Bio

Chris Sainsbury 

With more than a decade of experience as a personal fitness trainer, Chris Sainsbury has established himself as the “go to” trainer among some of the biggest names in the Entertainment Industry. 

Chris recognized his love and passion for fitness at a young age through his mother, who was involved with illness prevention using exercise and a healthy lifestyle.  Being the son of a military man, Chris learned the value of discipline and hard work as a young boy. During his teen years Chris saw many of his peers face the everyday challenge of balancing school and athletics and began to fully understand the discipline and power it took to be both a great athlete and student.  The idea of balancing everyday life with healthy living intrigued Chris and ignited his passion even more to become a fitness trainer. Chris believes that each person should be allowed the opportunity for self-empowerment through living a healthy and fit life.

Becoming a trainer to the entertainment world was more by chance than by plan for Chris.  After attending The University of Texas in El Paso, Chris returned to New York City and began an internship at Bad Boy Entertainment, where he set out to learn the ins and outs of the music business. Although he became enamored with the music industry, Chris continued to stay true to his inner passion and began to train many of the top executives at Bad Boy. Through word of mouth in the office, Chris became known to all as “Major Payne”.   With a nickname like that, people were taking notice! "I got a call at 4am from Diddy's rep saying he wanted me to train the “Making the Band” reality show members and to help in the process of sorting out the weak from the strong. From there on, it’s history."   After Sainsbury’s involvement in “Making the Band”, his next venture with Sean “P Diddy” Combs would be training with Diddy, Mark Jenkins, Candi Shand and Ray Romulous as they prepared for “Diddy Runs the City”, a nationally televised campaign where Combs raised two million dollars for charity while training for the NYC Marathon.  

In addition to celebrity clients that include Marc Jacobs, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Kelis, Regina King, Rocsi Diaz, Keith Robinson, Carl Thomas and Lauren London, Sainsbury has also trained at some of the most exclusive franchise gyms in New York City and Los Angeles including David Barton, Equinox, Crunch, BOOM, Lift, and Work Train Fight.  

Chris is a marathon runner, having completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2013 in addition to achieving the Spartan Race “Trifecta” of running three Spartan races last Fall and a Tough Mudder in Florida.  

A proud achievement for Chris was participating in the 10th annual AIDS/LifeCycle “Ride to End AIDS”, a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. . This journey not only pushed his physical limits but mental limits as well. The AIDS/LifeCycle works with both the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center to spread awareness and help people living with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco area.  Chris raised and donated 5,000 dollars for the cause.

In 2012, Chris continued his commitment to fitness by spreading awareness of the obesity epidemic as a panelist on HOT 97 Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers to talk about Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on large soda. He also teamed up with Al Sharpton’s National Action Network to instruct free fitness classes for people of all ages in Harlem.  Keeping himself active, Chris participated in the ING Miami Marathon; both the Queens 10K and the Bronx 10 miler of the NYRR 5 Borough series; The Rock ‘n’Roll 10K and the Tampa Tough Mudder. 

2014 is already shaping up to be an eventful year for Chris as he gets ready to “Trifecta” at least once and is in training for the New York City Marathon next November. Chris continues to grow his fitness team and has developed a group of trainers to meet all his client’s needs. All his trainers are specialists in different categories ranging from Boxing/Muah Thai, Cross Country Triathlon training, Marathon training, Completive Strength training, Neuromuscular training, Endurance training, Pilates, Nutrition, Pre and Post natal training and weight loss.  

Chris’ philosophy behind the team comes from his years of experience in the industry “I have enough training experience to know that clients can often get bored with their trainers.  I created my fitness team so my clients can continue to work with my team and me and stay excited about their work out. I want my clients to want to make the choice for a healthy lifestyle and not just have a trainer for a certain period of time to hit a goal and then stop. My Team is a lifestyle change.”

All in all, Sainsbury believes in motivation. "To live a healthy lifestyle a person must really want to change old habits that die hard. It can be a steep walk up a high mountain if you're not ready. That being said, anyone with will and drive can do it if they want it.”