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JOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESSBy Marty GallagherBodybuilding Champion,mother, Alaskan gym ownerand so much more SPhoto by Bill Comstockome people cram so much living into life that even theunembellished retelling makes yourhead spin. Most people shy awayfrom life, they play it safe, take thepath of least resistance and at theend of the road look back wishingthey’d done this or tried that.Shoshana Treichel has grabbed lifeby the throat and shook it hard; shehas wrung every drop of excitement, heart break, adventure andcontentment from life so far andher tale is far from finished. Retelling her saga makes the headspin. Let us begin at the beginning.“I was born Shoshana Rosenblattin Rapid City, South Dakota. Myfather was a civil engineer and myformative years were spent growing up in Santa Maria, California.In high school we moved to England.” This abrupt change broadened Shoshana’s experience baseand her newly discovered wanderlust took her in rapid succession toHolland, Germany and finally Spain,where she lived for a year and a3April 2005 / Performance Press1-800-344-3404www.parrillo.com
SHOSHANA TREICHELhalf. Things just kept accelerating.“My parents and I moved to TelAviv when my father took a position with the American Embassy.I relocated and attended Tel AvivUniversity.” Always an extrovert,Shoshana had been involved in artsand the theatre in particular. Shewas blessed with a superb singingvoice and took to vocal-related endeavors with ease and aplomb.Talented and extroverted she applied to the most exclusive theatercompany in the United States: theNew York Theatre Institute. LeeStrasburg was the founder and hadbeen instrumental in the careers ofMarlon Brando, Robert DeNiroand Al Pacino. Strasburg himselfappeared as aging gangster MyerLansky in Godfather Part II.Shoshana applied and on thestrength of a video tape was summoned to New York for a formalaudition.You didn’t just apply, plop downyour money and start classes at thissuper-exclusive school; acceptance was predicated on passing agrueling, nerve-wracking auditionprocess. Shoshana was shocked todiscover that not only would theGuru of American acting coaches,Lee Strasburg, judge her at theaudition but a special celebrityguest judge would be critiquing heras well: Sir John Gielgood. Alongwith Sir Lawrence Olivier, Sir Johnwas the greatest living Englishstage actor. This audition wouldmake the finals of American Idollook like a cakewalk. Pulling outall the stops, Shoshana dazzled thepanel and was accepted. This wasa very big deal as thousands ofapplicants apply but only a selectwww.parrillo.comfew are actually accepted. “I returned to the United States fromIsrael in 1985 after being acceptedinto the Theatre Institute. I was amusical stage actress and had aspirations of appearing in Broadwaymusicals.” A life altering experience occurred in 1986. Shoshanahad been in New York less thanthree months when she wasmugged by a roving street gang.“I was young and carefree in NewYork when one evening I was at-“I wanted to compete as abodybuilder and vowedthat one day I would trainwith John Parrillo.”tacked by a gang and it really sentme spinning physically and psychologically.” The traumatic eventdestroyed her theater career butthe injury recuperation processexposed her to the world of healthand fitness. “One of my colleaguesat the Paris Health Club on theUpper West Side of Manhattan toldme about the power of liftingweights. After much hemming andhawing, I decided to accompanyhim to Better Bodies, a small Lower1-800-344-3404East Side gym where local celebrities like Gladys Portuguese (laterto marry Jean Claude Van Dame)and Vanessa Del Rio trained.”Better Bodies was a hot bed ofbodybuilding back in the eightiesand everyone who was anyonemade the pilgrimage to Brian Moss’urban fitness oasis when in the BigApple. Shoshana started off weakand broken. “In my first workouta 45-pound empty bar caused meto struggle in the bench press.” Shepushed through the pain and persevered. After a few weeks theprocess took hold and mentally andpsychologically something clickedinside her. “I intuitively knew thatfitness and bodybuilding would bean integral part of my life from thispoint forward.” Another fortuitousevent occurred when she waschannel surfing one afternoon andstopped to watch as an amazinglybuilt woman go through a weightworkout directed by a demandingtrainer. “I was newly exposed tothe world of bodybuilding and hungry to learn what ever I could loand behold as I was flipping throughthe channels I stopped when a wellknown female bodybuilder, DianeGarrity, appeared. I watched intently as she was put through asuper tough workout by her TVtrainer – John Parrillo. Later on Imet Gladys Portuguese at BetterBodies. We hit it off and begantraining together. I then had my firstexposure to Parrillo methodologyand took to it immediately. I knewfrom my acting and singing howhard serious people work in orderto excel and I instinctively knewthe Parrillo approach was the onefor me. John insisted on hard workPerformance Press / April 20054
JOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESSin 1989.” Shoshana became pregnant after the Southern States andtook some time off. “I did not hitthe stage again until I flew to California to do the Natural Universein 1991 where I finished 2nd.” Sheestablished herself as one of thetop up-and-coming talents on theFlorida bodybuilding scene andeven trained the Miami Dolphinsfor a short while. Shoshana had nosooner gotten settled and situatedthen a series of disasters befell heris quick succession.In 2000 she realized another dream when she openedShoshana’s Gym in Kodiak, Alaska. “I stocked my racks withParrillo products and began another chapter in my life.and strict, disciplined adherence tonutrition. This struck a resonantchord in me and confirmed what Ihad learned in theatre: to reallyexcel you have to work really hard.I wanted to compete as a bodybuilder and vowed that one day Iwould train with John Parrillo.”Her theatrical career, derailed bythe attack and delayed by the extended recuperative period, wasput on permanent hold when shemet and married Harry Cotler. Hewas a podiatrist and the newlywedsmoved to Florida. “I immersedmyself in the fitness industry. I wasgoing to become a fitness professional and began taking classes andobtaining certifications right andleft. Before my Florida relocation,5I fulfilled one long standing dreamwhen I competed in the AtlanticStates Bodybuilding Championships and came in 5 th place in1987.” Shoshana’s acting background and ability to project personality was apparent. The judgestold her she had “a hell of a lot ofstage presence but needed moremuscle maturity.” Taking up whereshe left off in Manhattan, shejumped feet first into the red hotFlorida bodybuilding scene.Shoshana quickly linked up withbodybuilding heavy hitters such asJohn Defendis, Joanne McCartney,Penny Price and Mike Quinn. “Itrained hard and won the noviceclass at the Florida State Bodybuilding Championships in 1988. Iplaced high in the Southern StatesApril 2005 / Performance Press“We lost our house in the aftermathof Hurricane Andrew. I was pregnant at the time and lost my child.Our new house and my husband’spractice were gone and I was devastated.” Tore down on a multitudeof fronts, Shoshana decided tomove far away from Florida. Herchoice was as unusual as her unpredictable personality. “After thesuccession of awful experiences Ifelt I could no longer live in Florida:we decided to explore the possibility of moving to Alaska. My husband was presented with an opportunity to start a new practiceon Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.”Shoshana traveled north with anopen mind regarding permanentrelocation. “To my way of thinking Alaska was a land of opportunity. My first stop was Gold’s Gymin Anchorage, owned by LindsayKnight. He and I hit it off. I lovedthe rugged beauty of the landscapeand we decided to relocate. Myhusband established a new practice and I got into the gym business. That was 1993.” Shoshanamoved to Kenai and traveled toAnchorage to work. Call it fate orirony or ironic fate, “Lindsay1-800-344-3404www.parrillo.com
SHOSHANA TREICHELKnight, it turned out, was a greatfriend of John Parrillo and Johnvisited Alaska each year to judgein bodybuilding competitions andlead seminars put on by Lindsay.”After nearly a decade of following Parrillo methods and usingParrillo products, Shoshana metJohn and Dominique Parrillo for thefirst time. “As soon as John andDominique walked through thedoor I literally leapt with glee. Itwas thrilling. I had dreamed ofbeing trained by the guru for sevenyears. We all went to dinner and Igot to know both of them on a personal level. Later I went to hisbodybuilding judging clinic and wasa participant in his extensive, comprehensive training seminar.”Though Shoshana thrived inAlaska, not everything waspeaches and cream. “In 1996 I divorced my husband and becamethe primary care giver to mydaughter. I had to come up with away to be financially independent.”Shoshana explored the possibilitiesof opening her own fitness facilityand all the while continued to expand her knowledge base. Her purebrain power led her to be acceptedinto an advanced course at thenation’s most prestigious institutefor higher learning: Harvard University. “In 1999 I was acceptedinto the graduate program in Medical Stress Reduction through Exercise and Nutrition at HarvardUniversity in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It took six months to complete my studies. The entire time Icould not wait to return to the rugged wilds of Alaska.” All the timeshe had been in the Kenai she hadbeen competing in bodybuildingwww.parrillo.com“I have an endorsement contract with the auto makeHummer and they provide me with the newest 2005 H2.”competitions. “I competed andguest posed in numerous contestsand jumped at an opportunity toperform at the “Mr. Israel” bodybuilding championships on KibbutzAfiq in 1998.” In 2000 she realized another dream when sheopened Shoshana’s Gym inKodiak, Alaska. “I stocked myracks with Parrillo products andbegan another chapter in my life. Idecided on a new goal: I wouldcompete in the master’s division ofa national level bodybuildingshow.” By the year 2002 her gymwas a financial success and shewas in love again with a new man.“I began a wonderful relationshipwith my future husband JakeTreichel.” Jake was a coast guardhelicopter mechanic, certified rescue diver and an excellent athlete.“Jake and I first met when he hiredme to train and prepare his nutritional schedule for the Anchorage1-800-344-3404regional bodybuilding championships. He not only won his weightdivision – he won me!”She decided to get serious abouther bodybuilding career. “I wantedto take my physique to the nextlevel so I arranged to have one ofmy good friends from Gold’s Gymin Anchorage come and run mygym. This allowed me to fly to Cincinnati and train with John.” Shemade the best of her extended visitand returned home with a detailedgame plan, a whole batch of newexercise techniques and a brandnew nutritional approach that sheand John had hatched. Shoshannafelt certain her customized Parrilloapproach would allow her to physically exceed everything she hadachieved to this point. After a yearof putting ‘the plan’ into action, itwas time to pull the trigger. In 2004Shoshana placed high in three con-Performance Press / April 20056
Parrillo products and began another chapter in my life. www.parrillo.com 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / April 2005 6 Knight, it turned out, was a great friend of John Parrillo and John visited Alaska each year to judge in bodybuilding competitions and
