Blood, sweat & tires

By Joe Scalzo

Old school training inspires love and hate

111Pavlik had spent the last 20 minutes tossing tires, swinging sledgehammers, jumping over obstacles, squatting with logs over his back ... you name it.

Nasty stuff. Old school stuff. “Rocky IV” kind of stuff.

“I’m tired,” Pavlik said. “Tiiiiiired.”

Standing next to him was one of the owners of the Ironman Warehouse, Paul “Dunner” Dunleavy, a man well known for running races (such as the Peace Race) with a giant log across his back. He led Pavlik through each workout station, making sure the exercises are done correctly and on time. About 10 other guys were in the gym, each focused on their workouts and not on the middleweight champion of the world.

“It’s not like coming in and doing a Tae Bo workout,” said Dunleavy, who started the gym last June with co-owners Mitch Zupko and Mark Raseta. “You’re going to come in here and challenge every expectation and being in your body. Every orifice is going to hurt, every ligament and tendon is going to get worked.”

Dunleavy has known Pavlik since he was a kid — he grew up across the street from Pavlik’s uncle in Struthers — but Pavlik didn’t start working out with him seriously until last summer before the first Jermain Taylor fight.

“My dad came down with my trainer, Jack [Loew], to check the place out and they both said, ‘You gotta do this workout,’” Pavlik said. “I came down here and I loved it.”

Well, sort of.

“He likes it, but he hates it,” said Dunleavy, chuckling.

Pavlik already had been doing some of the exercises, such as swinging sledgehammers and pushing trucks, but at the Ironman Warehouse, he was able to streamline his workouts, making them more efficient and more versatile. The emphasis is on building “core explosiveness,” which is valued by fitness experts because it’s more practical than simple weight training since weight training often does more to help your appearance than your performance.

Pavlik’s first workout was tough, but he considers it a point of pride that he didn’t throw up.

“I was not used to that type of workout,” he said. “I couldn’t walk straight for like three days.”

Pavlik splits his workouts between the downtown YMCA, Mill Creek Park, Rocky’s Personalized Training, Ironman Warehouse and, of course, the Southside Boxing Club. The workouts complement each other, building strength and endurance without bulk. The latter part is key when you’re 6-foot-2 and trying to keep your weight below 160 pounds.

It also builds mental strength, helping teach your body to deal with pain.

SDLqI think the Ironman Warehouse has done wonders for Kelly,” Loew said. “I truly believe in his first fight with Jermain Taylor, the physical activities he went through down there had a lot to do with him getting off the canvas [after getting knocked down].”

Dunleavy first developed the workout years ago because his roommate, Mark Metzka, was playing basketball in Europe and “hated the weight room.” A few years ago, he met Raseta (a former YSU football player under Jim Tressel who has a degree in exercise science and is working toward his Ph.D) and Zupko (a police officer whose nickname is “The Dancing Bear”).

Raseta and Zepko had a background in the “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” training. They melded their approach with Dunleavy to create the Ironman Warehouse, which is a part-time job for all three.

“We wanted it to stay in Youngstown,” Dunleavy said. “The name Ironman Warehouse represents a basic element in steel. We’re right on the river and the trains rumble by every once in awhile and shake the building.

“This is where my and Mitch’s and Mark’s fathers and grandfathers grew up working in the mills. I used to stand on the Center Street bridge and watch the melting pots in the winter, glowing steel pots. It’s a cool place to have it.”

All three owners are Christians — Raseta is Serbian Orthodox, Zepko is Catholic and Dunleavy considers himself non-denominational, although he attends Old North (Baptist) Church in Canfield — and their faith is a big part of their business.

“We pray about our business decisions, we pray before every workout and we kind of give mini-sermons to the kids about honoring their bodies,” Dunleavy said.

Several high schoolers work out at the gym, particularly football players, and Dunleavy helps keep them accountable. Swearing isn’t allowed. Neither is smoking, sagging pants or (get this) cell phones.

“This is a place of respect and honor,” he said. “If the kids get bad grades, we’re on them. If their moms tell us they’re smoking, we get on them.

“Our motto is strength and honor. On our website is the verse ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ That’s what it’s about. It’s about accountability. If guys come in with marital problems, we talk with them, we pray with them, we encourage them.”

About 40 people work out at the warehouse — a couple Howland volleyball players had their prom photos taken at the gym — and the members greet each other with what’s known as the “Defend Youngstown” handshake, where you grip each other’s forearm.

“This place means something to the kids,” Dunleavy said. “Everyone’s a family.”

X For more information on the Ironman Warehouse, visit www.ironmanwarehouse.com.