The Journey That Built The House
Our journey is much like yours
I’m Chris Rombola, Personal trainer & owner of Fit House.
Before there was Fit House, our Tonawanda gym & center for fitness, there was just me, figuring it out the hard way.
This isn’t just a fitness story. It’s my journey through the highs, lows, and everything in between that led me to build something bigger than myself.
A place where people could feel seen, supported, and strong, no matter where they’re starting from.
I went from being the skinniest kid ever, who had to run around in the shower just to get wet, to a lean and jacked 250 pounds of muscle, steel, and sex appeal.
Yeah, right …
I wish that’s how it happened.
I really was a skinny kid. But I went from being puny to weighing over 306 pounds. I looked like the McDonald’s cartoon character who had a Big Mac for a face. Being that big stunk, but let’s start with the puny version of me first.
Hi — I’m Chris Rombola, owner of Fit House.
Before there was Fit House, there was just me, figuring it out the hard way.
This isn’t just a fitness story. It’s my journey through the highs, lows, and everything in between that led me to build something bigger than myself.
A place where people could feel seen, supported, and strong, no matter where they’re starting from.
I went from being the skinniest kid ever, who had to run around in the shower just to get wet, to a lean and jacked 250 pounds of muscle, steel, and sex appeal.
Yeah, right …
I wish that’s how it happened.
I really was a skinny kid. But I went from being puny to weighing over 306 pounds. I looked like the McDonald’s cartoon character who had a Big Mac for a face. Being that big stunk, but let’s start with the puny version of me first.
From One Extreme to the Other
Life as a human skeleton was rough. I got bullied at school, the only thing smaller than my arms was my self-confidence, and I couldn’t even think about speaking to a member of the fairer sex without getting so anxious I would throw up in my mouth just a little bit.
Gross, right? So I didn’t have any friends and stuck to myself for the most part.
One day I saw professional wrestling on television. I was awestruck by these larger than life guys, and I decided I wanted to become a professional wrestler.
Everyone laughed at me. I was more of a candidate to get swept away by a gust of wind than to ever end up on television lifting someone up over my head.
Well, my father didn’t laugh, and although he didn’t want to see his son become a professional wrestler, he did want to see him get some confidence and feel better about himself. He introduced me to weightlifting, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I spent high school and college lifting weights, reading about lifting weights, dreaming about lifting weights, and lifting some more weights. I started getting more muscular, and my whole life changed.
But it turns out, you can’t just lift weights and eat whatever you want.
From One Extreme to the Other
Life as a human skeleton was rough. I got bullied at school, the only thing smaller than my arms was my self-confidence, and I couldn’t even think about speaking to a member of the fairer sex without getting so anxious I would throw up in my mouth just a little bit.
Gross, right? So I didn’t have any friends and stuck to myself for the most part.
One day I saw professional wrestling on television. I was awestruck by these larger than life guys, and I decided I wanted to become a professional wrestler.
Everyone laughed at me. I was more of a candidate to get swept away by a gust of wind than to ever end up on television lifting someone up over my head.
Well, my father didn’t laugh, and although he didn’t want to see his son become a professional wrestler, he did want to see him get some confidence and feel better about himself. He introduced me to weightlifting, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I spent high school and college lifting weights, reading about lifting weights, dreaming about lifting weights, and lifting some more weights. I started getting more muscular, and my whole life changed.
But it turns out, you can’t just lift weights and eat whatever you want.
I’ll never forget the first day I Realized I was fat.
Rock Bottom And A New Beginning
This was so devastating to me that I remember it in vivid detail:
I was entering my parents’ house from the side garage door, and I caught my reflection in the window. I had a double chin. It was actually more of a triple chin. I almost started to cry.
Ok, fine, I did cry. You must understand, I thought I was jacked—and I was, kind of. My chest and arms were very muscular, but unfortunately, they were rivaled by the size of my stomach.
I literally could not look at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t bear the sight of myself. I fell into a depression for about a month and then decided I needed to do something about it. Learning nutrition was my priority.
On March 30th of that year, I weighed 306 pounds. On July 30th, four months later, I weighed 230 pounds and had a six pack for the first time in my life. I could look at myself in the mirror again.
After college, I was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment. Can you say dream come true? This period is a blur. I lived in Atlanta, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky, while wrestling for WWE, and then I woke up one day and realized I didn’t want to get hit in the head with a chair for a living anymore.
I quit and moved back to Buffalo, where I got a job at a commercial gym.
The Truth About commercial gyms
When I first started, I was in awe of all the other trainers. Not the way they looked—I was in way better shape than them (look, I’m just being honest!)—but the way they trained.
They were using bosu balls, medicine balls, muscle confusion, functional training, and all these crazy things I’d never heard of. So I started doing that, too.
Fate intervened when I met my first mentor. This guy was Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, and he had trained a longer list of MLB and NFL players than even my website editor can memorize, and she has a photographic memory.
One day he pulled me aside and said, “Look, I like you. I think you can be successful in this business. Everything those other trainers are doing? Don’t do it. It doesn’t work. You know more than them already, and you’re better than that. If you want guidance, I will teach you. You just have to listen.”
I listened, and within a few months, I was not only the number one trainer at the gym, not only in charge of the training department, and not only consistently getting the best results for clients, but when I packed my bags and left for a better opportunity at another gym, every single client I had followed me.
For the next few years, I ran the training departments at different commercial gyms, and after a while, I started to see just how awful commercial gyms are.
Look, the goal of a commercial gym is to sell as many memberships as possible. Why do you think a commercial gym that can fit 300 members on the gym floor has over 6,000 members? It’s because they count on you failing and don’t care about you. I was constantly at odds with the gym because the sales staff lied to people about what it takes to be successful, and then I would have to educate the customer, who was left completely confused.
I developed a deep, festering, endless hatred for commercial gyms. That’s when I knew it was time to open my own studio. My clients needed better.
Rock Bottom And A New Beginning
This was so devastating to me that I remember it in vivid detail:
I was entering my parents’ house from the side garage door, and I caught my reflection in the window. I had a double chin. It was actually more of a triple chin. I almost started to cry.
Ok, fine, I did cry. You must understand, I thought I was jacked—and I was, kind of. My chest and arms were very muscular, but unfortunately, they were rivaled by the size of my stomach.
I literally could not look at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t bear the sight of myself. I fell into a depression for about a month and then decided I needed to do something about it. Learning nutrition was my priority.
On March 30th of that year, I weighed 306 pounds. On July 30th, four months later, I weighed 230 pounds and had a six pack for the first time in my life. I could look at myself in the mirror again.
After college, I was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment. Can you say dream come true? This period is a blur. I lived in Atlanta, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky, while wrestling for WWE, and then I woke up one day and realized I didn’t want to get hit in the head with a chair for a living anymore.
I quit and moved back to Buffalo, where I got a job at a commercial gym.
The Truth About commercial gyms
When I first started, I was in awe of all the other trainers. Not the way they looked—I was in way better shape than them (look, I’m just being honest!)—but the way they trained.
They were using bosu balls, medicine balls, muscle confusion, functional training, and all these crazy things I’d never heard of. So I started doing that, too.
Fate intervened when I met my first mentor. This guy was Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, and he had trained a longer list of MLB and NFL players than even my website editor can memorize, and she has a photographic memory.
One day he pulled me aside and said, “Look, I like you. I think you can be successful in this business. Everything those other trainers are doing? Don’t do it. It doesn’t work. You know more than them already, and you’re better than that. If you want guidance, I will teach you. You just have to listen.”
I listened, and within a few months, I was not only the number one trainer at the gym, not only in charge of the training department, and not only consistently getting the best results for clients, but when I packed my bags and left for a better opportunity at another gym, every single client I had followed me.
For the next few years, I ran the training departments at different commercial gyms, and after a while, I started to see just how awful commercial gyms are.
Look, the goal of a commercial gym is to sell as many memberships as possible. Why do you think a commercial gym that can fit 300 members on the gym floor has over 6,000 members? It’s because they count on you failing and don’t care about you. I was constantly at odds with the gym because the sales staff lied to people about what it takes to be successful, and then I would have to educate the customer, who was left completely confused.
I developed a deep, festering, endless hatred for commercial gyms. That’s when I knew it was time to open my own studio. My clients needed better.
Fit House Was Born
It Was Good, But It Could Be Great
Fit House had a lot of initial success, but something was still bothering me. I had a great studio, amazing clientele, and was living the dream, but I thought I could be doing a better job.
I felt like my studio was too much like others in the area. I was getting results, but there must be a more optimal way of doing things. If I’m not growing, I get miserable, and I was getting miserable. This is when my commitment to continuing education began.
It started with a certification from a guy who has trained over 800 Olympic athletes. That turned into endless training and nutrition seminars, mentoring under an IFBB bodybuilding professional, hiring my original mentor as part of an ongoing mentorship that I continue to this day, becoming friends with and hiring one of the most sought after strength coaches in the world, and working with a nutrition mentor on a weekly basis.
My continuing education has never stopped. I think of myself like a sponge.
I like to surround myself with and learn from people smarter than me, and then I soak up all the most beneficial information and wring it out all over my clients.
The Fit House Philosophy
One ideal came from one of my idols, Jack Lalanne. He was the epitome of positive thinking, motivation, and great health. When it came to the optimal science of training and nutrition, Jack left a lot to be desired, but when it came to attitude, he couldn’t be beat. I knew my clients needed that kind of attitude to reach their goals.
The other ideal came from my education—I had learned the most optimal training and nutrition methods to get my clients results in the most efficient and expedient way possible. But those methods are very stringent, complex, and not a whole ton of fun. My clients needed this, too.
So why not marry the two? That became the mission at Fit House, which has now served hundreds of personal training and group training gym clients in Kenmore, Tonawanda, Amherst, Buffalo, and all of Western New York.
At Fit House, we don’t train anyone whose goal is to be an Olympian or even a bodybuilder or figure competitor. We train people who want to be healthy, who want to get stronger, and who want to look better. We take the most cutting-edge training and nutrition methods and make them simple and fun, so we can match them to anyone’s starting level or lifestyle.
At Fit House, we work with people who want to look their best and feel incredible. But our clients also see the big picture. They want to bulletproof their futures. They want to live a long, quality life, and they put their trust in us to help them get there.
We know life is short. At Fit House, we help people get strong so they can live long. That’s a mission I can stand behind, and it’s a mission that makes me proud, every day, that this is the work I do.