Fitness center expands, opens to public

Ormond Beach Observer
Business

Jim Arthur, who has a long and varied list of accomplishments as a professional athlete, has expanded his personalized fitness facility, The Body Exchange Fitness Center, and opened it to the public. Previously he had worked with individual clients on a referral basis, starting six years ago.

Located at 175 N. Yonge St., Suite B, the center has expanded into space previously occupied by Buttleman Sporting Goods, which closed a few years ago.

Growing from 1,000 to 4,000 square feet, the center now has rooms dedicated to circuit training, functional training, free weights and martial arts training. Also located in the facility is Debbie Kruck’s Pilates Studio.

One of the unique things about his current fitness facility is that he offers kickboxing and jiu jitsu.

“I have something for everyone,” Arthur said.

A former Marine, he gives discounts to military and first responders.

He specializes in one-on-one training and has five trainers with their own specialties, but people can now come in and work out on their own.

Trainer Alvin Wyatt specializes in programs for kids, teaching the fundamentals. One of his clients was Eric Weems, who Wyatt worked with while he was at Seabreeze High School and Bethune-Cookman College. Weems later played for the Atlanta Falcons.

Wyatt said he enjoys helping young people overcome doubts and accomplish their goals, such as making a varsity squad.

Trainer Karen Szemborski has taught fitness training for 25 years in places such as Colorado and California. Originally from this area, she returned to be near family.

PLAYING WITH GOLD BARS

The walls of the fitness center display the many trophies Arthur has won, in sports ranging from cycling to power lifting and judo, where he won state titles. A large belt is on display from his Tough Man championship in 1990.

His career includes working as a bodyguard for the nephew of a wealthy person in Saudi Arabiia. One day, the child was playing with toys, and Arthur noticed they included gold bars. While interesting, bodyguard work was not glamorous like they show in the movies. The assignments were in hot spots such as the Mideast.

Arthur became interested in fitness when he was 14 years old. The super heroes were all muscular, so he started working out to be like them. Fitness became his life’s work and his passion.

Arthur said his advice to anyone wanting to get into shape is that it takes a commitment and doesn’t happen overnight. Also, proper nutrition is important.

The type of workout and techniques depend on the goals of the person, so proper coaching is important.

“It’s not just a matter of picking something up and putting it down,” he said. “No matter what your goal is: lose fat, gain muscle, tone up or just improve overall health, I will show you the way.”

Call 679-7446 or find The Body Exchange on Facebook.

A smashing stint in Wrasslin’

Jim Arthur’s background includes a couple of years in professional wrestling with the National Wrestling Alliance, where he and a friend were a tag team of bad guys called the Samurai Warriors. He remembers well his introduction to the sport. His first opponent was a veteran, famous for his knockout punch.

“He didn’t hold anything back and cracked me in the nose,” Arthur said. “He said ‘Welcome to the big leagues.’”

Sometimes wrestlers would adlib and that’s when guys would get hurt, he said.

After he had retired from the sport, he got a call from his old manager, asking him to come to Orlando to help train a new wrestler. Arthur thought this would be his chance to get even for his rough introduction.

Unfortunately, the new guy, Giant Gonzalez, was seven-feet, seven-inches tall and 450 pounds. Arthur couldn’t do anything with him. In fact, the manager kept yelling for the big guy to body slam Arthur.

“I was body slammed 20 to 30 times,” he said.

The big wrestler, Jorge Gonzalez, was also known as El Gigante and retired from wrestling in 1995, according to Wikipedia.