Personal trainer uses MMA background to train sports teams, athletes

Using his experience in mixed martial arts and sports, Jeffrey Montalbano, founder of the Fight Sports Winter Garden gym, creates specialized sports training programs for local teams and athletes.

By Gabby Baquero
| 12:00 p.m. September 29, 2016

Jeffrey Montalbano develops training programs for individual sports, group fitness, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and youth MMA.

Sports

Shortly after moving from New York to Florida 11 years ago, Jeffrey Montalbano opened his own MMA fitness gym.

At first, he only had 20 members and no mats or equipment. Now 10 years later, he runs a gym with two programs spearheaded by him and new business partner Ricardo Oliveira.

The two programs: SWAT Fitness and Fight Sports, offer everything from personal fitness classes, women’s fitness, self-defense, Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu — all under one roof.

Jeffrey Montalbano applies his experience in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to develop sports-specific training programs for young athletes.

“When I owned the place, it was all me,” Montalbano said. “I was the receptionist, the guy who cleaned the bathrooms, I did all the vacuuming, I taught classes — luckily I had Julian Williams, who ran our MMA program here. And then, once Ricardo came in and developed this whole SWAT fitness and Fight Sports, I’m now able to really dedicate myself to stuff that I love.”

What Montalbano really loves is applying his four years of experience in judo and 10 years of experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to develop sports-specific training programs for young athletes.

Two weeks ago, he started a strength and conditioning program for the West Orange High School junior varsity baseball team with coach Graig Smith and assistant coach T.J. Sullivan.

Disciplines

Judo. Originating from Japan, this type of fighting style uses the concept of maximum efficiency with minimum effort by relying heavily on leverage, technique and balance to take down large opponents.

Muay Thai. Muay Thai originated from Thailand, and it is a mixture of boxing and kickboxing. It is also known as “The Art of Eight Limbs” because it uses the hands, shins, elbows and knees extensively.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Known for its ruthlessness, these martial artists fight viciously and aggressively to immobilize opponents. Choke holds, grappling, joint locks and hard striking all are encouraged in this style.

Boxing. No kicking is allowed in boxing, and the aim is to be lightning-quick with hands and feet to keep balance as the fighter throws hard punches.

Karate. This fighting style focuses heavily on open-hand techniques, coupled with kicking, punching and elbow hits. Hits are usually concentrated below the sternum to knock the air out of opponents.

Kickboxing. There are different versions of this fighting style, but the American version combines swift punches, knees, head-butts and kicks to disarm opponents, ideally before they can react and respond.

Wrestling. Wrestling is all about grappling techniques and techniques such as throws, takedowns and pins.

Taekwondo. Taekwondo, which originated in Korea, focuses on attacking opponents from a distance by using high kicks and quick hand movements. Mental focus and agility is highly encouraged in this style.

He also just started working with Ken Janata from Wildfire Softball, a competitive girl’s travel softball program based in Windermere.

“With all of my youth athletes, we don’t do any kind of heavy-weight training, but we do a lot of functional training — stuff that’s going to help them in their individual sports but also help tendon and ligament strengthening to help prevent injuries,” Montalbano said. “My job is to not only make (them) better at whatever sports (they) play but also to be able to help keep (them) on the field.”

At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, 44-year-old Montalbano inspires respect from young athletes, but his main goal is to help kids realize personal fitness training doesn’t have to be a chore. His training programs are more movement-based than traditional programs.

“Working with Jeff just provides a great environment and a great opportunity for a lot of our young players who’ve never really had any weightlifting or any kind of conditioning background,” Smith said. “Especially in baseball, because of the length of our season and the amount of games that we play a week, working a high-intensity training allows our kids to improve their cardiovascular system as well. And it’s all done with very low-risk atmosphere, which is what I really like about it.”

A veteran youth softball coach, Janata also appreciates the focus of the programs, as he’s noticed that even though the 11 eighth-grade girls he’s brought to Fight Sports Winter Garden have come back sore, they still want more.

Montalbano has been a personal trainer for 21 years, and he currently serves as the head coach for the kids Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program and fitness training program.

He currently is a second-degree brown belt in jiu-jitsu, with the next step being black belt. He said he would have his black belt already, but his time spent training others at the Fight Sports Winter Garden gym, doing what he loves, has delayed his progression slightly.

Not that he minds.

“I do it because it’s a not a job to me,” Montalbano proudly explains. “It’s kind of like a calling. I love watching people progress, whether it’s kids, women, men – I love having the ability to train everyone from elementary school kids, middle school, high school, college and professional athletes.”

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected]