In the small Italian town of Cagli, men are seen day after day in the Piazza Matteotti on their bicycles or jogging.   Women are never spotted showing off their physical capabilities. A majority of the women in Cagli are extremely health-conscious; but they choose to work out behind closed doors.   It is the men to be seen strutting their physical fitness throughout the center of town, but on average, more women than men go to the gym each day.  

"The concept of fitness is taken seriously here, especially by the Cagliesi women.   For the most part, the females in town are in good shape, but they could always be better, and that is where I come in," says 25-year-old Nicola Celletini.  

He is studying scienze motorize (the science of movement) at a university in Urbino for an advanced degree for his planned career as a personal trainer and physical therapist.

For the past four years, Celletini has worked as a personal trainer at three different gyms.   He currently works at a local gym in Cagli, Planet Fitness, which opened only a month ago.    Here he spends his days working alongside his clients to improve their health and exercise routines.  

Celletini enjoys revealing his knowledge and skill with those who share a similar passion for health and fitness.  

"I love being a personal trainer because health and movement and being fit are important to me," he says.  

As a man in his mid-20s, he works to improve the health of his male and female clients. He works each day to get in even better shape, enjoying exercise such as running, soccer and karate during his free time.  

As a personal trainer, Celletini has seen a lot in terms of fitness in Cagli.   He takes a client's plan step by step, starting the weight training with lighter free weights and then gradually moving to the machines.   Standing by the client's side, he watches each motion to make sure he or she performs the exercise correctly.

"Women feel more comfortable and find themselves more at ease when joining the gym with friends, since most of the personal trainers here are men," says Celletini.   Feeling comfortable helps the clients to stay focused during workouts.   Many women feel enough at ease to attend personal training sessions with him for 90 euros a month.   Others choose to participate in the group classes, which are free for members and are held two to three times a week.   The group classes offered by Planet Fitness are often geared more toward females than males, especially the yoga class, even though some men choose to attend in order to feel a sense of relaxation while simultaneously stretching their tight muscles.   "About 60 percent of the people who go to the classes are women," says Celletini.   The most popular classes for women include aerobics with free weights of about six pounds and spinning, a fast-paced workout on a stationary bicycle.   Some women also enjoy playing basketball or soccer with a group, in order to get their cardio in.  

Although 40 is the average age of the women at Planet Fitness, Celletini trains women from 14 to 60.   Meeting with his clients two to three times a week, he assists them in cardiovascular and weight training, depending on their desired body type.   Celletini begins and ends his sessions with women by stretching out his clients' muscles.   He then begins with aerobic training, followed by weight lifting.    Next, he has his clients follow a circuit training method, moving to different cardiovascular machines after a certain interval.   Some clients prefer to use the stationary bicycle, the stepper, or the elliptical trainer to do cardiovascular exercise while at the gym.   The elliptical trainer, a fairly new phenomenon in the world of cardiovascular exercise, has become the cardiovascular choice of exercise for many women in Cagli.   It is a low-impact machine that stimulates the muscles as though one were walking or running.    

"A good diet is important to get fit and be in decent shape," says one of Celletini's 26-year-old clients who asked to remain anonymous.   Along with the physical aspect of training, he provides a daily diet for his clients to follow.   "Here many people do not have breakfast, which is the most important meal.   I require all of my clients to have milk with cereal or bread with jam to get their metabolism going early," Celletini says. For lunch, he recommends pasta and tomato sauce with a side of vegetables and maybe fruit or bread with ham.   For dinner, he tells them to have either fish or meat along with another serving of vegetables.   "Most importantly, I suggest to all of my clients to drink water throughout the day, instead of the typical refreshing beer," he says.     

With his help and support, Celletini's clients may be gradually on their way to achieving their own personal goals and body weights.   "I like having Nicola as a personal trainer because I think it is important to be followed by a professional ... someone who really knows what they are doing.   Having a personal trainer also pushes me more, because at the end of the month we are tested to see our progress.   It helps because I like to keep in shape ... it helps me feel better about myself," says a Cagliese client.