By Tien-Shun Lee
Ellena Kesisian may be over 60 years old, but the former gymnast from Romania can still make a human Y by holding one leg up by her head.
Now the owner of Eurofit Health and Wellness fitness studio at 109-17 72nd Rd. in Forest Hills, Kesisian said she has been training physically since the age of 3 when she took up gymnastics in her native country. At her studio, she combines her knowledge of stretching and strength exercises with aerobic activity and hands-on massage therapy to give her clients personalized physical sessions.
“I fix things,” Kesisian said. “Some people come with ankle, knees, lower back problems. I’m good at fixing people.”
Kesisian said her approach to physical training is different from most other trainers because she uses a holistic method that emphasizes touching and energy balancing rather than just repetitions of weights.
“This is a very friendly and very nurturing and very colorful and energetic place,” Kesisian said of her small studio, which has teal carpeting, a mirrored wall and various colored balls and free weights strewn about.
“For people who want more privacy and to work at their own pace, it’s better to be in a place like this with only the mirror and the teacher there. It’s not that zoo-like when you go into a gym and you find all this equipment, which is intimidating for some people, especially older people.”
Kesisian’s one-on-one training sessions usually last for about an hour and 15 minutes and include a combination of physical work-out and massage, which Kesisian studied in Romania and at the Swedish Institute in Manhattan.
Though she has worked with people of all ages throughout her careers as a gymnastics coach, physical education teacher and personal trainer, Kesisian said at this point in her life, her studio and style of training are probably more suited for older people with physical problems.
“I do yoga, pilates, stretching. Every exercise I do is depending on the necessity of that person,” Kesisian said. “This is a very good place to do physical therapy.”
In Romania, where gymnastics is a highly prized sport, Kesisian competed nationally until she was in her second year of college at the University of Bucharest, in Romania’s capital. After graduating with a degree in physical education, Kesisian got married, moved to the small town of Tomis, and began coaching kids in gymnastics and physical education.
In Tomis, Kesisian spent many days preparing her students to march in parades and perform in shows that were held in the stadium in the center of town on special days, such as Children’s Day and Mother’s Day.
“I took the best kids and we did shows with balls, ribbons, hoops, scarves,” Kesisian recalled. “We did pop dancing, exercise. In parades, I was dressed to kill with high heels, going with my kids. I was very young at the time.”
In 1978, Kesisian, her husband and son left Romania to try to find a better life in the United States. They settled in Sunnyside, where Kesisian still lives today.
But before she was able to establish the fitness center, Kesisian endured numerous hardships. In 1986, her husband developed multiple sclerosis and could no longer work at the hotel at which he had been employed. Kesisian took care of him at home at first, then eventually she put him in a rehabilitation center, where he lives today.
Kesisian invested her own money to open two gyms to coach kids in gymnastics before opening Eurofit Health and Wellness. The first gym, in a 5,000-square-foot space in Sunnyside, was forced to close after three years because the landlord wanted to convert the place into a supermarket. The second gym, in Westbury, L.I., is still in existence today, but Kesisian left it after she quarreled with her business partner over money and business practices.
To support herself while trying to establish her own business, Kesisian worked part time for 10 years at Jody’s Gym, a kids’ gymnastics center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. After leaving that gym, she began working in 1990 as a personal trainer at the Excelsior Athletic Club in Manhattan, where she still works, from 6 a.m. to about 1 p.m., before heading to her studio in Forest Hills.
“This is the place that I want to raise,” Kesisian said of her studio. “This is my baby, so to speak.”
During the first two years after it opened in 2000, Kesisian left much of the day-to-day operations of the fitness studio to her business partner. But Kesisian was forced to spend more money and time on the business after her partner left suddenly about a year ago, taking most of the studio’s exercise equipment with him so he could establish his own gym in the basement of the building behind Eurofit Health and Wellness.
Despite all her setbacks, Kesisian remains determined and energetic. Sporting a blond bob and a pink and purple outfit, she demonstrated exercises on her Health Master and Body Craft machines.
“I have so much experience and I’m so diversified in my knowledge,” she said. “My clients, everybody I have, I have from the beginning and they stay with me.”
Kesisian’s one-on-one training sessions cost between $50 and $85, depending on what type of work is done. Anyone interested in arranging a session can call her studio at 718-268-5952.
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by email at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
