Rossano, Founder/Owner

Our gym was founded in 2002 by Rossano Rea. Rossano has been successfully training individuals of all shapes and sizes for 14 years, beginning with swim instruction at the YMCA. At 18 Rossano trained his first client, which then grew into the array of clients he sees today. Rossano also studied exercise science at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and took classes which he saw appropriate, being an already practicing personal trainer for some time.

He spent many of his adolescent years laying concrete and developing his physique as a result of strenuous, functional work in Michigan’s hot summer months. Employed by the Wayne State University Recreation and Fitness Center as on of it’s first trainers upon opening, Rossano was published twice in the South End, giving fitness advice and nutrition tips as they pertained to workout preparation. He also worked with clients in four other gyms in the Metro Detroit area.

Rossano became a Certified Personal Trainer in 2001 by top accredited American Council on Exercise. He then began training individuals out of his Royal Oak apartment to gain clientele which would then follow him to his upcoming facility. He co-founded “Camo Camp” and trained up to 12 individuals a day out of his facility. Bodymorph was then opened in 2002 and the rest is history. Rossano has been published in numerous magazines and newspapers such as the Detroit Free Press, the Observer/Eccentric, The South End, Vital, Pink, and Between the Lines.

He has also delivered workshops for businesses and physical rehabilitation centers like the Detroit Medical Center which included topics such as client adherence and various stretching techniques for physical therapy. In addition, Rossano has worked with school groups such as Hillel and Dondero, delivering fitness tips and motivational workshops. He was a regular participant on Fox 2’s “Get Fit” segment and is co-founder of “You’re Up”, a non profit organization which helps those without the means for fitness and/or physical therapy.

Rossano’s second facility named Rossano Gym is located in West Hollywood, California, and carries on the “boutique” style which he set out to create at Bodymorph. We have been voted both as Best Gym in Detroit by Between the Lines, and “Trainer to see when in Detroit” by Allure.

Practicing What He Preaches:

Rossano, along with having the knowledge to train his clients, also practices what he preaches. Rossano believes that in order for a trainer to be effective, clients should know what it is like to get their body in shape and be conditioned. Karate, basketball, soccer, swimming, biking, running, weightlifting, and yoga were all a part of Rossano’s life growing up. His REAL results came when he began doing concrete work. Day after day, he broke concrete, raked wet cement down the driveway, and used his lats and shoulders while finishing the the wet cement. After he developed a large, sinewy physique, Rossano got into bodybuilding for show. After completing two shows, he realized that bodybuilding didn’t coincide with his way of life and chose to give the “model physique” a try. He was seen in Cosmopolitan (2007) and Seventeen (2006). He has also been featured in Video Music Award commercials as well as several others. However, Rossano to this day, is back at stretching his clients over his back and putting a lot of elbow grease into the workout. ”I created my physique for function and that’s what I do for my clients”, says Rossano. He believes that trainers who have experienced modeling, bodybuilding, sports, etc, will better serve their clients because they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, others do not. In addition, Rossano believes that his acting experience since age 6 has a lot to do with his motivational methods and distinctive, yet widely received, theatrical approach to training. Today, he strives to educate his clients on the benefits of staying fit as a fiddle. Many of his workouts are designed after the very moves in which he performed while working.  “Functional movements are essential when targeting muscle groups.  They help us with our daily tasks and keep us from slipping on ice in the winter”, he says. Rossano hopes that everyone in the world will see the importance of maintaining fit and hopefully join together to form one HUGE BOOT CAMP!