It’s well known that many teachers have to work a second job for a little extra cash. LHS students have seen Mr. Kudla at Big Y, Mr. Rea does the AP reading, and others coach, tutor, or some other type of side hustle.

Mr. Cangemi, has been in the military for over 19 years and looks to be retiring this summer from the Air Force Reserves. With weekends now free, he will now spend this summer earning a certificate as a Personal Trainer.

“I’ve always been interested in health and fitness, and now that I will have some extra time, I would love to work part-time at a gym to help people meet their fitness goals,” he said.

Cangemi has been an English teacher here for almost 18 years. He was hired in 2004 and still is a current member of the Ludlow Senior High School English department staff. 

He believes that being healthy and physically fit leads to an overall happier life.

Cangemi is taking the personal trainer course through ACE Fitness over the summer for $650 and needs to complete 80 to 100 hours of training. 

After his initial certification, the plan for Cangemi is to get certified in TRX and yoga. TRX stands for “Total (Body) Resistance eXercise.” These courses take on average 3 to 6 months to complete. After completing all of the training courses you have to pass the certification exam in order to start training others. 

Some requirements in order to be a personal trainer include a high school diploma, an AED/CPR certification, and you have to take and pass the certification exam as stated above. According to ACE< In order to be a personal trainer you need to be able to work well with others and have a good connection with the client you are working with. You need to be able to know your client and make a workout plan that you know would work best for them and help them achieve their personal fitness goals. This is what Cangemi is looking to do for others. 

Cangemi said that there great advantages to working out, but when working out you need to make sure that you are doing workouts that will help benefit you and your own personal goals. This is where a personal trainer comes in. Some people are very aware of what they need to work on and build their own workout plans. Other people who are just starting their workout journey might need a little help from a personal trainer to help them achieve their fitness goals. They can make workout plans that will help benefit the parts of your body that you want to work on. 

On top of wanting to be a personal trainer, Mr. Cangemi also plans to get certified as a yoga instructor through SWEAT Power Yoga which is located 219 Shaker Road, East Longmeadow.

“I want to be a certified teacher in yoga and I am hoping to do this next year after becoming a certified personal trainer,” said Cangemi. 

Just like working out, there are many benefits to participating in some yoga classes. According to Hopkins Medicine, there are more than nine benefits of yoga. These benefits include improvement in strength, balance, and flexibility, back relief, ease of arthritis symptoms, and many other benefits. Yoga can lift your mood immensely and help you manage your stress. There are a variety of different yoga positions that have specific benefits and you just have to find the right ones that help you and your goals.

While Cangemi plans on sticking around for a few more years at LHS, who knows where these certifications will take him professionally in the future.