Samuel Colby of ESOS Lifestyle Center

Always a Passion for Fitness

By Dan Baldwin

“I loved coaching, but it didn’t pay the bills, so I knew I needed something to pay for college and push me along. I joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1999. I was on active duty for a year and then went into reserve status,” he says. Colby returned to Utah and began working the front desk at a gym and at the same time trying to build up a personal training clientele. His career in personal training got a boost when he was offered a job in a Park City, Utah hotel. “That’s where I really started to see how I could make personal training a career – to make a life for myself,” he says. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area, working as a personal trainer from 2001-2003. Colby says, “That was one of my bigger wake-up calls. I realized I could work 100 hours a week and still not make much money. I had to figure a way to develop something unique so that people would decide to work with me rather than go to a big box gym. That’s where the ball started rolling.” He left San Francisco for St. George, Utah and became a personal trainer at a gym while still considering his options for a career in the medical field. He completed all of his pre-med courses at Dixie State College in St. George while working part-time as a personal trainer. In 2003, he earned his Bachelor of Science from Excelsior College. He was attending Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona in 2005 when he saw a catalog for a traditional naturopathic school called Clayton College of Natural Health. He signed up and graduated with a traditional naturopathic degree. He was planning on entering the field of health care as a podiatrist, but changed his mind fairly quickly. “In 2006, I realized I didn’t like feet and all the blood and all the nastiness of the medical side.” Colby was committed to a career in health and wellness, so he started his own personal training studio in Glendale in 2009, but had to close the business due to the faltering economy. He regrouped and quickly opened another studio that year in Scottsdale. That business was inside a med center, which brought in a lipo-laser that was marketed as a body contouring device. “That was the spark that started the whole LipoCircuit weight loss program,” Colby says.

“I loved coaching, but it didn’t pay the bills, so I knew I needed something to pay for college and push me along. I joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1999. I was on active duty for a year and then went into reserve status.”

“After a day of climbing with our kids, we came back and said, ‘We need to open a climbing gym in Scottsdale.’”

Kevin J. Berk started AZ on the Rocks with his brother, Kent Berk, Kent’s wife Angie and their mother, Joyce Berk who is a minority owner.

Opening A Dream

His dream facility required a significantly larger space to handle the clientele. In 2013, Colby opened ESOS Lifestyle Center in its current location. Colby has used his 20 years of training, education and experience in personal training to create a unique organization incorporating med spa services with gym, a wellness center, and with proper nutrition. The firm takes a holistic approach to a variety of services, including exercise, laser lipo, nutritional council, whole body vibration, infrared sauna, chiropractic, massage therapy, personal fitness, and personal training. Two additional wellness options unique to ESOS are the LipoCircuit program and the CorePump fitness machine. “We’re pretty much pulling everything in under one roof. Even the fitness part of it is therapeutic exercise. I get a lot of people with hip or knee or shoulder replacement and this is where they get rehab so they can be more functional on the golf course and in their daily lives. Some of our regulars are here just to keep their healthy bodies in top shape,” Colby says. The service that is drawing the most interest is a training circuit called the LipoCircuit, which involves a number of steps that can be tailored to each client’s specific needs: 30-day nutrition program, lipo-laser, isokinetic training (IKT), infrared sauna, and whole-body vibration. An essential element of the IKT sessions is Colby’s invention, the CorePump Machine, which uses hydraulics for isokinetic resistance training. The unit allows the user to perform more than 500 exercises and stretches on a single machine that is approximately 27 inches in diameter. Colby says, “It’s the neatest device but very unassuming. If you push hard on it, it pushes back hard on you. If you push light, it pushes back light. That’s the isokinetic training part of the business.” The firm’s clientele ranges from teenagers to senior citizens in their 80s. Many people come in for functional rehab and then work their way into maintenance workouts and staying in shape. Other people come in because they’re obese and need to get in shape. Others who are active and healthy use the facilities and options just because they are very active people who want to maintain their good health.

ESOS Lifestyle Center employs eight people, including three lipo-circuit specialists who take people from the laser to the vibration or sauna, a massage therapist, a skin care specialist, a chiropractor, an operations director, and a front desk person. The circuit, the machine and the center are the culmination of a lifelong ambition and a continuing drive to achieve a unique position in the wellness and health care industry.

Health Is Not Found in a Prescription Bottle

Colby criticizes many in the health and wellness field who try to be too different by creating fads that end up hurting the people they are supposed to help. He says a good quality of life is being healthy from a person’s cells out. It’s all about cellular health, not about appearances. There are a lot of people who look fit, but who are really unhealthy, he says. “I think going too fast and too hard can’t be healthy. People are always looking for that magic pill that will make them healthy overnight. Becoming truly healthy is about behavior modification.” He sees the biggest trend for the future is what is happening right now. “Everyone is fast learning that the holistic approach to your health is not in a prescription bottle. It’s not at a doctor’s office. The health approach is going to start going more holistic, which it already is with whole foods being your diet, with exercise really helping you live healthier and longer. A lot more of the Eastern philosophy of living is coming to the West,” Colby says. Although he plans to continue growing his business to meet increasing demand, he does not see the growing interest in holistic approaches to health as a competitive matter. “I can see a lot of businesses like mine opening up, which is great because it means everyone is getting like-minded.” “It’s one of those things where the baby boomer generation that is beginning to retire is beginning to think, ‘Maybe I haven’t taken care of my health the way I should.’ They’re wondering how they want to spend those golden years. Do they want to be in a hospital with a low quality of life or do they want be vibrant and active,” he says. “This center is first and foremost a rehab center. This is the perfect place to start at ground zero. You can teach an old dog new tricks. It’s never too late to make a good step toward good health. And once you take that first step your good quality of life starts to step through also,” Colby says.

ESOS LIFESTYLE CENTER

8550 E. Shea Blvd., Suite 120
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(480) 625-3100
www.esoslifestyle.com

At a Glance

Education

Detox Specialist, The Health Science Academy
Professional Massage Practitioner, South West Institute of Healing Arts, Currently Enrolled
Doctor of Naturopathy for Health care Professionals, Clayton College of Natural Health, 2010
Doctor of Podiatry, Midwestern University, 2005-2006
Bachelor of Science, Excelsior College, 2005
Pre-Med Court Work, Dixie State College, 2003-2005General Course Work, Brigham Young University, 1995-1996

Certifications

The Health Sciences Academy Detox Specialist, 2015
Chiropractic Assistant, 2015
American Sports & Fitness Association Sports Nutritionist, 2011
Les Mills Body Pump Certification, 2007
Emergency Medical Technician Basic, 2006
USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, 2001
National Academy of Sports Medicine, 2001
National Council on Strength and Fitness, 2001
APEX Personal Trainer Course, 2001

Military Service

United States Coast Guard Reserves

Business Services

Exercise Prescription
Isokinetic Training
Post Rehab Conditioning
Laser Lipo
Whole Body Vibration
Far Infrared Sauna
Personal Fitness
Personal Trainer
Aesthetics
Chiropractic Care

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