Ken Berkeley

At the age of twelve, Ken attended a talent show at his elementary school where a classmate performed her gymnastics floor routine. Psyched by all the cool jumps and flips she performed, he wanted to do them too. So he asked her where she trained.

It turned out to be the YMCA down the street from Berkeley's home in Queens Village, NYC. He was hooked, and the Y's gymnastic facility became his second home for the next seven years.

In the summer before his senior year of high school, Ken broke his wrist at gymnastics camp, a normally crippling injury for a gymnast. However, Berkeley managed to remain on both the YMCA's gymnastics team and become team captain of his high school's team all while playing alto saxophone in three bands and excelling in the high school's Pre-Med program.

His injured wrist caused him to be overlooked by scouts and ended his competitive gymnastics career. However, during his freshman year at Penn Sate, he attended a football game and saw another cool thing he could do. The Nittany Lion's cheerleading squad was a perfect fit.

For the next four years, Ken inspired Penn State crowds of 80,000+ with aerial feats, eventually leading the cheers himself as the squad's "Mic Man". In his senior year, he also began his first personal training sessions, taking on notable State College restaurateurs, race car driver Bob Leitzinger and a 14-year-old figure skater as clients.

After graduating with a degree in exercise and sports science and experience teaching K-12 physical education, he was asked to be assistant cheerleading coach and was subsequently recruited by Philadelphia's Drexel University to coach their squad.

At Drexel, he began graduate studies in nutrition, became head strength training coach for all varsity sports and developed the universities wellness aerobics program. He also began working at the CIGNA Employee Wellness Center in Philadelphia, one of the top corporate fitness facilities in the country. In 1992, he first competes in sport aerobics, a combination of gymnastics and high- impact fitness choreography, in the Northeast Regional.

Wishing to explore the world of high-profile fitness, Berkeley begins commuting weekends to New York City in February of 1994 in order to build a base of over 25 classes before permanently moving to the city that May. He quickly became a familiar figure of New York's elite fitness clubs as well as working at the corporate level.

Now firmly based in New York, Ken decides to once again compete in sport aerobics and seeks out National Team coach Bob Esquerre. Six weeks later, Berkeley advanced from the novice level to win the men's individual at the regional competition, ultimately placing 5th at the nationals. Over the next four years, Berkeley develops his own sport aerobics team Extreme Air while continuing to compete. In 1999 he wins nationals and places 4th in the World Aerobic Championship. He subsequently retires from competition, but continued to coach Extreme Air with up to 25 athletes, many placing in the top five of competition.

Since 1998, Ken has performed and toured with the Metropolitan Opera. In 2005 he began the acrobatic strength and balance act KENiMATTix currently performing around the country.

Today, Ken Berkeley continues to teach fitness classes as a master trainer at New York Sports Club and has his own Union Square training facility where he serves his extraordinary clientele.

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