Keeping the resolutions

Mike Sciacca

HE IS

A personal trainer with a personal touch.

HELPING OTHERS ACHIEVE BETTER HEALTH

At the start of any new year, most of us make promises to ourselves

and resolutions to keep. In the area of health and fitness, Andrew Huang,

a personal trainer at 24-Hr. Fitness in Huntington Beach, is a trained

professional who can help people seeking a better body attain their

personal goals.

Huang has an extensive background in fitness, heralding back to his

athletic days as a youngster. Now 27, he has recently ascended to the

position of fitness manager and is one of 14 personal trainers at the

gym.

“It’s a great job. Helping people reach their goals really is

rewarding in many ways,” Huang said.

AN EDUCATION IN THE WAYS OF THE HUMAN BODY

The Huntington Beach resident, who says he has spent his entire life

in the area, first got involved with the gym in 1997. He did so while

attending Orange Coast College, where he studied anatomy and physiology,

and later, kinesiology. He first worked the front desk and the graveyard

shift but now can be found at the gym during daytime business hours, six

days a week.

The personable, personal trainer has received training certification

through a program offered by 24-Hr. Fitness. He currently is working

toward another certification and upon completion, will seek yet more

certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

“These programs offer a way to continually upgrade your education and

receive up-to-date information in all matters of physical fitness,” said

Huang, who stated that ultimately, he plans on attaining a degree in

physical therapy.

Currently, he is training up to 30 clients per week.

“At this time of year, everybody wants to begin a personalized program

that will help them achieve what they consider to be their ideal body,”

he said.

A WELL-ROUNDED EMPLOYEE

Huang also has an extensive background in dance -- he has been part of

the excellent dance program offered at Orange Coast College, the Marriott

Dance Center in Westminster and the OC Dance Center in Huntington Beach

-- and occasionally works as a substitute aerobic instructor, mainly in

hip-hop classes, at the gym.

He says the greatest reward about his work is seeing a client make a

change for the better -- and continue down the path of good health and

staying fit.

“It is awesome when you see a definite change in a client, or when

someone actually tells me that they have received an education in the

gym,” he said.

* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.