By Josh Towner
On The Marc Training (OTMT), founded by Whitestone native Marc Buccellato and his wife Monique, has a fleet of vans and a staff of trainers and health specialists revolutionizing the way people experience the gym.
After graduating from Rutgers, Marc Buccellato began coaching a youth hockey team. Working out of his Nissan Altima, Buccellato began training individual team members outside of scheduled practice. He would go to their house for private training sessions, and the athletes started seeing results on the ice. They started telling their friends, and the mobile training program took root.
Soon, Buccellato was doing private workouts with a multitude of hockey players, not just members of his team.
Buccellato saw a business opportunity. “If [we] bring the gym to your house, there’s no excuse. All the motivation comes with it,” Buccellato said.
Rather than clients dragging themselves out of bed and driving to a physical location, OTMT packs up all the equipment and drives right up to clients’ driveways.
To gain knowledge on the fitness industry, Buccellato studied at the three best gyms in the United States. It was on this circuit that he met his wife, Monique, a former All-American gymnast at UCLA. One thing led to another, and Buccellato was explaining his business idea to her.
“I thought it was a great idea,” she said. “And [now] people really enjoy it.”
Buccellato moved back to Queens in 2013, and Monique followed in 2014. She told him he should start using vans instead of his Altima, a small, four-door sedan. Today, OTMT has five vans in its growing service.
An average day with OTMT is jam-packed with fitness. From 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., trainers workout with the business people who need to get out to Manhattan. Once kids start getting dropped off at school, trainers workout with parents. Seniors have workouts from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., it’s nonstop work with student athletes.
OTMT’s trainers have all the equipment they need in the van. They unload the equipment needed for the client’s workout and carry it to the desired exercise space, whether that be someone’s backyard or their basement.
With personal trainers, a yoga instructor, a masseuse, a stretching specialist and a dietician, OTMT offers people the chance to achieve fitness on their terms. OTMT has plans in place to add pilates instructors and physical therapists in 2019, helping them reach as many people as possible.
“It’s not just about the training, we truly connect with the client and want to see them succeed, even if they aren’t with OTMT anymore or in New York anymore. [We’re] not just there for OTMT, we’re about helping people,” Monique Buccellato said.
Health and wellness isn’t all OTMT is bringing to people’s doorsteps; they’re bringing a personal touch, too.
