Los Alamitos fitness trainer, Chris Rojo, rolled to victory at the Napa Valley inline speed skating marathon on July 14. The 49-year-old Long Beach resident has been a life-long fitness fanatic, speed skating the last 7 years and loving the competition.
Los Alamitos fitness trainer, Chris Rojo, rolled to victory at the Napa Valley inline speed skating marathon on July 14. The 49-year-old Long Beach resident has been a life-long fitness fanatic, speed skating the last 7 years and loving the competition.
“It’s getting fun,” he said. “I’m getting to where I race now with younger racers.”
Rojo took first place with a time of 1:17:42 to win in Napa Valley. It was his fifth time in the race where in 2012 he finished in 3rd place and in 2011 he finished in 5th place. He also just finished in first place at the Pro Veteran Master’s inline marathon in Wisconsin in June, with a time of 1:08:16. He is actively training for the upcoming Northshore inline marathon held in Duluth, Minnesota. “I’m hoping to finish in the top 5 there,” he said. “It’s like the Superbowl or World Series of our sport.”
“I’ve been competing from an early age and need skating to feed that competitive spirit,” he said. “It’s a good mix of strength building, cardio and speed. We skaters achieve on upward to 30 mph, and average 20 to 23 mph.” Fortunately, Rojo has never fallen during a race, as he said there is very little speed skaters can do to protect themselves. Skaters only wear a helmet, skin suit and wrist guards.
Rojo is employed as a certified personal trainer and kickboxing instructor at Pure Body Fitness in Los Alamitos, and will be opening a new gym in Cypress, which he’ll own, called On the Ball Fitness at 4107 Ball Road (at Bloomfield and Ball Road). He trains with his clients and enjoys helping them achieve their fitness goals in the process.
“I try to bring out the best in each client in physical fitness, so they can reach their full potential,” he said. “I try to maximize each individual’s possibilities and abilities.”
Rojo’s training includes working on a slide-board to strengthen his legs and heart. He also trains in the upper body to achieve a full body workout with his clients and runs with them for 2.25 miles to a drainage ditch near Oak Middle School. He said he tries to give his clients a full body workout when they come in twice a week.
“Physical fitness has been a way of life for me,” he said. Rojo once worked as a real estate agent before becoming a fitness trainer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Cal State University, Fullerton. As a trainer, he feels like he’s able to help others become healthier and happier, and is able to give back to the community.
He proudly remembers helping one client who was out of shape and overweight, to achieve her fitness goals. “She had been yo-yo dieting, losing then gaining more weight back,” he said. He proudly showed her before and after pictures, and said he incorporated fitness, nutrition, weight training and cardio training for her. The woman indeed lost weight and looked fit.
“I truly love what I do now,” said Rojo. “And one of my goals is now coming true in owning my own gym.”
Rojo said he will train with anyone and everyone (of any age) to reach their fitness goals. “I’ve trained 13 to 70-year-old clients.”
“How do you run a marathon – one step at a time,” he said. “We all have to start out somewhere. Get ‘can’t’ out of your vocabulary.”
For more information about Pure Body Fitness’ personal training, sports nutrition and fitness therapy, please call 310-908-2012. You can also contact Chris Rojo online at speedrojo23@yahoo.com. Pure Body Fitness is located at 10682 Los Alamitos Blvd., in Los Alamitos.