We’re looking forward to introducing you to Alex Ceban. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Alex, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Once I’m awake, one of the first things I like to do is have a comfortable sit and say positive affirmations to myself out loud. This 3-4 minute routine has undisputedly changed my life and I’m so grateful I discovered it. I highly recommend self-affirmation practice to anyone who is working on their personal growth.
Once I’m done with affirmations, I go straight into meditating which as of lately I’ve been able to practice for 15-30 minutes. My morning meditation makes the rest of my day feel calm and balanced and I consider it to be an essential part of my day.
After meditating I have a light breakfast. Usually it’s boiled eggs, an oatmeal or a cup of ceremonial cacao. I don’t drink coffee – instead I allow myself to get a good night of sleep the night before (works better than any cup of coffee in the world).
After breakfast it’s time to workout! That sums up the first 90 minutes of my average day. I think it’s important to note what I don’t do right after I wake up. I don’t scroll on social media, I don’t check the news, I don’t check my emails. Once in a while there will be a day when I check my emails and texts before my workout, but almost never before affirmations and meditation.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Alex Ceban, I was born and raised in Moldova – a beautiful country in Eastern Europe. Since moving to the U.S. I’ve dedicated my career to fitness coaching and I’m happy to be able to say that I absolutely love my job. I find it very fulfilling and gratifying as I get to help people become stronger and healthier and I like the idea of being the source of positive change in our world.
I’m also the founder of Caprǎ Bodyweight Training with locations in New York City, Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia and Oakland. What makes our service unique is that we are entirely focused on calisthenics – an ancient bodyweight training practice that allows people to get very strong without having to use weights and machines.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
That would be the relationships with my very own self.
Growing up I had a very poor self-image, low self-confidence and I had no sense of purpose. However, after I began to work on improving the relationships with myself, I started to see my own image in a different light.
After a series of major events in my life I discovered the power of self-love which was completely new to me. As a man born and raised in Eastern Europe the concept seemed very foreign. When you translate “self-love” to my native tongue, it actually has a negative connotation so it’s not surprising that it was not part of the culture I was raised in.
Fortunately, I have fully embraced the idea of self-love and I practice it every day. I can say with full certainty that the way I see myself today gives me confidence and peace, and I attribute that to the relationships I’ve built with myself.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Very recently I learned a new perspective on viewing suffering. Instead of looking at it in a negative light, the suggestion was to view it as a necessary part of the life cycle. It seems that it’s important to accept sadness, loss, grief, failure the same way you accept joy, peace, happiness and love. It’s as if the first one makes you enjoy the later more. A frigid winter makes you overwhelmed with joy when warm spring days arrive; the feeling of extreme hunger makes the average food taste better than a meal at any Michelin rated restaurant; sickness makes you realize how amazing the life is when you are healthy; near death experiences make people completely reevaluate their lives because they appreciate being alive so much more now.
“You can only see the light in the darkness” – said Ram Dass a long time ago. This phrase resonates with me very well.
A few years ago I was at the lowest point in my life, struggling with emotional pain so much that I really didn’t want to deal with it anymore. It was the darkest time in my life and I didn’t see the way out. Then the Universe shone the light to show me the way and now my life is so different from what it used to be even before the depression. I’m so much happier, more content and more importantly at peace with myself. In a way, I’m grateful for the suffering I experienced as without it I wouldn’t be where I am now.
You know how most of your best life stories come from experiences that at the time felt terrible? Awkward, terrifying, extremely challenging, etc. Well now, they are your go-to stories to tell at any party. Perhaps you can use the experience of suffering you endured in a similar way to remind yourself how beautiful and amazing your life is now.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I love the fact that my job involves helping people become healthier and stronger. I consider myself a lucky man to “work” in the fitness industry. Quotation marks because I love my job so much that it hardly feels like work. I genuinely look forward to training my clients. I think most fitness professionals feel the same way and most gym goers would agree that this industry does a lot of good for our society. But it’s run by people and people are not perfect, and they make mistakes.
Letting greed be the dominant driving force is one of them. Making money is of course not a bad thing on its own, but when it’s the only thing a fitness company is fixated on, it becomes damaging to its core values. This is when a statement that the organization is solely dedicated to helping people becomes a lie.
What usually happens is that corporate gyms get so greedy and fixated on making as much money as possible, that they inevitably put a lot of pressure on people who work at their gyms. They force trainers to sell as many sessions as they can to as many people they can find. That of course makes trainers take their focus away from simply being great coaches who help people and instead promotes the environment where the best salesperson becomes the most important and most valued team member.
Hiring process looks very different at a gym like that – instead of looking for the potential in the person who is seeking the job to be a good trainer, the hiring manager prioritizes their ability to sell. So they hire great salespeople that get rewarded much more than someone who may be an amazing trainer who is not yet comfortable selling training packages. And when people don’t feel valued for the work they do, they tend to look for it elsewhere. So now, you have great trainers quitting because they don’t feel appreciated and their values are not shared by the management and at the same time more and more great salespeople get hired.
You don’t have to be a genius to see that this pattern leads to self destruction of a company. Such an organization cannot help people as much as it could have with greed holding the center stage.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
Wow, did you just ask me to envision giving up my ego? Sounds scary and intriguing at the same time.
Let’s see… My name was given to me when I was born and has been on my identification card ever since, but it certainly doesn’t define my identity as a human being. My role is something that gives me a social status and I’ve heard rumors that it might be a good idea not to care about what society thinks of you as it tends to have poor judgment. Lastly, most of my positions that while I’m grateful to have are there to make my life more comfortable and without them by default I’d have less comfort, but that I’ve heard it’s not always a bad thing.
Our names, roles and positions tend to have a quality of hiding who we really are. They work like camouflage helping us hide our insecurities, imperfections and flaws along with positive qualities we have. So what would be left if you take the cover away? I imagine what you’d find would be a very vulnerable human being who might be very uncomfortable with that.
The more attached a person is to their camouflage, the harder time they would have not having it. While I like to think I’d do very well without it, I’m a human being like anyone else and I’m also attached to some degree to many of the things you listed in your question. On the other hand, ironically, anytime I go camping in the nature, I leave my “camo pants” at home and I seem to be enjoying my new outfit and the environment where trees and animals don’t care what my name is, what I do for work and what brand of a vacuum cleaner I have at home. Maybe I love being in nature for that reason? I don’t need to hide who I am and I can just be. Sounds very nice to me. For what’s worth, the best stories I have are about me spending time in nature.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.capratraining.com
- Instagram: capra.calisthenics
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-ceban-7b089272/
- Facebook: capra.calisthenics
- Youtube: capra.calisthenics
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