Williamsville

Luke Federici- Personal Trainer

Luke came to Fitness 19 Williamsville this past October as an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer, and has quickly gained the respect and trust of several members that work one on one with him to achieve a variety of different goals. He is also a Level-1 Certified CrossFit trainer that often competes with our other trainer Josh in local competitions! With the encouragement from his mom who was once an avid body builder, Luke took it upon himself to indulge in the same passion for the gym and over time developed his passion into a career. Luke was also a competitive athlete and knew that weightlifting and strength training could improve his overall performance on the field which he would later find improved his pitch!

At this point, Luke is steadily taking on more responsibility here teaching Mobility & Strength Classes, teaching basics to functional training classes and  taking on more clientele and working with some of our youth athletes! Stop by and meet him, or call us and set up a trial personal training session!

Caroline Karanas- Manager

Caroline has been with Fitness 19 since her senior year in high school, a job that began as a kids room/front desk attendant, grew into a Personal Training part-time job and then climaxed in management with our Williamsville Location! She is a certified Spinning Instructor and Personal Trainer that is passionate about making an effort to make everyone smile and find a place in the gym where they can push past their comfort zone and learn what their bodies are truly capable of!

Her interest in the gym was sparked after many injuries that resulted from competitive soccer playing throughout high school, college and developmental club training teams. As a thin and tall player, she learned about the importance of muscle to help prevent injuries from occurring and how it helps with recovery when an injury happens. As an avid runner, Fitness 19 taught her about how proper posture and breathing techniques can improve athletic performance.

Caroline has a B.S in Mathematics and Chemistry from SUNY Buffalo State College with a Forensics Graduate Certificate, but her true passion lies in the community and members of Fitness 19 Williamsville. More than anything, she loves attending member and employee fitness events to cheer them on!

Rebecca Durawa- Yoga Instructor

Rebecca came to the staff in Williamsville in April of 2019 to take over the Yoga Program! She also instructs a class for our facility that is off grounds, at the Boulevard Consumer Square plaza. It is a Mommy and Me (& Daddy too) Yoga program aimed to introduce healthy exercise habits to young children and parental bonding opportunities. Rebecca also teaches Silver Sneakers here once a week!

Chrissy Sommer- Operations Manager

There’s probably only one time in your life that you will meet someone equivalent to the passionate, strong, fun and fearless Chrissy Sommer! She leads Fitness 19 Williamsville with her heart on her sleeve, keeping the needs, safety and concerns of every member as her top priority. Meanwhile, she provides an environment in the facility that puts every employee on a platform for success by providing them with the tools and knowledge necessary to be successful as a trainer and in life.

Chrissy has been with Fitness 19 Williamsville since the doors opened in 2007, and took the position of Operations manager in 2015. In that time, she has made the space one that focuses on functional training so that anyone with any type of life goal can find an avenue for success. Whether the goal is to walk a flight of stairs, complete a marathon or compete in a power lifting competition she will find you the tools and person to assist you until you are successful. When an employee or member is participating in anything from a running event to a boxing match you can count on seeing her there to cheer you on in the stands, probably yelling the loudest and taking pictures.

Chrissy works with a variety of different clients from rehab patients to individuals that are simply looking to get stronger, and though you can be sure each session is methodical and productive you will also hear a lot of laughing.

Kristen McMurtree-Personal Trainer

Kristen in a 3 year Personal Trainer Veteran here at Fitness 19 Williamsville, with a BS in Exercise and Sports Science with a Minor in Dietetics from D’Youville College of Buffalo. She adds to our staff the knowledge of being a ASFA Certified Personal Trainer, and is our Silver Sneakers Instructor! Kristen’s life’s passion is found in her dedication to her clients, as well as her boxing Career. While being a certified USA Boxing Coach, she is the head coach of the University at Buffalo Boxing team and is a two-time National and 3-time New York State Boxing Champion. Kristen’s personality brings a lot of fun and craziness to the facility in all the best ways!

This October of 2019 Kristen brought her first child into the world, both Judah and Mom are doing great!

Charlie McCormick- Personal Trainer/Front Desk

Charlie joined Fitness 19 in Williamsville at 14 years old with the goal of improving athletically by learning about strength and endurance. As a competitive Baseball player he wanted to improve his performance on the field so he started working with a Personal Trainer at the time, where he went on to compete in 3 Physique Competitions over the next fewyears; 1st Place Men’s NMA Physique navis division, 3rd Place Men’s Physique Canada and 2nd Place NMA Men’s Pro Card Open . He now has taken his own skills and knowledge to become a popular trainer around our facility, he is also always good for a corny joke or two!

At this point, Charlie will be entering his senior year of his undergrad at the University at Buffalo in Fall of 2019. He will be graduating with a dual major in Psychology and Sports Exercise Science. He continues to educate himself, becoming a certified USAPL Power Lifting Coach the past June 2019 and is planning to compete in this same realm this coming October.

Adam Sagun- Personal Trainer

Adam comes to us with an ACSM Personal Trainer Certification as well as a USAPL Power Lifting Coach, after many years as a Veteran Member. He recently traveled with 3 other staff members to the Rogue Headquarters in Colombus Ohio to complete his Level-1 Olympic Weight Lifting Coaching Certification.

Adam currently holds an A.A.S in Business Administration, while working through the Exercise Science program at the University at Buffalo with intentions to attend their Physical Therapy Program in the Fall! You can find Adam working with a broad range of ages for personal training, as well as teach group classes such as Peak Performance, Power 30 and Mobility/Bands! Adam’s passion is in Competitive Power lifting, as he is a 3-time USAPL competitor ranking in the top 3 for his age and weight class in 2 cases!

Adam is always learning and trying something new, competing with fellow employees and athletes in things outside of his comfort zone such as CrossFit.

Josh Waterman- Personal Trainer

Josh is a long time Veteran to Fitness 19 Williamsville!

He is an; ACE Certified Personal Trainer, Level 1 CrossFit Coach and a Mobility/WOD Movement and Mobility Specialist. Josh teaches many classes here including Power 30, Limitless and Peak Performance (a class geared toward youth athletes learning how strength can improve their athletic performance and reduce their risk for injury). As a former competitive wrestler throughout high school Josh can now be found almost always either training members of fitness 19, himself or competing in some kind of athletic challenge. More often than not, when one of his clients are working to accomplish some kind of goal (spartan race, tough mudder, marathon, CrossFit Competition etc.) Josh will join in with them and compete as well!

This coming fall, he is returning to school to complete his degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. Josh constantly attends different types of certification courses on a variety of different types of athletics and exercise (power lifting, Olympic weight-lifting, etc.) to broaden his knowledge and constantly learn more. So humble with all the knowledge he has, contact us to get a session with Josh and learn all he has to offer!

This past September of 2019, our trainer Luke got married! What a day!

— The Federici Wedding!

Fitness 19 Williamsville staff and members traveled to Ithaca NY on the edge of Cayuga Lake this past weekend (October 26th, 2019).

2 out of our 4 competitors made it to the podium, and all 4 had personal bests! Trainer Adam Sagun coached all 4 boys that competed by working them through blocks of time working on percentages and helping them achieve personal records!

— USAPL Ithaca Power Lifting Meet!

We participated in our first Dragon Boat Race at Buffalo RiverWorks in 2017, coming in Third place overall. In 2018 we returned to take second,…this year in 2019 (kind of ironically perfect) we can home with the GOLD! This has become one of our favorite events each year, it supports an amazing local non-profit; the Buffalo Hope Chest! Click the link to learn more about what they do for the community and cancer patients!

— Buffalo Hope Chest Dragon Boat Race

In an effort to create more vibrancy and functional space for our group classes, training and members we finally got rid of a wall that was hindering a LOT of things! Since, we have been able to incorporate for functional programs, larger group classes, and handle more sustainable

equipment. It has been awesome!

— Remodel!!!

Every year, our squad participates in the MURPH; a workout that is dedicated to a fallen solider in Afghanistan which is celebrated nationwide on Memorial Day. This particular year, our turnout was unbelievable and the community that was attracted for such a memorable day was overwhelming. What a day, until next year!

— MURPH

Josh and Tim have been training together for the better part of the last year. Since then, Tim has progressively shaved over 45 minutes off his time between the last 2 Marathons he ran. Josh decided to run the Half Marathon with his this year, these guys never stop impressing us always striving for more.

— 2019 Marathon!