For Fitness Guru American Dream is "Made in Japan"

Jeff LIBENGOOD

Though he charges a steep fee for his services, fitness trainer Jeff LIBENGOOD doesn't need to advertise. He lets his clients do that for him. Bob SAPP, K-1 kick-boxing's biggest superstar, has called him "the best in the business." Marty KUENHERT, the U.S.-born sports commentator, says that Libengood has an "uncanny ability to look at a person and figure out exactly what they need." And for Japanese pop singer hitomi, who has trained under Libengood for seven years, her body says it all. She was recently voted as having Japan's "number one" body by Tarzan magazine.

Such well-known clients have helped Libengood, 39, become one of Japan's most highly paid and sought-after fitness trainers. Over the last 10 years, he has appeared on numerous Japanese television programs, written a book called The Celebrity Beautiful Diet, and made a video on how to treat lower back pain using the Swiss Ball. His company, Jeff's Fitness, has a staff of 14 and operates out of various Tokyo health clubs, serving mostly women, businessmen, and other VIPs.

Hi-tech fitness center to marry East and West philosophies
Launched in 2000, the company has grown alongside Japan's fitness boom. In the last five years, the population over age 60 joining a fitness club has quadrupled. Last year Jeff's Fitness merged with Kingrun, a large Japanese medical supply firm, bringing Libengood one step closer to his ambition of creating a multidisciplinary, holistic fitness empire. "It was perfect marriage," he says. With the merger, Libengood is on schedule to open a new, 7,000-sq. ft. state-of-the-art health facility in Tokyo's Nagato-cho, the center of Japan's government, in September. Called East West, the club will combine the best training disciplines from the East and the West under one roof. "Japan has never seen anything like it," Libengood says. He adds, "I've been able to make things happen here that I couldn't have done in the U.S."

What Libengood has been able to achieve in Japan could hardly have been predicted from his upbringing in rural Pennsylvania, U.S.A. There he grew up dirt poor, he proudly admits, forced to "hunt for food for supper." At age nine he started his first job as a lumberjack, working alongside his grandfather. "That's when I got my base strength and power," he says. After graduating from high school, in 1983, Libengood joined the U.S. Air Force and came to Japan. While living at the Yokota base, he got into in bodybuilding, competed in tournaments throughout Asia, and eventually left the Air Force to start fitness training. With only 600 yen in his pocket, he rapidly built up his client base in the early 1990s, training such high-profile clients as singer KUBOTA Toshinobu and sumo wrestler AKEBONO. Today he lives in a posh apartment in Roppongi, and calls the SMAP gang "good friends."

Instruction grounded in basic kinesiology
Libengood lives in such luxury because he understands how the human body works. Most people think getting in shape means going to the gym and spending an hour or so pumping iron or sitting on a fitness machine. That's what they have been told to do, from high school gym teachers to club fitness trainers to exercise gurus on TV infomercials. But when people listen to Libengood talk, they get a different gospel. The secret to staying fit, he says, isn't found sweating out a routine on the latest Nautilus, Cybex or similar line of fitness equipment. Rather, it's as simple as picking up a glass of water, sweeping the floor, or perhaps moving a piece of furniture.

"Many people approach exercise the wrong way, thinking only of the prime mover muscles," says Libengood. "But your body is not meant to isolate a form. The human body works in a kinetic chain to create movement." With this basic philosophy, Libengood has his clients perform exercises that mimic their every-day lives. Instead of bench presses, he will have them do pushups or push a cable forward with one arm while standing on one leg. In his gym, he uses a lot of Swiss Balls, medicine balls, JumpStretch bands and other simple training tools. One of his exercise routines involves dragging a sled around to build strength, speed and endurance. Libengood stays away from fitness machines, which he says are a waste of time for most people. "Get off the machines and find things that are functional for you," he advises.

Such unconventional thinking has won Libengood a devoted following among his clients, but his success has also spawned enemies, jealous of his success. He has been kicked out of fitness clubs, blacklisted in others, accused of peddling steroids, and bad-mouthed by some in the business. He has had to overcome language and cultural barriers. But nothing has deterred him from his goal, he says.

"I've got a goal to help one million people in my life," Libengood says. With East West that just may happen. The club's doors will be open to top athletes, busy salarymen, people in wheelchairs, and others with severe injuries. "I'm a problem-solver. I want to help everybody and I want everyone to have access to me. Helping people, that's what my love is."

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