Danny Russo: Seeking a FEW Good Women

For many men, a new path in life opens up when they’re confronted with the woman of their dreams. For fitness and nutrition expert Danny Russo, life changed when he met up with the women of his nightmares. Thirty years ago, on a cold, January night in the parking lot outside Colby’s Gym in Atlanta, Russo found himself surrounded by the entire U.S. Women’s Powerlifting team. And they were not happy.

Russo had just led the men’s powerlifting team through a grinding workout in the gleaming new facility. During the session, Russo happened to notice the women’s team languishing in the older section of the gym. There were no amenities there. No heaters; no water fountains. Foam padding bulged from cracks in the aging bench press the women were using. And unlike the men, the women didn’t have a dedicated coach.

Later in the parking lot, the women’s team captain confronted Russo. At 6’2”, 194 lbs of pure, lean muscle, she towered over the 5’ 8” Russo. She demanded to know why he never considered coaching the women’s team? Russo didn’t have an answer; he’d just always done it that way. He’d trained NFL football players, fighters, bodybuilders – all men. And honestly, he had no desire to work with women. But he wasn’t about to tell that to this group of extremely fit, angry young women. Too scared to say no, Russo eventually said, “yes”.

Danny Russo, now a remarkably spry sixty-three year old “fitness evangelist”, is still surrounded by women. Not powerlifters at a gym, but “regular” women attending a seminar - one of Russo’s “For Women Only” health and fitness programs. After years of building his career on the pecs and abs of elite male athletes, Russo now works exclusively with women.

“Launching the New You”, Russo’s fat loss (not weight loss) is a program (not diet) specifically designed to negotiate the challenges everyday women face in staying fit. Russo’s mantra is, “Women are unique”. Unlike men, women have to cope with the negative physical effects of babies, birth control, cycles, water retention and menopause. Taking it one step further, Russo’s fat loss program can be tailored for the uniqueness of each individual woman.

But it is Russo’s approach to womens weight loss that is truly unique. His three pronged FEW (Food Exercise Water) system focuses on basics passed over by most fad diets. The problem with diets, according to Russo, is that women deprive themselves of all three FEW essentials in an effort to shed weight quickly. The result is a loss of muscle as well as water and fat. When the diet ends, water and fat return; the muscle does not.

Instead, Russo instructs his clients on the merits of good nutrition, proper hydration, his own proprietary supplements and gradual -not overnight- results. Russo doesn’t offer miracles, magic potions or empty promises; just strict directives: Burn fat, Lose Weight, Get Firm and Become Thin. The first 90 days of the program emphasizes fresh over frozen or prepared foods, which tend to contain verboten amounts of salt. Sodium is a major contributor to water retention, an unflattering phenomenon that tends to affect in the lower regions of a woman’s body.

Body chemistry is another area often ignored by conventional dieting. Russo’s belief, backed by cutting-edge research, is that by monitoring and adjusting for the level of acidity (ph levels) in a woman’s body, one can train the body to add muscle tissue more efficiently.

So why does Russo prefer working with women? From his days as a fitness coach and trainer, Russo observed, “Women work harder, are more committed and complain less”. Men, by contrast, were able to get better results with less effort and therefore didn’t need the same level of determination. Russo experienced that determination firsthand on a fateful night when a group of young female athletes made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. And he’s been surrounded by women ever since.