At-home exercise morphs into fun family time

His background: About five years ago Peter Berk’s wife, Sheree, hired a personal trainer to come to their home. “I had zero interest in doing it. I thought it was stupid,” said Berk, who wasn’t on an exercise routine at the time. Still, Sheree and their two sons Steven, now 17, and Michael, now 13, began working out together in their basement with trainer Viktor Kirillov.

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ADRIENNE HUGHES-HARRIS / AJC Special

Peter Berk, Sheree Berk, Michael Berk(13) and Steven Berk (17) enjoy working out as a family with personal trainer Viktor Kirillov at their home.

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Adrienne Hughes-Harris / AJC Special

From left, Michael, Steven, Peter and Sheree Berk take part in one of their family workouts.

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How he got started: A few weeks into the training sessions, Sheree had to go to a meeting and she asked Berk to hang out with the kids while they exercised with Kirillov. “He was really interesting to talk to,” Berk said of Kirillov. “He didn’t wear his business on his sleeve. My kids seemed to enjoy it and I found out after working out once or twice, I actually enjoyed it. The rest is history. I haven’t stopped since.”

A typical workout session: The family starts with a warm-up of doing jumping jacks or jumping rope. That’s followed by basic exercises such as sit-ups, squat thrusts, push-ups and chin-ups. Once a week Kirillov takes them through weight training using the family’s set of free weights.”

Making the whole family fit: While all family members do the same exercises, Kirillov will change it up for each person. For instance, he’ll vary the weight or “sometimes I have to do 30 push-ups, my wife does 15, my son does 20,” said Berk.

His workout week: Berk and his family do hourlong sessions with Kirillov three times a week — two weeknights and one Saturday morning. Berk said he also walks and plays a little golf and tennis.

Why it works for him: Berk said the exercises are “things we could do on our own in our basement, but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t have someone knocking on our door three times a week, telling us to do it.” Plus, he said it’s made him stronger: “I never used to think I could bench press my weight. I know I’m stronger than I was five years ago.”

How he feels after: “When you come home and you can break a sweat, have some good conversation with someone and then have a reasonable dinner, that’s just a good feeling. You just work out and feel great about yourself,” said Berk.

His favorite thing about it: While his 17-year-old doesn’t participate as much as he used to, Berk said the family workouts give him a chance to learn what his 13-year-old is doing in school. “We’re able to laugh and joke,” said Berk. “He jokes with me about my workout. I think it’s really brought our family together.”

His advice: “This does not involve expensive equipment or expensive attire. For the most part, we’re doing exercises on the floor that we all did as first-graders in elementary school. Stick with it, don’t give up and don’t expect immediate results and it will come over time.”