Testimonials

I am a pretty active 77-year-old retiree with a fair share of health issues that fortunately have not yet proven to be debilitating.   I have been working out with Cesar since January 2010, when I decided that I wanted to complete my recovery from abdominal surgery with the help of a personal trainer at the gym.  He was enthusiastically recommended by my daughter who had been working out with him for some time, and she certainly did not lead me astray.  I have worked with several good trainers over the past 15 years or so and he is the best of them.

Cesar’s great experience and expertise as a coach and trainer enable him to adjust each workout to my particular circumstances, needs and interests – walking, golfing, birding, playing with grandchildren and traveling being among my favorite activities.  He is a very good judge of whether or not I need some catch-up after a layoff due to illness or absence, and he has excellent advice about what I can be doing on my own to stay in active shape.  In all of this he is an outstanding explainer of what any particular exercise is designed to do, how a particular sore spot may have arisen and how it can be alleviated, how my dietary habits may affect my workout performance, and so on.  My physical conditioning has greatly improved under his guidance.

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The reason I started with a personal trainer was that I didn’t have much time to devote to workouts.  I wanted to be sure that the time I did work out was well spent, that I used the equipment correctly, had the correct body posture or had my arms or legs at the correct angles and went at the right pace to get the most benefit out of my exercise.  I thought if I didn’t use the equipment correctly, I would be wasting the limited time I had to work out.  Personal training proved to be a smart move.

With Cesar’s help, I use the equipment correctly and get the maximum benefit from my training time.  He does everything possible to get me into the gym at times other than my workout times with him — and he usually succeeds at that.   I was 50 years old when I joined Wilson’s and started training with Cesar and I had never exercised, and had a history of arthritis. Today, three years later, I like exercising and I like what it has done for me physically and mentally.

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I’m happy to be able to share some thoughts about Cesar Mello. My late wife and I began training with Cesar in 2002.

He coached us in swimming and began with me on weights and exercise machines. I continue with Cesar today.

I am in my 70s now and due to a large extent, I feel, I lead the life style of a much younger man–jogging, biking, high performance sports car driving on racetracks and even being the first one in the Missouri Dancing With the Stars.

Cesar keeps me charged and ready to go.

Cesar has become an indispensable part of my life. His skill, ability and personal ethic are inspirational. I will live a longer, healthier, and happier life because of Cesar.

Oh yes, I’m proud to call Cesar Mello my friend.

I have had the pleasure of having Cesar Mello as a Personal Trainer for the past 7 years.  Cesar is the complete package.  He is a kind and gentle person, a great athlete and a true leader.

There is no question that Cesar is motivated to take advantage of opportunities available to him to help and guide others to develop and attain their fitness goals.  Personal initiative is the driving force behind his success.  When something puzzling confronts him he seeks out whatever assets are available to him to solve the problem and work closely with his client.  Cesar is reliable and totally dependable when caring out duties.  I have always seen him as an exceptional role model at the gym and I witness on a biweekly basis the reactions of people at the gym when they see him, he is always ready with a smile a warm hand shake and willing to give a little advice on the fly.  People admire Cesar and genuinely want to know what he knows.

His integrity is without question, primarily because of his self-confidence and his desire to improve himself and his clients. He has the desire and passion to learn and will graciously share his knowledge and opinions with others. Cesar is sensitive to others while maintaining high standards for himself.  Personally, Cesar has been an excellent trainer for me; he pushes me when I need it and backs off when needed.  He has much more confidence in my abilities than I do and over time I have gained more confidence and have seen positive results as well.  He has a tremendous sense of responsibility, and always follows through, no matter what the personal sacrifices.

I have known Cesar Mello for over 20 years. He has been both a friend and my trainer for many different events. I have competed in several Marathons including 3 Bostons and many Triathlons including the Ironman. He has helped me reach my goals and beyond in everything I have completed. Cesar will sit down with you and ask you want you want to achieve/accomplish and then help you understand what you need to do in order to do that. He gives you the understanding of what it takes and he gives you motivation to go and do it. The success that I have had during my races from a 5K to my Ironman have been in part because of the training that I have received from Cesar. He showed me how to balance life and still train and have an active lifestyle even during stressful times.
I have enjoyed lifting weights with Cesar for many years now. He is very patient as I am not the average weight lifter. My balance and coordination needed lots of attention and he has helped me greatly in that area. Cesar has worked with me to help me become a better runner. He showed me different running drills/techniques to become more efficient as I am running down the road. My running has improved as a result of his training. I also have taken swim lessons from him. He has many years of swimming under his belt with many accomplishments. He is a great coach in so many different ways. When you sign up with Cesar as a personal trainer you get more than that. You get a person that cares and will be there for you as a friend as well as your trainer.

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How can I put into words the feeling of gratitude and hope that Cesar Mello brought to my life.  I came to Cesar through a strong recommendation from a friend whose wife had been one of Cesar’s clients and whom eventually became one of his clients as well.  That friend had been suffering from a deep depression from the untimely death of his wife.  I had seen him before he began training with Cesar and the remarkable difference after and hoped that Cesar might be able to help me.

When I became a client of Cesar’s, I was one of three remaining siblings where there had been eight.  About 10 years previously, within three months of one another, two of my five  sisters had passed from cancer and 10 years prior to that, two had died suddenly from heart disease within six months of one another.  My mother and aunt had also died of heart disease.  Although I thought I was healthier than my sisters, my weight and health issues also told me I needed to make some serious life style changes if I wanted to live.

I began training with Cesar in the spring of 2011. When I came to him I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, weighed 215 lbs. and was on meds for high blood pressure and high cholesterol and most of all was depressed because of it all. Within a year of training with him I had lost over 30 lbs., my cholesterol had improved to the point that my Doctor discontinued my cholesterol medication and the meds for high blood pressure had been reduced to one small pill.  I had dropped two dress sizes.

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In a word Cesar Mello’s approach to coaching is tailor-made.  While I never considered myself an athlete, just a guy committed to keeping some modicum of physical fitness, I wanted to achieve the goal of participating in and finishing an Ironman distance triathlon standing up.  To achieve this goal I hired Cesar to prepare me for the event.  In our initial conversations, Mr. Mello gagged my desire, studied my exercise log, assured me that I had the aerobic base on which to safely build and set out to put me on the road to achieving my goal.

Cesar carefully designed my workouts keeping my schedule, athletic acumen, and response to training in mind.  We met on a regular basis to discuss my workouts, my “improving” physical condition, and mental preparation for the upcoming stresses of training.  When there were weeks I simply could not complete all the assigned tasks and was honest with Cesar with regard to my failings, like the true professional coach he is, Cesar would amend the workout schedule to allow for the unexpected.  Whether recovery from the unusually frenetic athletic schedule, work, or family commitments, Cesar was always prepared to take into consideration what I could and could not do.  As the race approached Cesar knew the distances, the terrain, the weather report, the field of participants, my concerns, desires, and of course, my level of preparation.  He repeatedly talked me through the tasks assuring me that I had completed the training and could achieve the goal.

When I first met Cesar Mello eight years ago, physical activity was not an important component of my life. Growing up I did not play sports and my hobbies were not physically active ones. At the time I signed up to train with Cesar I had gained a good deal of weight and was beginning to have knee problems. My doctor suggested that I work with a trainer to strengthen the muscles around my knee. I decided that this would also be a good time to make one of my life-long dreams come true: to become a swimmer!

I have always loved swimming and had longed to be a “real” swimmer: someone who could sport a swim cap and goggles with authority; do a flip-turn; and swim multiple lengths of the pool. While I was very comfortable in the water, I could not do any of the strokes with accuracy, so at the time these were big dreams.

My nerves and sense of self-consciousness about trying something so out of my comfort zone were immediately put to ease by Cesar’s caring and fun-loving approach. My knee problems went away in no time and soon I was swimming! Cesar took me from a non-swimmer to a confident and competent swimmer with an arsenal of three strokes.

Not only can I swim now, but I can swim well because I learned from the best. Cesar’s professionalism and instructional style  are phenomenal. I learned all about the importance of mechanics and technique. He taught me not only how to swim but also how to swim efficiently and strongly. I truly feel that I was taught to swim by a world-class instructor and coach.

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My name is Lisa Monsees and I have worked with Cesar off and on for several years.  I have run most of my life and competed at a high level throughout college.  After finishing residency and having 3 children I wanted to start running again.  For awhile it went pretty well, but I would always want to start training at a higher level and each time I would end up injured and often miss my race or not perform well.  This became very frustrating.

Finally I explained my situation to Cesar and started having him write  my workout schedule for me.  He was very good at building me up slowly and not having me run hard everyday. He would also check in regularly to see how certain workouts were feeling and how my work schedule was that week.  He would then change workouts around appropriately to fit my life and how I was feeling.  It was difficult for me to always listen to him because it wasn’t what I was used to doing with my training, but I did follow his schedule and in the long run I was able to run my fastest marathon to date.  It was particularly amazing since only 5 months before that I was having a lot of back pain and was unable to run.  I also have to confess that having a workout sitting there with exactly what I was supposed to do, really made it a lot easier for me to stay motivated and to get out of bed early to do my runs and cross-training.

I have enjoyed my working with Cesar and it has helped me a great deal.  Next step is Boston in the spring!  Thank you Cesar!

I have had the pleasure of working with Cesar as my Personal Trainer for several months over the past year.  I am late thirties male, and began to feel my fitness and training plateau and, in some cases, beginning to decline.  I was also struggling with a few nagging injuries that limited my performance in overall workouts and fitness.  Also, as someone who works in an office and drives for work often, I was beginning to worry about posture and my overall health.

Cesar worked with me from day one on a holistic approach, focusing on strengthening the core and back, and building up everything else around that.  With a focus on strength training, and exercises targeting multiple muscle groups at the same time, I found a new approach to my weekly workout routine that was varied, fun, and made me stronger.

Cesar is a fantastic approach who listens to your goals and needs, and helps to architect a plan to get you there.  His straight forward, and deep health knowledge on physiology and anatomy, makes him very well qualified to train individuals through injuries and to help meet their goals.  In addition, his great sense of humor and personality make him a pleasure to work with and helped keep me motivated.

I would recommend Cesar to anyone looking for a personal trainer to get back in shape, recovering from an injury, or trying to take their fitness to the next level!

I began working out with Cesar about three years ago to accomplish improvements in the areas of core strength, balance and flexibility to allow me to perform my daily activities with out interruption or undo stress.

I am happy to report success in our efforts thanks to Cesar’s knowledge of the human body and his willingness and ability to work around my various minor injuries along the way.

I’ve worked with Cesar for 2 ½ months, preparing for a half-marathon.  I contacted him because of his extensive experience running marathons, and his excellent reputation as a trainer.  I love to run and did not feel a need for help in that area, but I have difficulty motivating myself to do strength training.  Cesar explained the relationship of core strength to running and kept me motivated during our sessions together.  I can tell that I am getting stronger by how much easier I am running up hills.  In addition, Cesar asks about my training and offers helpful advice to improve form and speed.  I really appreciate his professionalism, expertise and support.  Cesar followed my New Orleans Rock and Roll half-marathon on the internet and texted congratulations, and he showed up at the St. Patrick’s Day 5K to congratulate me at the finish!

As a 69-year-old avid handball player for over 55 years and still competing in tournaments around the country, I felt it was time to improve my conditioning with the help of an expert. Although handball is a vigorous sport, I wanted professional help with increasing strength. Cesar’s name continued to come up as the trainer I needed to work with. I would see Cesar working with clients at Wilson’s on my way to the handball courts and could tell he was focused on his work and yet personable. I figured as long as I was about to be pushed hard for an hour straight it may as well be with someone that was pleasant to be around.

For the past 2 years Cesar has been coaching me weekly on building strength and overall conditioning. He understands body mechanics, injuries, and the healing process which he incorporates into his personalized training program with his clients. At my age and level of handball activity, being injured is more common than not. Cesar is very aware of my condition each visit and ready to adjust a workout that is best suited for me at the time. 

Healthy diet and lifestyle are also a typical part of our discussions during training sessions. In other words, it’s the whole package that I feel I’m getting when training with Cesar. I can’t say enough about how fortunate I feel to have Cesar as my trainer and advocate for continued good health and conditioning.

I have known Cesar for approximately 15 years and have always had a great deal of respect for him both on a personal and professional level. Our families have known each other through running and Cesar has always been supportive to all of my family.

I have been a runner for over 40 years and over the last several years started biking on the Katy Trail. I run approximately 15 miles a week on the average, do an occasional half marathon and step into a few exercise classes. I kind of felt like I had it all under control on the physical fitness level for my age, but I had never taken the time to have my own personal trainer. However, over the last 3 years, I have had rotator cuff surgery on both shoulders and have been diagnosed with osteopenia. I felt it was time to make some changes to my physical fitness routine.

Until last Fall, I had never given much thought to weight training. Strength and weight training would be beneficial for the osteopenia and my shoulders, but how was I going to work around the limited shoulder strength? How was I going to assure I was using the correct form so that I wouldn’t re-injure my shoulders? What would be the appropriate amount of weight I should lift with the osteopenia? I knew Cesar would have the knowledge and expertise to work within my limitations. We began slowly and cautiously to access how strong, or shall I say weak, I was. Cesar worked patiently with me and was very precise on teaching the proper form each and every time we worked together. He taught me different stretching techniques to avoid twisting to protect my back. I felt Cesar was in tune with my capabilities. Once he built up my confidence, he was able to challenge me more. I began to gradually see that I could lift more weight than I thought possible and I was becoming more comfortable on the “weight” side of the gym. The strength training has also improved my running by increasing my hip strength and taking pressure off my knees. Cesar has written several different training programs for me to keep my routine from becoming mundane. I have actually grown to like the weight training and can tell my body feels stronger and more stable.

Cesar has the ability to work with all individuals whether you are a highly tuned athlete or someone like me who just wants to improve their physical condition in order to maintain an active lifestyle. Cesar designs individual plans and does not treat everybody as a one size fits all. Cesar’s professionalism and ability to connect with his clients on both personal and fitness level, keeps many of his clients coming back to him for years. Cesar has taught me to safely expand my physical fitness routine which I hope will help keep me physically fit for many years to come. Thank you Cesar!