Philly Personal Fitness — Local services in Philadelphia

I cannot say enough good things about this place! The owners, coaches, and other gym patrons are all the warmest, nicest, most inclusive, and encouraging people I have ever met. The gym itself is a very clean facility that offers all the equipment you could possibly need. There is a wide variety of ways you can pursue your fitness goals here: 1 on 1 Physical Training or Physical Therapy; a standard gym membership where you come in and do your own workouts; and group fitness classes with specific focuses like Yoga, Breathwork, Strength oriented core lifts, Endurance training, or Crossfit. The gym culture is focused on inclusivity, community, and functional fitness. They always make it a point to offer different scaling options of each exercise that is prescribed in that day’s group fitness workout and even encourage you to do a whole different exercise that activates the same muscles if what was prescribed isn’t in your bag of tricks. At least once a month they offer a free exercise class open to the whole fishtown community and also about once a month they organize social events like a happy hour so that all the gym goers can hangout together and become better acquainted.

Their giant neon “Change your story” sign isn’t just for show, it is a methodology they have helped many of their clients achieve, myself included. I began Physical Therapy here when they first opened up in January 2023 after I experienced a string of consecutive sports injuries over the past 3 years. When I first started, I could barely perform normal basic lifts (like a squat) with weights that were well under what I used to do for warm ups before my injuries. A few short months of 1 on 1 sessions with co-owner Sean Tonnesen(who has a doctorate in Physical Therapy) and I had regained enough strength and confidence to join in on the group fitness classes. This is a goal I did not think I would be able to accomplish until a year or longer after beginning physical therapy. Now here I am less than a year from getting started, I have been joining in group fitness classes for months and am quickly getting closer to being able to move like I did before my injuries and am close to lifting the weights I was able to before my injuries. I promise if you give this place a shot you will not be...

Philly Personal Fitness (PPF) is a team of highly competent and motivated professionals at a very welcoming place. I’m lucky to get to know and training with everyone there. Nowadays, the word “being personal” is often just a market phrase, but in the PPF is the real deal.

Sean’s forte is his ability to inspire and motivate you by example. I’m a 57-year-old with no prior experience with any fitness/workout program. To think that I’d enjoy the progressive process in developing my physical strength came as a surprise, and a very good one.

Sean brings together his physical therapy expertise to a fitness program that combines a variety of exercises, workouts. He also quickly adjusts the program in real time to provide an effective and safe training sessions. He has a deep understanding of the human physiology and what would work for each individual. He keeps meticulous notes on every session which forms the basis for an objective assessment of the individual’s progress and future planning. In addition, Sean provides insights on nutrition goals and ideas to improve it in a non-strict diet manner.

Since the beginning, Sean believed and pushed me till I feel comfortable to push myself further. All of this together with a lot of fun, is the highlight of my weekly “mens sana in corpore sano” practice, including early Sunday morning!

Without hesitation I would recommend PPF to anyone looking for a real...

PPF is beyond a gym. It’s a place you’re actively guided to achieve your fitness goals and are warmly welcomed into a community. If you do private training, the coaches curate personalized programs for you to have a measured approach to achieving your goals vs. doing random workouts at the gym and seeing little to no progress. I train with Gary and he’s helped me make the improvements I’ve never been able to make on my own. I’m more fit, flexible, and strong than I was during my time spent as a college athlete. The group classes are equally as targeted and measured and the coaches collaborate to make sure the weekly class programs contribute to getting stronger, faster, and more fit overall. The risk of injury is low because the coaches take the time, even in group classes, to make sure that your form is correct and that movements are scaled when they need to be. The coaches offer knowledge beyond how to do the workouts; they offer advice and programs on nutrition, recovery tips, and all other information you might need to have a successful fitness journey. I couldn’t...