By Howard Koplowitz
Ozone Park personal trainer Anthony Catanzaro has parlayed his success as a fitness model and champion bodybuilder into a new gig: pitchman for his own brand of exercise equipment.
Infomercials for Tony C’s Pure Power, a set of three DVDs with Catanzaro leading workouts for the upper and lower body and pilates movements, hit the national airwaves late last month.
“A lot of people can’t stay motivated, so my DVD plan is packed with motivation to keep you motivated,” Catanzaro said during an interview at his Ozone Park home, where he trains clients in a basement converted into a gym. “This is what I love. This is my passion. Wherever I go and whoever I meet, I try to bring out the best in that person.”
The discs come with three exercise bands — a blue 20-pound band, a green 25-pound band and a yellow 30-pound band — to aid customers in working out their shoulders, backs, arms and abs in addition to a pilates routine Catanzaro developed.
Catanzaro has shot advertisements for other products before, but landed equipment with his own name after pitching his idea while on an audition.
He said anybody can achieve results with the system — Catanzaro said it is designed for those between “extreme beginner to extreme advanced” levels — but the key is having the discipline to stick with the program. That is where he comes in, Catanzaro said.
“All it takes is that little spark of motivation from within to make that gigantic explosion,” he said. “Everybody has that pure power energy inside them, but I’m proud to get it outside them. I’m a great motivator.”
Tony C’s Pure Power also comes with a nutritional guide, a seven-day meal plan for men and women and a motivational exercise mat featuring Catanzaro’s personal mantras — including “Earn the burn” and “Eat clean to be lean.”
Catanzaro said he prides himself on being 100 percent natural.
“No steroids, no growth hormones, just pure power — or Tony C’s Pure Power, to be exact,” he said.
Catanzaro said that philosophy also extends to his personal diet, which is reflected in the meal plan accompanying Tony C’s Pure Power.
“I believe if God made it, use it. If man made it, lose it,” he said. “I’ve been preaching this stuff for years.”
Catanzaro, who lists Sylvester Stallone among his fitness idols and has won nationally recognized bodybuilding championships, said Tony C’s Pure Power marks the pinnacle of his career.
“My dream has come true, but now it’s time for the world to see it and try it. They’ll never be the same,” said Catanzaro, who has also been featured on covers of romance novels and was a finalist in Redbook Magazine’s Hottest Husband contest last year. “My goal with this product is to help the world.”
A two-minute informercial for the product aired late last month. A 30-minute version, set to air after New Year’s, is currently in production.
Catanzaro is also traveling to South Africa next month to film an infomerical for another product bearing his name: the AC stepper.
For more information or to buy Tony C’s Pure Power, visit ownpurepower.com.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.