Bio:Peter Cogswell; Personal Trainer in West Hartford

I've been a personal trainer since 2009, but my interest in fitness started in my youth.   You couldn't keep my feet on the ground when I was a kid; I remember enjoying nothing more than climbing from age 3 on (and my parents tell me even before that) and that practice gave me a foundation of upper body and core strength.  Out of these early experiences grew my philosophy of functional training and of making fitness a lifestyle that has effected my style as a personal trainer.  If you listen to your body, it wants to move and be strong!  The human body is almost limitless in it's potential, so it always excites me to see someone start a new program.

 

​Later on I joined the Windsor High School swim team, even though I hardly knew how to swim.  This was an opportunity to learn discipline and take the foundation I had in movement and exercise and give it direction.  I went from not being able to finish a lap my sophmore year, to having the fastest 50 and 100 freestyle time on the team senior year.  From my positive experience swimming in high school, my passion for exercise and appreciation of the possibilities for improvement and progression, continued to grow.

 

When I began personal training, it was because health and movement were central in my life; not just having big muscles, or being the leanest or the strongest or fastest but understanding that it's the whole picture that creates health.  I became interested in corrective exercise because of this idea of balance between muscle groups and holistic approach that is integral to corrective exercise; you cannot be functionally strong without being flexible, and you can't be powerful without stability.

 

The thought of balance fascinates me because it is central to finding equinimity in every area of our lives.  Every day we balance a hundred different things; family, work, money, recreation, friends, our physical, mental and emotional health; if any one area of our lives gets out of balance all the others suffer too.  As a personal trainer, I try to practice balance in my own exercise program, my client's exercise programs, and in my life.

 

Education:

A.S. Sports and Exercise

Corrective Exercise Specialist (National Association of Sports Medicine)

Certified Fitness Trainer (International Sports Science Association)

Specialist in Sports Conditioning (International Sports Science Association)

Pilates Reformer 1 (Balanced Body)