Episode 57: Strong New York With Kenny Santucci

How accomplished would you feel if you made a huge ripple and positive impact in the health of thousands of people in the world’s greatest city, New York City? Today, we are honored to have one of NYC’s top fitness trainers and influencers, Kenny Santucci, to discuss his major health and wellness event coming up on October 1 at Chelsea Piers in NYC, Strong New York. We also talk about him opening up his gym, The Strength Club NYC, and his vision to create healthy transformations in peoples' lives inspired by his past health challenges.

With over a decade of experience, Kenny Santucci has made himself a known as one of New York City’s top trainers and a thought leader in the health and wellness industry. Santucci has established himself as a force within the fitness space. He has collaborated with industry titans across the health, wellness, and lifestyle space such as Reebok, Under Armour, Adidas, CrossFit, and many more. Kenny lives his mantra of helping others well beyond the walls of the gym. As the creator of the STRONG New York health and wellness series, he is the heart and leader behind these events that have already raised thousands of dollars and brought awareness to the community around men's and women's health issues, with a portion of the proceeds going to different health-focused organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Awareness Foundation, Movember Foundation, and Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

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Strong New York With Kenny Santucci

How accomplished would you feel if you made a huge ripple and positive impact on the health of thousands of people in the world's greatest city, New York? We are honored to have one of New York City's top fitness trainers and influencers in to discuss a major health and wellness event coming up on October 1st, Strong New York.

With over a decade of experience. Kenny Santucci has made himself known as one of New York City's top trainers and thought leaders in the health and wellness industries. He's the Brand Ambassador for Michelob ULTRA and FITAID, Technogym Master Trainer, host of the FITAID Morning Show, Michelob UTLRA MOVEMENT Fitness Festival, Model Beach Volleyball, and more. He has established himself as a force within the fitness space. He has collaborated with industry titans across the health and wellness lifestyle space such as Reebok, Under Armour, Adidas, CrossFit, and many more.

Kenny has also shared his training approach and wellness philosophy with features in top health and wellness publications, such as Shape Magazine, Men's Health Magazine, Men's Journal, Well+Good, AskMen.com, Reebok.com, and Women's Health Magazine to name a few. He lives his mantra of helping others well beyond the walls of his gym.

As the creator of the Strong New York Health and Wellness Series, he is the heart and leader behind these events that have already raised thousands of dollars and brought awareness to the community around men's and women's health issues, with a portion of the proceeds going to different health-focused organizations such as Alzheimer's Awareness Foundation, Movember Foundation, and Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Here we go.

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Mr. Kenny Santucci, how are you doing?

Not bad. How are you? How are things going?

I'm doing great. Thank you so much for coming on. I know you're a super busy guy, one of New York City's premier trainers and we're lucky to have you on to talk about some upcoming things you got going on.

I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Kenny and I met at my wellness center. You came in with a mutual friend of ours and you did a float. We met again at a Wim Hof breathing technique event and we did a cold plunge together. I got to experience Kenny's mom's amazing brownies afterwards. It's great to connect with you. Let's get going. I ask every one of my guests that comes on, what does living a limitless life mean to you?

There are boundaries. There are so many people who are like, "You could do anything." I agree that you could do anything, but certain people have certain limitations in life. It's a lot harder, but if you're mentally strong enough and have the time to work at those things and find, at the end of the day, we're all born with certain gifts and abilities.

We're all born with certain gifts and abilities. You don’t have to try to do something you're not.

For instance, when I was growing up, I was into art. I went to school for art and I loved art. I was good and I tried, but I wasn't as good as I wished I was. I also didn't have the God-given ability to continue on and further that career. It wasn't in me to continue to push and do that for a living. It's a combination of things that happen in life and also having that drive and want to continue those things.

Limitless is not holding back on the things you like when you find that thing you like or that drive inside you to never give up, and to want to continuously pursue that one thing. What I'm trying to say is it basically has some limitations because there are certain things inside of you that you need to drive to that point. For me, it was opening gyms and being a part of the fitness industry. Even when I got knocked down, I kept coming. Being in the fitness industry is more like my limitless mentality.

We'll get into how you created such a following and became so renowned, but let's get into your story a little bit. Tell us a little bit about how you got into the industry. On your website, you talk about being the fat kid growing up and having a breaking point. If you start right over there and tell us a little bit about how you progressed from there.

Looking in the mirror when I was a kid, I hated myself. I was fat. I was awkward and uncomfortable. I didn't like the way I felt. I didn't like the way I looked. This idea that people are okay with being obese today is mind-boggling to me because even for me, I would get sick more often. My legs would chafe together. I used to have rashes all over my legs.

There were plenty of not only visual things and physical things that I had dealt with when I was heavier. I had gained 25 pounds when I was in sixth grade. My doctor was like, "This is unhealthy. He can't continue on like this." That's when I tell people, "You can't agree with this idea that being overweight is okay. You may not see the damage that you're doing because it's not right in front of you, but it's happening inside of you.” It's causing people to be depressed and upset. I was there. I felt it. I know what that feels like.

I was 13 or 14 years old when I got to high school. I was like, "I'm going to start working out." Now, it's more accessible than ever before. These bullshit excuses that people don't have the resources are fucking absurd to me. Gyms are cheaper than ever. They're everywhere. You have so much online content and you can learn from the best of the best people.

When I was a kid in 1995, 1996 or 1997, the internet wasn't what it is now. There were no social media. There wasn't any of this stuff. Everything I learned I was pulling out of magazines. It was Men's Health, Muscle and Fitness, and Muscle Development. I got obsessed with this stuff. When I started to lose weight, I start to feel better. I see how people treated me differently. The way I felt inside and outside even when I'm by myself, I felt better. People are always like, "It's the social constructs that make you feel that way." No, I felt physically better on a daily basis. I woke up and went to bed feeling better. That had nothing to do with anybody else.

That's when I became obsessed with it because I feel like in life this is what happens, people become successful at something or enjoy something so much that the next thing that you do or the next progressive movement is to share it with everyone else. Anybody who starts to do something well, they're like, "I'm going to go and do this and show everybody else how to do it so they could be just as happy." That's when I started doing it. I fell in love with the process of working out and changing.

For me, nowadays, it's not so much about changing my body as it is because I'm pushing 40 years old. For me, it's a mental thing. I need to do it on a daily basis so I feel better about myself. It helps clear the mind. I tell everybody, "Exercise science is such a new science in a way. We haven't been studying it for that long." There's new research going on every day as to what is the best way to hit certain muscle groups or certain things that are happening hormonally within our body because of exercise. The effects of cold plunging, doing a sleep deprivation tank, biohacking or whatever it is. These are all pretty new shit. This wasn't going on several years ago.

We're learning more and more. It's an exciting point to be at within the fitness industry, and the health and wellness industry because there's so much to be learned and we're learning it on a daily basis and information is so readily available. Somebody researches something and it's coming out the next day and it is all over social media, the news, and everything else. If you're plugged into a lot of this stuff, you're learning on a daily basis what's going on.

You can spend a lifetime learning. There are so many levels to get down into. Another point you made that's so good is that it's fucking bullshit that people are glorifying being obese because it's not healthy. As much as the media wants to construct this nonsense narrative that you can be fat and healthy, there's no such thing.

First of all, it's not good for your mindset and your body. Your heart is not beating and your blood is not getting circulated. There is so much of this nonsense going on, but it's good to have people that are realistic and tell you, "If you're obese, you need to work on it. You need to get your blood levels back to a good area.” If you're not sleeping well and you're mentally, physically and spiritually not in a good place or if any one of those cogs is off, then you're not going to be fully fulfilled in life.

Don’t hold back on the things you like. When you find that thing you like, never give up and continuously pursue it.

I grew up Catholic. I grew up not too far from where your business is. I went to high school right over there in Jersey City. The seven deadly sins, I don't know what it is for a lot of other religions, but I'm sure there are some parallels there. No matter what religion you grew up around or even if you have no religion, we could all agree that these seven things, gluttony being one of them, is frowned upon for a reason.

I deal with people on a daily basis who are like, "I don't understand why I'm overweight. I don't know what I'm doing wrong." I can figure out the problem. If I spend 24 hours with you, I'll pinpoint exactly where the problem is. I was one of these people too. I would eat like a slob. I would eat to the point where I was uncomfortable. It's a psychological thing. That's why I don't get on people about it, but we shouldn't normalize it. You're hearing such crazy shit in the news and the media nowadays. People want to normalize pedophilia and there's so much crazy shit. I thought we all agreed thousands of years ago that this is wrong.

Don't we get that consensus at one point that that's wrong?

What are we talking about here? It's crazy to me that we even have these conversations. Look at the people that 9 out of 10 people admire. Look at these people that are larger than life. Somebody like The Rock or even The Kardashians. Every one of their images is that they're in shape and fit, and they do active things. It's admirable because we all could see the good in it. When I got into the fitness industry and even to this day, I still feel like what I'm selling and giving to people is a very good thing. There's no downside to it. There's nothing wrong with being strong. If I can make you stronger and better, then I'm improving your life.

I'm not selling you some medication that one day might make you sick or you shouldn't take too much of it. I'm not selling you some car that I'm like, "I don't like it but I'm selling it to you anyway," or a house that I'm like, "That's a piece of shit." I remember looking at apartments here in the city and the broker is showing me 4 or 5 apartments. Two of them I go, "Would you ever fucking live here?" He's like, "No." I go, "Why the fuck are you showing it to me? This is a piece of shit. I don't want this place, but you're selling me something that I wouldn't buy."

For me, when I sell people on training on a daily basis, I would buy it. I came back from Muay Thai. I pay a trainer for my mom who was out in Jersey. I pay for my Muay Thai coach and other trainers to teach me different things. I wouldn't sell anything that I wouldn't buy myself.

You're selling empowerment to people. What's so cool about what your business is and my business, we're all having authentic conversations with people. We're not trying to sell bullshit. If you use the program and work with these services, what I'm going to help you with is going to help you. We know it from the bottom of our hearts. There's no question it's going to work. It's just whether you want to invest in yourself and experience the benefits.

On a daily basis, I do the same workouts I give to my clients. I would never prescribe to them some bullshit that I don't do. I'm never going to tell you to go run a marathon. I have never done it myself. I would never tell people, "Go try CrossFit," having never done it myself. I need to be able to sleep at night. It's bad enough I don't sleep as it is. I need to sleep with a good conscience.

You talk about this a lot. One of the things I like about your training style is you're not trying to sell people like, "I'm going to make you into some bodybuilder and it's all about the aesthetics." You're teaching people about functional fitness. You talk about your own journey and stuff like that, and some of the challenges you've gone through in your life. You're promising someone a better life wherever they are. Not everybody is going to be in a fitness magazine.

No, and I'm not. I realized that years ago. I don't have the genetic makeup to be a bodybuilder. I also don't have the self-discipline to be a bodybuilder. I admire the hell out of those people. It's a great goal to eventually have. I remember being a kid and looking at people like The Ultimate Warrior, Rocky Balboa, and Arnold Schwarzenegger and being like, "These guys are genetic freaks aside from taking all the shit that they were taking.” I'm not willing to make that sacrifice myself.

I remember looking at these guys and they set the bar high, but what I teach people on a daily basis is I'm like, "I just want you to live a longer and healthier life. I want you to feel better every day." All those things that I talked about that I felt as a kid, I want to give that to other people. I want you to wake up feeling good. I want you to look in the mirror and feel good. I'm not saying you're going to look like a Kardashian or something. I'm saying we're going to improve where you are right now. I give people realistic goals and expectations when they come into the gym.

The more you're willing to work, the better your results are going to be. There's a difference that I see on a daily basis between people who work out twice a week versus people who work out four times a week. There's a clear difference as to what and how much volume you're doing on a weekly basis which will change your results.

There's nothing wrong with being strong. If I can make you stronger and better, then I'm improving your life.

My journey into working out and bodybuilding is the complete opposite of yours. You were overweight when you were growing up. I was super skinny. I used to get made fun of all the time. They call me sticks because I was so fucking skinny. I was 140 pounds at 6 feet tall. I remember I would always get bruised up playing basketball and soccer against the bigger guys. I put myself in the gym. I had to first of all feel better about myself.

Once you start seeing some gains, you start feeling better. You start walking more confidently. You get external praise or whatever, but it has to be about you. As I kept going, I then started learning about all these biohacking techniques I can do, how to live longer, and what vitamins to take to feel better cognitively and physically.

There's such a large spectrum of things that we can go into and learn about. What is your approach to fitness in terms of how you manage this balance? You live in New York City. You know a lot of people. You have a lot of social life going on. How do you invite your clients to walk that line of eating out, drinking, going out, and then also staying fit? It's not easy all the time to do that.

No, it's not. It doesn't matter where you live, if you're going out to eat a lot and drinking a lot, it's going to hinder anything you're doing in the gym and I tell people that. It's a give-and-take relationship when you're living that lifestyle. Since COVID, I've slowed down a lot. Before COVID, I was going out to eat at least 5 to 7 days a week, and drinking pretty often. At this point in my life, I was working out a ton, but I still always carried a little bit of extra weight because I was living that lifestyle.

COVID slowed that down for me. There was nowhere to go. You couldn't go out, so I started cooking at home more. I was controlling what was going into my food. You could eat at every Michelin Star restaurant in New York every night of the week. Chances are they're cooking with a ton of butter and oil, and then you're going to have a couple of cocktails, and now you're looking at thousands of calories.

You only have to eat an extra 3,000 or 3,500 calories a week to gain a pound a week, and people are like, "I don't know where the weight came from." I'm like, "I'll show you where it's coming from. You're clearly over-eating." When people are like, "I have a thyroid problem. I have this problem. I have that problem." Do those factors play into what you look like? Absolutely, but there's also the factor of you consuming more.

You opened up your gym during the pandemic. Tell me about that experience.

It'll be a year in October that I opened up this space. I was teaching classes in the park and I wanted a space where I could continue to work. I always wanted the ability to work. I don't like listening to anybody else. I know what I want to do. I write my own rules. I opened the space up in October of 2021. I wanted to break the space up into two portions. I have one area where I have a lot of weights, machines, and stuff like that for private training. At the far end of the room, we have group classes. I rent the space out to different trainers to teach their clients or have small group classes.

It's amazing. It takes balls to open up any business, especially signing a lease during the pandemic. A lot of people are closing their businesses. Did you find that it was easier because maybe the landlords were looking to rent these spaces out or did you still experience a lot of challenges with the build-out and everything?

I feel like in life you only get so many up-to-bats. I felt like this was an opportunity for me to double down on myself and open up a space when everybody else was leaving the city, closing, and everything else. I was like, "I'm going to go for it and do it. If it fails then so be it, but I'll give it my best shot." That's what life is all about, just taking shots. There are so many people who want to win big and do certain things and have a quick way of making some cash. I was like, "I know this is going to be a grind. This is going to be my thing. It's going to take me a couple of years to build." I did it and here we are almost a year later.

Congratulations. I know it's not easy. I had a business that I had to close down for three months during the pandemic. I don't know how it affected me. In a way, it's a beautiful thing because you're starting fresh as so many people are exiting. Now, there's this big opening where people now will come to you because they see you're here and you're not running from anything.

That's what I've been told by a lot of different clients. They're like, "We can always rely on you being here." I'm not one of these people who were like, "I want to go on vacation." I could give a shit less about going on vacations. I go on vacations and I'm like, "I should be home working." I can't sit still. When I'm on vacation or anytime I've taken time off, I'm at a gym. I'm like, "I could've stayed at my fucking gym and it would have been a lot easier."

The more you're willing to work, the better your results are.

I like spending time away every once in a while, but for the most part, I'm not one to jet-set and go around the world. I don't give a fuck to travel. I find enjoyment in it. At the same time, I'm one of these people that enjoys working. I enjoy growth, grind, and hustle as much as most people enjoy being on a fucking yacht somewhere.

You're clearly passionate about it and it comes through. You have a bigger vision for the wellness scene in New York City and you want to uplift New York City. You have this event coming up called Strong New York. Can you tell us a little bit about it and what was the inspiration for it?

A couple of years ago, I started this event. I was working with Reebok and we were talking about doing different events. I was working with Michelob ULTRA at the time as well. I wanted to do a fitness event here in New York because I was traveling to a lot of these other fitness events in LA, Chicago, Miami, and Columbus, Ohio.

I'm traveling all over the country and I'm like, "New York City doesn't have a fitness scene, but we have everything else." We have Fashion Week, New York City Car Show, Boat Show, Comic Con, and Food and Wine Festival. There's everything and anything here in New York to celebrate every other category, every other genre, or every other thing there is. We have dragon boat racing celebrations and everything else. I was like, "We have nothing for fitness."

I wanted to create an event where brands can come and be in front of the customers that they want to be in front of. The consumer could come and learn more about fitness. I also wanted to bring in speakers, trainers, doctors, and nutritionists to speak to everyone, have classes, and make it a fun day of working out and getting fired up. I would leave a lot of these events and I'm like, "I can't wait to do this for my clients. I can't wait to teach people this. I learned about this." It's exciting. You're learning how to become a better version of yourself.

I felt like New York City needed this. When I look at the landscape of a lot of these big apps and stuff like Tonal, Peloton, and all these big corporations, they're all here. They're pulling from all the New York City trainers. New York City is already a melting pot for a lot of these brands like Barry's Bootcamp. They're leveraging the scene. Equinox came from New York City. A lot of the biggest brands are from New York. We just don't have anything to get everybody together.

A lot of that is because of the fucking ego that comes along with being a fitness company or a trainer for that matter. Everybody is better than everybody else. I'm trying to knock down that wall a little bit and get everybody under the same roof, and listen to the people who are paving the way for the fitness industry, and the health and wellness industry. This is one of the stepping stones towards a bigger event. I wanted to change the landscape of what fitness and wellness events can be in New York City.

How many years have you done this already?

The first one we did was in 2015 and I started in the basement of my old gym. We had like 50 people. The second one we did a year later was probably about 150 people. In each year, it grew. The last time we did it was in 2019. We had over 500 people at Pier 94 right in midtown. It was a great event. We had a lot of success with it. We had a lot of people that are interested in doing more with us.

We had four events set up for 2020. We all know how 2020 is now. It all got washed away. Some of the brands that we were even partnering with at that time are not even around anymore. It's funny. It's a whole new world. We're rebuilding with this one, but we partnered with Chelsea Piers and NYC Bucket List. Bucket List is an Instagram account that has millions of followers and they showcase different things that are happening in New York. Chelsea Piers is one of the best if not the best venue on the East Coast. It's a massive facility. It's got gymnastics, bowling, golf, acrobatics, a full gym, and a full track. They have everything.

It's right on the water.

It's 170,000 square feet. They have two outdoor decks and a turfed-out area. It has got everything. I love that space. A friend of mine, Mike, works over there. He hit me up and was like, "Why don't we do Strong from Chelsea Piers this year?" I was like, "Let's do it."

Go big or go home.

So many people want to win big and do certain things and have a quick way of making some cash, but life's all about taking shots.

I started making phone calls and a lot goes into it. I get a lot of people who are like, "I want to sit on a panel. I want to do this and that." At the end of the day, it's a business and I have to sell tickets. As much as I want to include everyone and get everybody involved, I still need the people who drive ticket sales. Even for myself, I'm not speaking or doing anything. I've been in the industry for several years. I was like, "I want the best of the best people up on the stage so that people could learn and enjoy the day." I don't need to sit up there.

My job basically is to facilitate the event. It was my idea and I have a very clear vision as to what I want to build here. Hopefully, next year we could even go bigger. We want to create an event that people look forward to. Not only people but brands as well. They're like, "I have this new product. I have this new beverage. I have this new invention that I want to feature at the event." I was like, "Great. Let's do it." That's what I want it to be. Looking down the line, hopefully, this is a stepping stone to something bigger and better.

Can you tell us a little bit about some of the speakers that are going to be there?

I'm very excited about the list that we've had put together. I call it the East Coast-West Coast Gods of training. Gunnar Peterson will be there and he is a very famous trainer. He worked with Sylvester Stallone on the Rocky movies. He worked with the Kardashians and the LA Lakers. He's now with F45. I talk to him a couple of weeks ago when we were chatting about doing the event. I said to him, "What I do on a daily basis, you're still doing in your later years, 50, 60 years old." He's still training people.

I get asked the question all the time, "You can't be on the floor for the rest of your life." I'm like, "Why can't I train people for the rest of my life on a daily basis?" A lawyer is a lawyer every day. A plumber is a plumber every day. Accountants are accountants every day. If they were like, "I'm going give this up. I'm not going to do it anymore," is there a way of scaling it? Absolutely, but I enjoy being on the floor. I want to help people. I don't see myself doing anything else. I admire that about him. We had a powwow about that and it was super encouraging to me because it helped me realize that what I'm doing and what I want to do is okay to continue to do.

Don Saladino has been a mentor to me. He has helped me out tremendously over the past couple of years. He's the East Coast guy because he was here in New York City and he had a great gym here for several years. He is famous for making every Marvel superhero look the way they do. Also, some of the cast of some of my favorite shows like Stranger Things.

Those young kids are pretty ripped.

No. He got that cop from Stranger Things into shape. He worked with Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and the whole Wolverine. I remember watching the Wolverine movie and being like, "This fucking guy looks incredible." Finding out that Don was his trainer was very cool. The guy knows a thing or two about training. I'm also excited because I got Gabrielle Lyon. We have some people coming back that we've had before. We then have some new people.

One of the girls that have come is going to teach a parkour class because we have all different genres. I wanted to tap into as many lines of fitness and wellness as we possibly can. She's going to teach a parkour class at Chelsea Piers. She was also in the new Black Panther. It's pretty cool to have her there. Zion Clark who was born without a lower half, he's an incredible motivator. If you don't follow him already on Instagram, I highly recommend you check him out.

I've seen him. It's amazing what he does.

It's incredible. Many people who would have dealt that same hand would not have handled it as well as he does. He's an incredible inspiration. I can't wait to get him up on stage and have him talk to people. My buddy, Luca, who I'm a huge fan of. He spoke at the last two events. He's an incredible trainer and super motivated. We're having some podcasts going on. My buddy Jay is running an all-day podcast from the event.

We're going to have a cold plunge going on. We're going to have a happy hour after 3:00. It's going to be a full day of like learning and working out. We're also running a competition at the event. We're going to give away $1,000. When people get trophies or medals, who the fuck wants that? I want a WWE-style belt. We're going to crown a Strongest Male and Strongest Female Champion at Strong New York. This will be the first time we're doing a competition. The team at Chelsea Piers is putting it all together, but there are going to be different feats of strength and speed. The winner will get $1,000 and a belt. It's going to be pretty fun.

The more aware you are, the better choices you can make.

We have a lot of great brands involved, I'm super excited about the event. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be doing a couple of live interviews with a lot of the speakers and presenters. People get to know who they are if they don't know them already, but there's going to be a lot of eyeballs on it. Most of our presenters have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers and everybody is sharing the content. It's going to be pretty cool. I want to make this something special.

That sounds amazing. I was checking out the site and I saw that every hour on the hour, you're going to have a different fitness class or an event. I was checking out the tickets. The VIP ticket is amazing. For $550, you get an IV included, which pretty much you're not going to get an IV for cheaper than that these days.

A general admission ticket is less than $100. People pay on a daily basis. You go to SoulCycle, it's $40 or $45 a class. You get the shoes, water, and all this shit. You're looking at spending $65 to $70 easy on one class. You can come here and we're going to have dance classes, HIIT classes, kettlebell classes, parkour classes, boxing classes, and Muay Thai classes. You could experience all of this. You could also listen to speakers. We're going to have brands giving away free stuff. You could use the cold plunge.

If you get the VIP passes, you get a couple of days free at Chelsea Piers. That's got value to it. We're also having different drawings and stuff. There's going to be so much value built into it because I want to make it something special. I want people to leave being like, "That was the best value I've ever gotten. It was worth every dollar."

It’s not just what you learned, but also one of the big draws for me is the community that you build. A lot of people in New York City always complain that there's no community. You can hang out with fashion crews or finance crews. If you hang out with people who workout, these are your crew. These are the people that you want to meet. This is an opportunity to get to know some amazing fit healthy people, especially if you're single that would be the ultimate place to find somebody.

I tell people all the time that New York is the biggest lonely city in the world. Many people are like, "If you want to go out and drink and meet somebody in a bar, then you're going to get that type of person." I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but here's an opportunity to meet people, mingle, and connect with people who share those same values. Anybody who wants to live a better healthier life and meet somebody or connect with other people who share that same value, this is a great opportunity because there's nothing else like it.

We have all these festivals and all these events that circulate around food and alcohol. If you're not into that, where do you go? What do you do? We're going to have that stuff. I want people to have a good time. I never tell any of my clients not to drink or eat. I want them to live a better version of their life. I drank and smoked cigars. I enjoy life. I'm not telling anybody not to enjoy life. I'm saying this is a good opportunity to learn a little bit more. The more aware you are, the better choices you can make.

It sounds incredible. Kenny, thank you so much for coming on. How can we learn more about the event? Is there a website or social media to go to?

Go to @StrongNewYork on Instagram, all our information is up there or anything you're going to need. The website is the same thing, StrongNewYork.com. It's going to be a fun day. If you have October 1st open. What I've gotten from a lot of people is, “I have a wedding.” Trust me, this is going to be more fun than any other wedding. We're opening the doors at 9:00. It's from 9:00 to 5:00. It's going to be a full day of hanging out and working out. You could come and check things out or you could take a class. You don't have to take a class. You can listen to speakers. You can do pretty much whatever you want. It's going to be a fun day to celebrate your body, mind, spirit, and fitness and wellness here in New York.

I'll close with one last question. Kenny, why don't you think you came here to planet Earth as Kenny Santucci? What did you want to experience?

I remember saying to a teacher in grammar school, “I get very uncomfortable when people are uncomfortable.” I don't like to be around people who are uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable. I always try to get everybody to have a good time and smile. Facilitating that through fitness is my purpose. I enjoy watching people workout. I enjoy helping people work out and learn how to workout. That's my calling and that’s the hill I'll die on.

It's beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much. I know you're a super busy guy. Thank you for slipping us in.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

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About Kenny Santucci

With over a decade of experience, Kenny Santucci has made himself a known as one of New York City’s top trainers and a thought leader in the health and wellness industry. Brand ambassador for Michelob Ultra and Fitaid, Technogym Master Trainer, host of the Fitaid Morning Show, Michelob Ultra MOVEMENT Fitness Festival, Model Beach Volleyball, and more, Santucci has established himself as a force within the fitness space. He has collaborated with industry titans across the health, wellness, and lifestyle space such as Reebok, Under Armour, Adidas, CrossFit, and many more.

Kenny has also shared his training approach and wellness philosophy with features in top health and wellness publications such as Shape Magazine, Men’s Health Magazine, Men’s Journal, Well+Good, Askmen.com, Reebok.com, and Women’s Health Magazine to name a few.

Kenny lives his mantra of helping others well beyond the walls of the gym. As the creator of the STRONG New York health and wellness series, he is the heart and leader behind these events that have already raised thousands of dollars and brought awareness to the community around men's and women's health issues, with a portion of the proceeds going to different health-focused organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Awareness Foundation, Movember Foundation and Breast Cancer Research Foundation.