Odd Enough: This teen with down syndrome is best friends with his personal trainer

From working out to water gun fights, these two do everything together!

When personal trainer Sammy Callari started working out with 13-year-old Parker Seward last year, they bonded instantly.

So much so, that soon after they met, Seward started calling his new trainer “big brother,” and Callari called him “little brother,” according to the Naples Daily News.

Seward, who has Down syndrome, wanted to become stronger, and Callari was asked to work with him while his co-worker was away last spring.

 

The mixed martial arts fighter turned certified personal trainer had never worked with someone with a disability before, and admits he was a little nervous to meet him.

But Seward’s sunny personality immediately put Callari at ease.

“We hit it off,” Callari said. “He gave me the nickname ‘Luke Bryan’ because he thinks that’s who I look like.”

 

And even when Callari moved from Naples, Florida, back to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to further his career as a trainer last fall, the pair kept in touch. But around Christmas, Callari moved back to Naples to continue his work with Seward, saying that he felt he needed to pursue his dream to help and inspire as many people as he could.

Since January 2017, Seward and Callari have been training together twice a week and hanging out together outside the gym as well, regularly having pickup basketball games, water gun fights, and singing and dancing along to songs in the car.

Seward’s workouts include chest presses, bench presses, squats, planks, and his favorite exercise, bicep curls (with dumbbells similar to these).

Since January, Seward has lost 2 inches around his waist, and his upper-body strength has doubled. He can now do 10 assisted pushups instead of five, and he can hold a plank for 17 seconds instead of eight.

The one-hour workout sessions have helped Seward focus his attention and release some of his pent-up energy.

“As Parker grows up, he can take a lot of the lessons we’ve learned from everyday life and in our gym sessions, and that will help him build a solid foundation as he becomes a young man,” Callari told the newspaper. “He’s already off to a great start."

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94