Helping young athletes get in peak condition

Local man starts new physical training business, By Susan Wilinski Being your own boss, making your own hours and working outside sound like ideal working conditions. Add in weather conditions that, depending on the season, include extreme heat and humidity, pelting rain or a snowstorm, and the job may not seem so ideal. Then try pushing around some sleds, throwing a few medicine balls or carrying sandbags and most people would opt to roll over in their comfortable beds rather than log in those kinds of hours. But for competitive strongman and NJ Muscle, LLC owner Rob Agnoli, any combination of the above equals the perfect work day. “I’ll be the first to admit that my program is not for everyone,” Agnoli stated. “By no means do you have to be the best athlete in the world, but you have to be willing to train like you are. “ Agnoli is the proprietor of a unique physical training business called NJ Muscle, LLC which he opened earlier this year. It is unlike any other programs in every way. The first aspect that sets it apart is that Agnoli does not own or lease a gym or training center. Instead, he travels to local parks, schools or meets athletes at their homes within Sussex, Warren and western Morris counties. “I do not have a gym or training center. I am 100 percent mobile and bring everything we need with me,” explained Agnoli. Not having any indoor space is not a problem since he trains athletes in nature’s gym — the great outdoors. “Training outside is great. You find out right away who really wants to be an athlete and who doesn’t. If a kid is willing to train when it’s 90+ degrees and the sun is baking, or when it’s the dead of winter and snow is on the ground, you’ve got a real athlete there.” The athletes that sign up for such stringent training conditions with Agnoli are as young as eight, but include all ages in between up through college graduates. His average age group falls between 12 and 17, when kids are looking to get serious in school sports and want to play at optimum strength and speed. However, NJ Muscle is not limited to the young athlete demographic. “I’ve also had more than a few parents who saw what the kids were doing and asked about training for themselves, so I’ve begun to offer training for “retired athletes” whose playing days are behind them, but they still want to stay in great shape,” Agnoli said. Growing up in Green Township, Agnoli graduated from Newton High School in 1995 and began weight training. He holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology from East Stroudsburg University and felt the need to become involved in something competitive five years ago. He found a strongman competition in Connecticut and trained for a couple of months before entering. “I finished dead last in my weight class, but I knew wanted to continue with it,” he said. “Last year, I competed five times and won three of those contests.” Using what he learned from competition, Agnoli got the idea for NJ Muscle and training athletes with nontraditional methods. Now residing in the Allamuchy area, Agnoli loves the flexibility that NJ Muscle offers not only his clients, but him and his family as well. “I am married and have a daughter who is two and a half,” he said. “I get to spend a good amount of time with her, especially when I have free hours in the afternoon.” As for Agnoli’s method of “hybrid training” and the future of NJ Muscle, he will continue to take to the road, developing conditioning programs for the serious, goal-oriented athlete. “My hope for athletes is that they improve and reach whatever goals they may have,” he said. “For some, it might be as simple as making the team, while others want to become starters or to go on and play at the next level. Whatever the goal may be, becoming a stronger, faster and well-conditioned athlete will help them get there.” NJ Muscle, LLC offers one-on-one, partner, small group and team trainings. For more information visit www.njmuscle.com or call 973-229-2663.

You won’t find athletes in my program doing curls, bench pressing or jogging around a track. Instead, you’ll see them pushing sleds, swinging kettle bells, throwing medicine balls and carrying sandbags. This type of training builds the functionl strength that can be used on the field.” Rob Agnoli