A Chicago member finds purpose in the training room with the help of his Equinox Coach.
Forged at Equinox is a series highlighting an Equinox member’s foray into a new workout regimen, with help from an expert Coach. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
For the last two decades or so, working out was just another item on the to-do list for Matt Kunkel. The Chicago-based interior designer joined Equinox Gold Coast about 10 years ago and, throughout that time, trained one-on-one with a few Coaches to fulfill his activity quota and build confidence in the Club.
He’d come to his sessions twice a week, tick them off his agenda, and carry on with his schedule.
That habit of going through the motions was upended when he began training with COACH X Ali Packowitz in 2020. “[Before], it wasn't a goal-oriented process at all, and now it's a completely different mindset for me, like, we're doing goals constantly,” Matt says. “I'm doing things more on my own than I've ever done before because of her. So it's not just to fit into my jeans — it's for all-around mental and physical health.”
He’s shifted his priorities from simply getting in a good sweat to improving his body composition, gaining lean mass in his upper body, and being able to walk thousands of steps without wearing down. Those measurable outcomes were always being considered by his Coaches behind the scenes — whether Matt wanted to know about it or not, says Ali. But now, Matt wants to be a part of the programming, she adds. “There's a lot more autonomy in the program and interest in the program from his end, and that's exciting for me to see, too,” says Ali.
Exercise has also become a tenant pole in his life, not just an occasional chore. Today, Matt comes into the Club about four times a week, in addition to his sessions with Ali. “I think that is just the biggest difference,” says Ali. “And there are parts of his social life that he revolves around [fitness], like, ‘Let's go for walks. Let's do something active.’ It's now just a big part of his life.”
Here, Matt and Ali open up about the lasting benefits of training with a Coach and how they keep sessions fresh after years of in-Club workouts.
How has your training enhanced your life outside of the Club?
Matt: “My lifestyle has changed pretty dramatically over the last two years. This is way more of a focus [in my life]. It helps with not only physical but also mental health stuff, so my physicals and stuff with my doctor. I used to be scared of going to the doctor, and now I'm not at all — my blood pressure, my cholesterol, everything's totally in line, where it wasn't three years ago."
Ali: “With mental health, when things are stressful or there's conflict or challenges in life, now he's resorting to, ‘I just need to go to the gym. I need to go take a walk on the lakefront in Chicago, put on a good playlist, clear my head. Do something active.’”
Matt: “I used other things for stress management before that, and now I use this primarily as my go-to. I'm doing it almost daily — I might take one day off. We have a house in Michigan, and I don't have a gym there, but I walk the beach. And now it's like, I have to take a walk every day there. It's just part of the deal.”
What has helped you become more confident exercising on your own?
Matt: “[Ali] wrote me my own plan to do on my own, and I love it a lot. I love the program. It's easy to navigate. It's not a lot of machines. It's mostly free weights and a bench and some bands. I just turn my music on and I rock it. I definitely didn’t have the confidence to do that [before]. I never used to go to the gym by myself, and now I'm here three days a week minimum by myself, between sessions with her."
Ali: “The biggest win was getting you to work out on vacation. You know, there are two types of people — you either work out on vacation or you don’t. And last year was the first time that he worked out on vacation and it was with this program that he's doing on his own, because all you need is a bench and dumbbells.”
Matt: “The gym was right over there, overlooking the pool of this beautiful resort. And so it was like, ‘Well, why don’t I just crank that out real fast? Like, why wouldn't I?’ So I did it. And then it became, ‘I should go every day then, because then I'm behind if I come home and I haven't worked out. Why would I lose the time?’ So now every time I go on vacation, I will do that. I never did that — ever. I would have a bloody mary by the pool and then never get up. Now, I have to do that. It's fun. It's a whole different mindset.”
What surprised you most about working with Ali?
Matt: “I didn't realize Ali had a nutrition background, so I found that out after the fact. Now we talk about that productively — like the Mediterranean diet, what did you cook last night? [I’d say,] ‘Oh my God, this awesome recipe that's super healthy, lots of vegetables,’ I'll send it to her, and she makes it. We talk about, like, ‘Oh, I splurged on too much dessert this week,’ or whatever. I think nutrition is a huge part of it, too. That was never part of my workouts before.”
Ali: “There's a formal aspect to it. I have a master's in nutrition education, so we sit down after our InBody assessment and we talk through key takeaways. What are actionable steps that we can make this month that will make a difference for the next reassessment?
“But then also, I like to keep it light-hearted — like, I just want to know what people are cooking, the restaurants you're going to, I want to know what the best thing on the menu is. We can also have productive conversations. Like, ‘You said your dinner was really healthy. Okay, what about it was healthy?’ And then we can talk about how it was enjoyable also — if your friends enjoyed it, if your husband enjoyed it. It's not good just because it was healthy. It was good because it was fun to cook together, fun to have friends over, and, you know, not feel like crap after. I make sure there is levity in the coaching as well. It's not just all quantifiable measurements; it's fun to talk about as well.”
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How would you sum up your relationship and experience training together?
Ali: “Seeing Matt use working out as a tool for making his life better and making him a happier, healthier friend, husband, sibling, person in the world has been really fun to watch. Seeing him coming in and using exercise as a tool for that has made me proud as his Coach.”
Matt: “Ali and I just have a great rapport, like she could tell me to do anything, and I would do it. And we’d be talking the whole time so I wouldn't even know what I’m doing, or how painful it is, or how hard it is. It’s just very inspiring for me to have a Coach and to build confidence.”
How do you keep workouts exciting after so many years together?
Ali: “Versatility in a program is important not just for boredom, but we want to continue to adapt to the demands that are being placed on the body. The body gets used to what you're doing, and you do need to progressively overload it. But also, I'm cognizant of the fact that people get bored — I'm the same way.
“So we add in different power moves. I think that's always a fun way to keep it versatile, like with med ball slams, with battle ropes. I love the ViPR, so I'm a big proponent of adding in ViPR agility and power movements at the beginning of the workout. Strength doesn't have to be the complicated part, or even the one that's the most exciting, but I feel like the power, the agility, the quickness, that kind of work at the beginning of the workouts is always fun to change up.”
Matt: “I don’t think it’s ever been stale — we switch it up all the time. I like the deadlifts because we really ramp that up quickly in terms of weight. The med ball slams are great; I've also boxed here [at Equinox] for a little while, and I can't do that anymore because of tendonitis in my shoulder, so that's fun that she brings that stuff in occasionally.”
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