About Me

My name is Sam Suska.  I am a firefighter for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, I am a personal trainer, I wrote a book (available on Amazon), and I was also a professional boxer. 

Here is a quick overview of what I’ve done, and what I offer:

• I have more than 10,000 hours of experience as a personal trainer working closely with people. I’ve been training people since 2009 when I started putting my clients through challenging, but appropriate, and typically motivating workouts.  I also have a lot of experience designing entire training regimens for my clients.
• I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Exercise Science from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I graduated with honors (cum laude).
• I am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) since 2010.
• I am in my 5th year as a firefighter for the City of Pittsburgh. This is my career. I work with the public, and work alongside many outstanding people.
• I have 2 years of professional experience as a counselor for juvenile delinquents. I started this job when I was 22 years old. It was here that I learned about responsibility and how to conduct myself; I also discovered that I want to help people for my career.  Thankfully, I found leadership from the supervisors and fellow counselors at the time. I chose to leave the job just before I turned 25 because I wanted to finish my degree in health and wellness.
• In 2010-11 I successfully completed 2 full-time semesters of graduate school for Oriental Medicine at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College of Berkeley or AIMC-Berkeley. I chose not to continue despite receiving a 3.65 GPA because I wanted to help people in the role of personal trainer.
• I am a CHEK Institute certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach since September 2009.
• I have personal experience making significant, positive changes to my habits, myself and my life.  It all started for me back in early 2005 when I was just 22. From 2005 to March of 2006 I lost 50 pounds, and went on to win the sub-novice division of my local Golden Gloves. I had a great coach, a lot of support from my family, and encouragement from my friends.  Thankfully, I was able to use that momentum to go on to compete as a boxer for more than a decade, to return to college to finish my degree, to take control of my health, to enter the fitness field, and to better myself.
• I am a 2-time Western Pennsylvania Golden Glove Champion- light heavyweight sub-novice in 2006 and as open middleweight in 2009.
• As a professional boxer I have a 5-3 record. I competed as a pro from April 2009 to November 2016. After losing my first 2 bouts I took three years off, went back to the drawing board, got help and support from some great people, and went 5-1 in my final 6 bouts.
• Along with 2 friends I co-promote an annual boxing fundraiser, The Kevin Bachner Memorial Fight Night in memory of my friend that passed away,
• In 2015 I authored my first book, it’s about health, fitness and living life with vitality and purpose. It is available, as a Kindle, on Amazon.  CLICK HERE to check it out on Amazon.
• I owe a lot to my support system, my network, and the various people I’ve met over the years who helped me, assisted me, and supported me in my various endeavors. I am blessed with great parents, without them I would have never followed through with any of this. I have also been lucky to get coaching from solid, reliable, and dedicated men. Without my great clients, my associates, and my friends I would never be in a good postion.   To me, assembling a support system, and then using it is one of the most influential things anyone can do. It takes time, and persistent effort- but so do most worthwhile things.
• I am a certified EMT by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.  I had to demonstrate proficiency in basic life support both in a practical assessment and a written test.

 

   

Personally, I like to get shit done,  I need to be active, and live with purpose. I keep my training schedule packed- on days when I am not at the firehouse I am probably personal training.  I also have projects that I am working on: one is a talk about overcoming disappointment, and the other is my second book about training. I also spend a lot of time with my pitbulls, Romeo and Babs.

My ultimate purpose, my mission for life is to be a positive influence. That said, I march to beat of my own drummer and I have many quirks- so you could say that I can be difficult at times, and I am definitely going about being a positive influence in my own way. Even though I have two serious careers- as a firefighter and a personal trainer- I am not a very serious guy.

Thank you for reading, if you are interested in personal training with me in the East End of Pittsburgh feel free to e-mail me at mrsamsuska@gmail.com. Please check out the blog here, please consider reading my book (click HERE), become friends with me on Facebook (click HERE).