Personal Trainer in Hillcrest San Diego — Performance Training Center
Personal Trainer in Hillcrest
Hillcrest is a hospital neighborhood and it trains like one. Most of the people who come to us from up the hill work shifts, spend hours on hard floors and then more hours charting, and need a session that fits a schedule somebody else controls. The studio is at 440 Upas Street in Bankers Hill, the neighborhood directly south of you, so a session before or after a shift is realistic. In-home training across Hillcrest covers the weeks when it isn’t.
What a Hillcrest Week Does to a Body
Two things wear on the people who train with us from Hillcrest. The first is standing: long stretches on hard floors with your weight parked on one hip, a fast walk somewhere, then back to standing. The second is what happens after, when you sit down to write everything up and your hips stay shut for another two hours. Neither one is an injury. Together they show up as a tight front hip, a low back that starts complaining around hour nine, and a neck that has quietly drifted forward.
Living somewhere walkable hides it. Hillcrest is a neighborhood you can cross on foot, so people arrive convinced they already move plenty and they do move. They just never load anything. Walking is good for you and it is not a substitute: it does not build the hip, glute, and mid-back strength that makes a long day on your feet cheap instead of expensive.
So the first session is an assessment, not a workout. We look at how you stand, how you breathe, what your hips and mid-back actually do, and what the week looks like once shifts and call are on the calendar. From there the program runs on ordinary, well-tested principles: progressive overload, sensible periodization, and load matched to your training age and your recovery, with structural assessment and Feldenkrais-informed somatic work brought in where movement quality rather than strength is what’s holding you back.
Our Integrated Training System
Four pieces, one program. Which piece leads depends on you. For most Hillcrest clients it is strength first, with movement work early on to get the hips and mid-back moving again, and nutrition brought in once the training schedule is actually holding.
Strength & Conditioning
Progressive overload, periodization, and motor-pattern development grounded in NSCA-aligned principles. Programs are calibrated to your training age, neuromuscular capacity, and recovery profile — driving measurable gains in strength, power, and movement quality.
Sports Nutrition
Macros, meal timing, and supplementation engineered to your performance goals — fat loss, muscle gain, recovery, and energy. Built on evidence-based sports nutrition science and personalized to your physiology.
Somatic Movement Education
Movement re-education drawing on the movement teachings of Moshé Feldenkrais, focused on the compensation patterns left behind by old injuries — with the goal of rebuilding neuromuscular function and movement confidence.
Functional Health Assessment
Functional lab testing — microbiome panels, hormonal markers, and food sensitivity screening — for clients whose progress has plateaued and who want more data behind their nutrition and training plan.
Services for Hillcrest Clients
Who We Train
All ages and abilities. Three kinds of people come to us from Hillcrest:
Shift Workers and Hospital Staff
Twelve-hour days, rotating starts, and a kind of tired that sleep doesn’t entirely fix. The program is written to survive that: fewer and harder sessions through a heavy stretch, more volume when the schedule loosens, and a standing rule that a missed week is a scheduling problem to solve rather than a reason to start over. Early mornings and evenings are both available, and we would rather move a session than have you train it badly.
Post-Surgery & Post-Rehab Clients
Cleared by your physical therapist but not yet back to full function. Our somatic movement education plus structured strength and conditioning picks up where clinical care ends. We have worked with clients post-ACL reconstruction, post-rotator cuff repair, post-spinal procedures, and post-hip and knee replacements — with the goal of rebuilding strength and movement quality.
Walkers Who Have Never Lifted
Hillcrest is full of people who gave up the car years ago and assume that covers it. It covers your steps and a fair amount of your cardio. It does not cover the strength that keeps a back comfortable through a long day, and it does nothing for the muscle and bone you lose decade by decade if nothing asks you to hold onto them. If you have never touched a barbell and are slightly suspicious of the whole idea, this is a normal place to start. We teach the pattern first, add load slowly, and nobody is watching.
About Martin Alonzo
Martin Alonzo is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutritionist, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Golf Specific Strengthening Coach, Destination Wellbeing Practitioner, and Somatic Movement Educator with over 22 years of experience. His training integrates applied exercise science, structural assessment, and Feldenkrais somatic methodology into a single custom system built for each client.
His client list includes Fortune 500 executives, professional and collegiate athletes, post-surgical clients across orthopedic specialties, and serious San Diego performers across every life stage from late 20s through retirement.
Studio & Location
Performance Training Center is at 440 Upas Street, Unit 104, in Bankers Hill, one block from Balboa Park. Bankers Hill is the neighborhood directly south of Hillcrest, so from most Hillcrest addresses this is a short drive, and from the south end of the neighborhood some clients walk it. There is street parking on Upas. The studio is private: one client at a time, no front desk, and no waiting for a rack.
In-home training is also available across Hillcrest and the surrounding central neighborhoods if you would rather not travel at all. You provide the space and we bring the session to it, working with your home setup, your building’s gym, your bodyweight, or the outdoors. In-home starts at $300 per visit against $175 at the studio, so most Hillcrest clients mix the two rather than choosing one.
📍 View on Google Maps · 📞 (619) 284-2510
Start with an assessment, not a workout
Start with your numbers. The free BMR and macros calculator takes about a minute, and it gives the consultation something concrete to work from: where your intake actually sits, and what a Hillcrest schedule is doing to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far is the studio from Hillcrest?
Close. Bankers Hill is the neighborhood directly south of Hillcrest and the studio is at 440 Upas Street, one block from Balboa Park. From most Hillcrest addresses it is a short drive, and from the south end of the neighborhood some clients walk. In-home training is also available across Hillcrest if you would rather not travel at all.
Do you offer in-home personal training in Hillcrest?
Yes, and in Hillcrest it is usually a scheduling decision rather than a preference. Plenty of clients here train at the studio when the week is normal and switch to in-home sessions through a run of nights or a stretch of call. An apartment or condo gym is fine to work in, and so is a living room with a set of dumbbells. In-home starts at $300 per visit against $175 in the studio, so most people mix the two rather than committing to one.
Do you offer one-on-one personal training, or only group sessions?
One-on-one is our primary model. Every session is part of a customized personal training program built for the individual based on your assessment, your goals, and where you are that week. We also offer small-group training (2-4 people, typically family or close-friend pairs) for clients who prefer it.
How long are training sessions?
60 minutes, and the studio opens at 6am, which is the slot most Hillcrest clients want before a day shift. Initial consultations are 30 minutes and cover your goals, your baseline, your injury history, and whether this is the right fit. If your schedule rotates, say so on that call. We would rather build the program around the rotation than pretend it isn’t there.
I just had surgery and was cleared by my physical therapist. Can you help me get back to full function?
Yes — this is a large part of what we do. Somatic movement education plus progressive strength and conditioning is built to pick up where clinical care ends, once your physical therapist has cleared you. We’ve worked with clients post-ACL reconstruction, post-rotator cuff repair, post-spinal procedures, and post-hip and knee replacements. We coordinate with your surgeon and PT when relevant. Performance Training Center is a performance-training studio, not a medical or physical-therapy clinic. We don’t diagnose, treat, or rehabilitate injuries or medical conditions.
What strength and conditioning principles do you use?
Programs are built on evidence-based exercise science — progressive overload, periodization (linear, undulating, or block depending on your goals), neural-drive development, and biomechanically-precise movement patterning. We follow NSCA-aligned principles and calibrate every loading decision to your training age, neuromuscular capacity, and recovery profile.
Do you take insurance?
We’re a private personal training studio, not a medical clinic. We don’t bill insurance. Sessions are paid out-of-pocket, but we provide FSA/HSA-eligible documentation for sessions related to post-surgical rehabilitation when applicable.
What’s your cancellation policy?
Sessions cancelled with 24 hours’ notice are rescheduled at no charge. Less than 24 hours and the session is forfeit. Packages are non-refundable but transferable to a friend or family member.
How quickly will I see results?
Individual results vary based on ability, program intensity, recovery, and individual adherence. The clients who get the most out of training are honest with us about nutrition, sleep, and life stress — those factors drive the majority of outcomes alongside the training itself.
What does pricing look like?
In-studio sessions are $175 per session — same rate whether you book a single session or a package. In-home training starts at $300 per visit, with the final rate based on neighborhood travel time. Assessment & Program Design is $899 per cycle. View full rates.
Are you taking new clients right now?
We accept a limited number of new clients each month to maintain coaching quality. The best first step is the free BMR calculator + 30-minute consultation — that’s how we determine whether you’re a fit for our current openings. Reach out and we’ll let you know what’s available.
The studio is the next neighborhood over.
Martin has coached in San Diego for more than 22 years, and he coaches every session himself. Take a minute to grab your numbers, then we’ll talk.
“Muscle-strengthening activity is associated with a 10 to 17 percent lower risk of death, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.”
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