About Us
The Crown Gym was founded by Brent Smith, a noted top trainer in Los Angeles, California and creator of the Equibells™.
Athletic training has always been a big part of my life. In high school I played several different sports and eventually competed at a professional level in MMA. Being a personal trainer as well, I am a bit of a guinea pig and have tried numerous diets, supplements, routines, and techniques over the years to test their efficacy. Hands down, the biggest boost that I ever experienced in my performance came from a radical shift in my training.
Years ago, a couple of professional surfers that I worked with at a gym in Los Angeles used to get out the stability balls and do all kinds of crazy stuff with them. While I wasn’t a surfer, certainly balance and proprioception were important in my sport as well, so I asked them to teach me and they happily obliged. Nothing, absolutely nothing, affected my game the way implementing balance and proprioception work in my training did.
Before long, I began utilizing techniques that I was learning on my clients and they too started experiencing significant changes and gains in overall muscular response.
Since then, I’ve trained both amateur and professional athletes in virtually every major sport in the country with techniques that I’ve honed over the last twenty years and the results are always the same- their game is taken to a whole new level.
Because of the results that both my athletes and hundreds of other clients were experiencing, I began experimenting with different ways of engaging muscular response. Eventually, I tried to find something that would provide unilateral upper body proprioception but couldn’t find anything, so decided to build it myself.
As I began fleshing out the idea, I realized there would probably be benefit to having weight evenly distributed around the hand rather than having medial/lateral weight distribution like dumbbells or a pendulum effect like kettlebells. I also realized that the muscular engagement that I was looking for and even weight distribution could all be accomplished with a perfect sphere.
Eventually I was able to build a prototype and the second I picked it up, knew that fitness would be forever changed. The Equibells were born. And now, the only place in the world where you can work out with the Equibells is The Crown Gym. Check online for classes or private training.
All the best,
Brent Smith
Interview with the 1st Equibells Certified trainer, Tony Surphman:
July 8, 2021
How did you get into fitness?
High school was the first time I found myself with access to a gym. Already being in Martial-Arts, I was familiar with training & immediately found interest in developing my physique to gain strength as a fighter.
Where do you find the perseverance to stay motivated over all these years?
To be honest with you I believe motivation is useful, however it can be fleeting, I find discipline much more important than motivation or even being inspired. Realistically we won't be inspired every single day, it takes discipline to do things when you don't want to do them. It's fun to look at self-moderation as a game. Sometimes you have to trick yourself to showing up and just starting & the motivation you seek will find you.
What do you feel is the best way to avoid injuries?
Injuries are the battle scars of those who truly push human potential, but the greatest warriors hold the least amount of them. Training smart is the key! Its very cool to be a pro, and professionals warm up and cool down every time they train. Just look at any olympian, they take training very seriously.
Stretching & warming up and rotating your joints is important to wake up the smaller stabilizing muscles around your skeletal system so that everything works properly & in unison. Training with machines is very isometric, It is important to put it all back together. This is why I am such a strong advocate of athletic application to a fitness routine. Body weight movements make us more capable of doing physical feats.
How do you surpass training plateaus?
Plateaus are often misinterpreted. They mark the point in which you have achieved completion of a certain level. It just means that a horizontal shift in your
training approach must be made. In example, if you find that your body isn't progressing as much from weight lifting, try doing all calisthenics for a week, I guarantee new peaks emerging! : )
Do you have any specific nutrition tips for our readers?
Train your brain not just your body. A strong mind can teach itself to dislike unhealthy foods, & learn to love things that are much healthier for our physical being. It can take time, but having strong belief in yourself will help you control your desires, you just have to decide that those aren't even desires at all, but that they are just weak tricks the complacent part of our brain plays on you.
Some people find it difficult to get started do you have any advice for beginners who want to get into fitness?
Make it fun! you only get one first introduction in life may as well make it an enjoyable one! I would make an awesome playlist of your favorite songs that get you moving. Find amazing tasting supplements & gym outfits that you are super comfortable in. Discover exercises that you enjoy doing the most and put them into a routine.
What type of equipment do you like to workout with?
I love using resistance bands, boxing equipment as well as unique innovations such as the Equibells, the weight distribution of them feels amazing for my arms, I feel like it is one of the only type of weights I have ever used that reaches deep inside the muscles closest to the bones- its a very internal and balanced feeling training with them.
Do you prefer weight training, cardio, cross training, or other sports?
Yes.
Do you have a favorite quote?
Don't do regular shit too often, level up until the difficult becomes your default. There is too much regular shit in this world, humans are meant to be extraordinary. Work to be great, strive & challenge yourself daily, become an individual who seeks conquest of practices. Accomplishing daily tasks and doing something new everyday adds up to a whole lot in the long run!
Do you have any unique fitness beliefs?
If you're not strong enough to choke out a raptor with your bare hands, train harder.
Who are some of the people who want to work with?
I'd love to work with Donnie Yen, Vidyut Jamwal & Scarlett Johansson in a film or show, preferably in fightingaction-scenes of course.
What's next for you?
I'm excited that I have recently started acting. I feel like I am in my element when I'm acting on screen, wether delivering lines or doing fight choreography. I am looking forward to doing diverse roles and pushing myself in this field.