No matter how much you love clothes and wearing the best threads every day, your health and fitness always come first. Here at Style.No.Chaser, we’ve always made it a priority to take a holistic approach to living with vibrancy and style, and this profile of Will Torres fits right into that mold. Torres is the founder and head trainer at Willspace – a no-frills, personal training gym where clients receive a superior physical fitness experience. If you goal is to get sculpted, chiseled and transformed into a lean, mean muscular specimen, he is the guy you need to see.
See our Q & A with Will Torres below:
“Consistency trumps intensity every time…”
Where are you from and when did you begin your career in physical training?
I’m Puerto Rican and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey. I was an overweight and husky kid growing up and sometime around 16 I got tired of being overweight. I started to run everyday. I did not run far in the beginning, but everyday I would go further. I lost a bunch of weight. I remember an older friend telling me that I lost too much weight and that I should join a gym and start lifting weight. I joined a local gym in Bayonne, NJ called The Forum Fitness. I fell in love with working out and the owners put me through my paces, and a year later, they asked me if I wanted to become a trainer. At 18-years-old, I took the opportunity and never looked back. That was nearly 17 years ago.
How would you describe your training method of getting your clients in tip-top shape?
At Willspace, our method is to improve each client’s fitness. Instead of thinking about dieting and depriving the body, we focus on getting the body to burn more fat and increase lean body mass which increases strength, tone and metabolism. We train the body as a whole. For us, it’s more important to focus on movements that hit multiple muscles groups, like deadlifts, lunges, pull-ups and dips, instead of isolation movements that just hit a small part of the body. The more muscles that you can get working the greater the demand that is placed on the body and therefore the greater the body’s response will be which will ensure maximum results.
Physical trainers have different techniques of inspiring – some take the boot camp approach – others are more caring and uplifting – what’s your style?
Our approach has always been one to one and we have found that different things motivate each client. Some clients enjoy when we are tough on them and want to be pushed hard and want to crawl home, so for those that’s what we do. For others they may want a more subtle approach. Whoever we are training, the most important thing for us is to make sure that the movements are being performed properly and taken to the needed intensity to maximize the results.
In general, who are the kind of clients that seek out your services – and what results do they mostly seek from you?
We have been blessed to attract clients that are serious about their health and fitness. They know that the results don’t come over night, but work with us because we have a systematic approach to getting our clients more fit. About 10 percent of our clients want to put on more size, but 90 percent of the clients that come to us want to lose weight and become more toned and get leaner.
In your years of operation, you have developed some big name clients in the fashion/entertainment world – can you share some of those names with us?
We have had the honor of working with some amazing clients. We’ve worked with Ralph Rucci, who I think is a genius. Dan Ragone from Interview Magazine was one of my first NYC clients. We’ve worked with Calvin Klein, Nick Wooster, Riccardo Tisci, Julia Roitfeld, Andy Cohen, Mark Consuelos, George Cortina, Heather Thompson.
What about clients from the finance world – investment bankers etc – do you get those too?
We have clients from many sectors in business. We work with some movers and shakers, but what really stands out about the clients that we work with is the discipline and drive to take their fitness to a higher level. That’s what excites us about the clients that we work with. They want to get better and they show up.
Do you train any professional athletes?
We do not train athletes at the time.
Your training programs are crafted specifically for one-on-one sessions – what are the biggest advantages to this approach?
The biggest advantage to one-on-one training is that we can make sure each movement is done with precision. Remember it’s not how many reps or how much weight you do. What’s more important is executing exactly right, to ensure that you are hitting all the right places and getting the most out of each rep. I always say that classes are for the spirit. It’s great to get together with a group of people and sweat together to great music, but one-on-one training is for those that want the best results and want to maximize their time without getting injured.
Would you say the pricing for your services are manageable or a little bit on the pricey side?
Training at Willspace is a premium because we offer a superior service and training experience. The price is representative of our ability to deliver results and maximize our client’s time. It also serves as a motivator because if you are investing a premium into yourself you will be more inclined to stay focused and make each day count. We see our clients 3-4 times a week. That’s only 4 hours with us. The rest of the time they are on their own and we need them to stay in the zone by eating right, getting enough rest and getting to the gym on their own. Results don’t come overnight. You have to chip away at them each day. Consistency trumps intensity every time.
Tell us about your affiliation with tasc Performance clothing – who are they and what is your partnership about?
I met tasc about two years ago. I flew out to New Orleans and worked with them on some of the cuts and pieces that they were designing. I am a big fan of their fabrics and I outfitted my team in tasc. I spend my entire day in tasc and found that their fabrics are the best to train in because they wick sweat away from the skin and they are breathable. In the past I would buy other name brand athletic wear and the design would be amazing, but the fabrics would feel terrible or they would not hold up. I want to wear something that feels the same on day 20 as it did on day one and tasc delivers that.
With regards to your own personal fashion style – what kind of clothing and brands are you into when you’re not in the gym?
When I’m not at the gym I am a fan of Reiss for their suites. I have very muscular legs which makes it difficult to find the right cut. I like Rag and Bone, Save Khaki and Caputo & Co (for accessories).
As a last bit of advice for men out there trying to live a healthier life – what are 3 fundamental rules you can give them?
– If you want to play hard at work and in the gym you have to make sure you spend time recovering. Taking time to rest and recuperate is just as important as training hard. If you are drinking more then 2 coffees a day or running on some sort of energy supplement you are most likely not getting enough rest.
– Consistency is the most important key to seeing measurable results. Even if your schedule is crazy it would be better to do two intense 30-min workouts a week then nothing at all. Our clients that see the best results invest 6-8 hours a week into their health and fitness.
– Don’t diet. When you severely restrict calories you will lose weight, but up to 40 percent of the weight is muscle. Muscle is your metabolism. Instead of dieting, make smarter food choices and focus more on getting your body to move and burn which will deliver better results long term.
For more information about Will Torres’s services, visit www.Willspace.com
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