“Running has to be done everyday,” suggest Radu Teodorescu, gym owner and celebrity trainer. He is speaking of exercising with your pet and he puts his money where his mouth is – just ask his Doberman Roxy. “With me,” says Radu, “as son as I put on a leash on the dog, she says ‘Ok, I’m going to run with Radu until he cannot breathe,’ and it’s a fact she does.” He admits, even though I’m in pretty good shape, you know you can’t keep up with dogs, dogs are dogs.
The muscular 20-year veteran of the fitness business has a client roster that reads like a who’s who in Hollywood-VIP room only. You know what I mean – Cindy Crawford, Matthew Broderick, Rosie Perez, J. Lo, Calista Flockhart, Vanessa Williams, Geraldo Riviera and Calvin Klein, to name a few.
Radu developed his own brand of physical education for adults that does not depends on the newest fads but rather integrates running, jumping, climbing, throwing, catching, bench work, stairs, calisthenics, track and field, and ball games, all to stimulate and improve the body’s natural movements.
According to Radu’s philosophy, by concentrating on these natural movements, other less tangible results will follow, including coordination, agility, alertness, self confidence, team spirit, respect and honesty. Radu contends, “I train people in the gym, so that they can perform better in life. They move better, [and] they think better outside the gym.”
Radu sees his dog a integral to his own workout and loves allowing Roxy to stretch her legs and get in a good run. “And my wife is happy too.” After a week of working out with Roxym he says, “she lost three pounds.” Radu says that he plans to get Roxy to start hurdling with him when she is older. He also enjoys wrestling with the strong dog.
Exercising with your pet gets results, is always fun, and allows bonding time. But, Radu warns, “like people, dogs cannot work out too much while they are young.” Dobermans and other big dogs are prone to hip dysphasia during their early years. Radu says when adopting a dog you have to look for strong bones, but admits he did not do that with Roxy. “Roxy is more sentimental, as she was adopted from where a dog didn’t a good lif.” Roy now has a new companion, Diablo, another Doberman that Radu recently adopted from an Eastern European organization.
And we can’t forget Radu’s beloved cat, Homer. Devotees of Radu’s Manhattan gym contend that he talks about precious Homer all the time (many of his clients are “animal people”). Radu is thrilled that Homer has Roxy and Diablo as companions. “They get along,” says Radu. As for working out, Homer’s exercise routine is rather limited, but the other fitness buffs in the house are sure to change that any day now.
“People don’t realize that b y having pets, you see life from a totally different perspective. Waking up early, walking them late at night. You see life through their eyes too, a little bit.” Simply said, “I like it.”
By Jennifer Cattaui.
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