Personal Trainer in South Park, San Diego | Strength, Conditioning & Nutrition

South Park sits along the east side of Balboa Park. Our studio sits on the other side of it, at 440 Upas Street, Unit 104 in Bankers Hill, one block from the park. The park is essentially the only thing between us, which makes Performance Training Center a practical place for South Park residents to train before work, at lunch, or on the way home.

South Park is Craftsman bungalows, short steep blocks, canyon edges, and a small business strip that people genuinely walk to. It skews toward households who already care about how they eat and how they move, and who get a decent amount of incidental activity just living here. What is usually missing is structured strength work, because that is the part that never happens by accident.

This page explains how we train, who we work with from the neighborhood, and what it costs to start.

Why South Park residents train with us

This isn’t a big-box gym. Every program is built around your body, your history, and your goals, and every session is coached in person by Martin Alonzo, a certified personal trainer, certified nutritionist, and CHEK practitioner with 22+ years of experience. One coach and one program, start to finish.

Three things come up over and over with clients from this side of the park. The first is time: a lot of South Park households run on a school schedule or a downtown work schedule, and training has to fit a 60-minute window that does not move. The second is the hills. Walking a bungalow neighborhood built on short, steep blocks keeps you reasonably fit and does close to nothing for the hips, glutes and upper back, which is where the aches turn up. The third is the gap between eating well and training well. Plenty of people here have the food side more or less handled and have never had anyone program their strength work.

That last one is the easiest to close. Because Martin is also a certified nutritionist, the eating and the training get planned together instead of by two people who never speak.

What South Park clients train for

• Truly 1-on-1 in a private studio — full attention, no waiting on equipment. Sessions are 60 minutes at $150, the same rate whether you book one session or a package.
• Evidence-based strength and conditioning, progressed from an assessment rather than a template.
• Nutrition coaching built in — nutrition and training handled by the same coach, in the same plan.
• Strength for parents who spend the day carrying, lifting and bending, and want a back and a set of hips that hold up to it.
• Post-rehab strength training once your physician or physical therapist has cleared you. See post-rehab training in San Diego.
• Somatic movement education drawing on the movement teachings of Moshé Feldenkrais, for old injuries that quietly changed how you move.

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.

Getting here from South Park

The studio is at 440 Upas Street, Unit 104, San Diego, CA 92103, one block from Balboa Park on the Bankers Hill side. From South Park it is a drive around or through the park, with street parking on Upas when you arrive. Because the studio is private, you turn up for an appointment rather than competing for a rack.

If it is easier to stay on your side of the park, in-home training is available across San Diego County and works with a garage setup, a spare room, bodyweight, or a yard. Virtual coaching covers travel and the stretches when the schedule tightens up. See San Diego personal training and rates & programs, or our North Park page, since the two neighborhoods sit next to each other.

Start with an assessment

The first visit is a conversation and a movement assessment. We go through your training history, your injury history, your goals, and how your body actually moves right now. The program comes out of that, not out of a folder.

Ready to train with a South Park personal trainer who builds the program around you? Book a complimentary consultation, call (619) 284-2510, or grab your free BMR & nutrition report in 60 seconds. We are rated 4.8 on Google across 24 reviews.

Frequently asked questions

How far is the studio from South Park?

It is a drive around Balboa Park. The studio is at 440 Upas Street, Unit 104 in Bankers Hill, one block from the park, with street parking on Upas. If you would rather not make the trip at all, in-home training comes to you.

Do you train beginners?

Yes. Most people who start here have either never lifted or have not lifted in years. The assessment sets the starting point and the load goes up from there at a pace your body can absorb.

What does it cost?

Private studio sessions are $150 each, and the per-session rate is the same for a single session or a package. In-home training starts at $300 per visit and virtual coaching is $350 a month. See the rates page.

I am a parent with a narrow window. Can this work?

That is the common case here. Sessions are 60 minutes by appointment, and the program is written around the number of days you can genuinely commit to rather than the number that looks good on paper.

Can you help with nutrition as well?

Yes. Martin is a certified nutritionist, so nutrition is part of the program rather than a separate service. For clients who have plateaued, functional lab testing including metabolomics testing at $599 is available.

Performance Training Center
440 Upas Street, Unit 104, San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 284-2510 · martin@performcenter.com