My name is David Tacheny. I’m an ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified Personal Trainer and Lifestyle/Weight Management Coach working with a diverse clientele in the New York area for the past nine years. During this time I’ve conducted thousands of one-on-one and group sessions with dozens of clients whose varying needs and interests continue to challenge me personally and professionally. I’ve had the opportunity to work with complete novices, seasoned athletes, people with physical and mental disabilities, people recovering from serious injuries or surgery, professional dancers, mountaineers, the elderly and many more! In fact, I’ve developed a reputation among my colleagues and clients as someone with the skills and experience to accommodate people with special needs. I’ve learned basic sign language so I could work with hearing impaired clients, or researching reconstructive surgeries and rare skeletal diseases so I could work with a clients who’d suffered a debilitating injuries. As a result, diversity has, thus far, been the cornerstone of my career in health and fitness.
I began my fitness career, as I suspect many others have, as an athlete. From the beginning I participated in sports at the opposite ends of the competitive spectrum, wrestling and bicycle racing. I was also an avid horseback rider and professional dancer and performer for many years. I later became interested in weight lifting, bodybuilding and other “outdoor” sports, such as paddling, adventure racing and mountain climbing. At some point, friends began asking if they could participate in activities with me and join me at the gym. I guess they saw how much I enjoyed being active and physically fit and hoped they could get a few pointers, or that some of my enthusiasm would rub off on them. After a while they began asking if I could write them exercise programs and if their friends could also join us. That’s when I began to think about health and fitness as a career. A co-worker was studying for the Personal Trainer certification and suggested I look into it. The rest, as they say, is history. I’ve since worked in commercial gyms, private health clubs and hotels, as well as for fitness services and with private clients.
I received my master’s degree from New York University in 2008 in an area called Performance Studies. Although the field developed out of the anthropology and artistic performance fields, it offered me a unique opportunity to study human performance in many of its forms. Not only was I able to study specific theories and philosophies of human behavior and expression, I was also able to examine how they were represented in and through athletic performance. My final project, which integrated an examination of several theories of behavioral control and an analysis of the “biological passport” system employeed by the World Anti-doping Association, helped me to gain an understanding of the psychology of competition (with one’s self and with others) as it relates to one’s control over his or her own body. It’s a perspective I consider very unique among trainers and coaches and am proud to have achieved.
I founded Proformance Athletics in 2008 because I wished to offer health, fitness and athletics to an even greater variety of people by changing the idea of what it means to live healthfully without becoming obsessed with fad diets, expensive club memberships, or what some chart says is your “ideal” body weight! A healthy lifestyle based on regular participation in athletic activity and healthy eating is something I truly believe in and work to achieve for my family and myself every day! I hope you’ll consider giving me the opportunity to help you do the same.
