David Barton
215 W. 23rd St., nr. Seventh Ave.; 212-414-2022
30 E. 85th St., nr. Madison Ave., 212-517-7577
Barton typically interviews fifteen candidates for each trainer he hires (there are between 30 and 60 at each location). New recruits, many of whom are triathletes or bodybuilders themselves, take four weeks of physiology, anatomy, and biomechanics classes just to start, and continuing ed is required; Barton brings in cardiologists, chiropractors, and physical therapists, who give attendance-required seminars to staff. “I look for empathy,” he says. “They have to understand what it’s like to be in that person’s body on the last rep.”