free sessions: If you “like” The Iron Way Facebook page, you get one free session and a body composition analysis. If you “share” this story with your Facebook friends, you get another free session!
To set up your first free session: Email [email protected]
A record-holding powerlifter and a former collegiate gymnastics coach, Berlin is also a graduate of Temple University and Springfield College who holds a master’s degree in exercise science. That expertise, along with years working the floors as a personal trainer in commercial gyms, makes Berlin ready to take on any fitness challenge. His clients range from exercise newbies who may be unsteady balancing on one foot to college athletes and, of course, all the girls just wanting that Kim Kardashian butt.
“The commercial gyms, they don’t care if you show up or not,” said Berlin. “Upper management [at commercial gyms] want you to be aggressive with sales, they weren’t happy about me stopping to help people for free.”
A personal training session at a typical gym can easily cost $75-$150 per hour with a small group training session usually ranging from $35-$65. Berlin’s sessions on the other hand start as low as $13.75. Clients typically sign up for a three-session a week package or a two-session a week package. He also offers larger group class rates and private rates.
That $13.75 not only gives you a personal trainer who will help you devise a diet plan, but you practically have your own personal gym.
“I like the privacy,” said Stacy Campbell of Hanover who had been struggling to find time for workouts but now finds herself coming back again and again. Berlin’s gym is a lot less intimidating, Campbell said, since you’re sharing the gym with just a few people at a time and Berlin guides you through the entire workout.
Each session last about 55 minutes with participants moving from one station to another in a circuit-training based program that includes a cardio warm-up and full abdominal routine.
“He changes it up, that’s why I like him,” said Campbell. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
Berlin relies heavily on weight training to get gym members in top shape, even dubbing his gym The Iron Way and using a logo depicting an anvil – the anvil representing the platform for which clients can get forged.
“The more lean muscle mass you build, the more calories you burn throughout the day. Training with weights can develop muscular definition and shed fat, especially in the back of the legs,” said Berlin.
Kerri Harrington of South Weymouth has been working out with Berlin long before he opened his own gym. “I followed him here,” she said. Harrington has been a loyal exerciser for years, but she liked that Berlin introduced her to weights as she only exercised cardio previously.
“I wanted more muscle definition,” she said.Harrington was afraid to hit the weightlifting benches at other gyms and personal training sessions hadn’t helped to make her regime any more effective.
Berlin’s routines incorporate functional training – meaning exercises that simulate real life movements. Berlin helps members reap the benefits of a life from decades past, by mimicking chores from that era. For example, participants might simulate chopping firewood by raising a sledgehammer over their head and hitting a tire repeatedly during a workout session or he may have people flip a tire to mimic hurling goods onto horse carted buggies. He assures, repeating such exercises will be helpful next time you find yourself bending over to pickup a case of water at Costco’s, and you might even end up with that Beyonce booty.
Just the Facts:
Where:10 Rock View Way, Rockland, Massachusetts
FYI: The Iron Way is not always easily located by GPS, but the gym is situated in an industrial park warehouse .2 miles south of VFW Drive in Rockland and about a mile north of the Marylou’s News on Webster Street in Rockland. See a map here!
To get your free sessions: If you “like” The Iron Way Facebook page, you get one free session and a body composition analysis. If you “share” this story with your Facebook friends, you get another free session!
To set up your first free session: Email [email protected]
About Dan Berlin M. Ed, CSCS
Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Berlin leapt into gymnastics at the age of 12, eventually achieving six varsity letters, several NY state championship titles and All-American Elite status with his high school varsity gymnastics team. He later attended Temple University in Philadelphia where he studied kinesiology and competed as an NCAA Division 1 athlete. At Temple, Berlin won consecutive scholar-athlete awards and was a member of two ECAC conference championship teams. Berlin ranked top 20 nationally on the pommel horse event and qualified for NCAA Division 1 national championships several times.
After graduation and retiring from his gymnastics career, Berlin worked as a personal trainer and professional gymnastics coach at the Junior Olympic level for two years before he decided to further his education in the exercise science graduate program at Springfield College. At Springfield, Berlin was a graduate assistant coach for the men’s collegiate gymnastics team as well as a teaching fellow for the physical education department. It was at Springfield that Berlin learned the science behind strength and conditioning and its application to enhancing athletic performance.
Upon graduating from Springfield, Berlin has worked in several fitness environments and positions which include an athletic performance coach for all ages, weight loss team coach, private one on one personal trainer, exercise physiologist for special populations, and mentor for high school athletes.
While Berlin was sharpening his professional skills, he began competing in New England as a powerlifter, winning several first place titles for his weight class (181 lbs) and holding an RPS world record deadlift of 570lbs. He currently holds the Connecticut state record for total weight lifted (1300 lbs). He continues to train and hopes to achieve professional status in the near future.
Berlin founded The Iron Way to bring athletes and fitness enthusiasts the most current scientific research in exercise physiology in order to help them achieve their individual fitness and athletic goals. The Iron Way is a training philosophy and a discipline which forges a person’s body and mind. Using strength training with free weights as a main mode of Dan’s training routine, clients will use the iron to develop not only muscular strength but a mental commitment to living a strong and healthy lifestyle. Berlin applies his knowledge as an athlete, strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer, and wellness mentor to create a challenging, dynamic, and effective training program that suits the needs of all clients no matter what age or fitness level.
