Born to Stand Out: Celebrity Fitness Trainer Stephen Bauer Shares His Expertise

Tennis coach and celebrity fitness trainer, Stephen Bauer brings his knowledge and passion to the masses with his first book, “Born To Stand Out”. Presenting a ten-step program, his book demonstrates how to achieve peak physical fitness, while also providing the keys to an entire lifestyle adjustment.

“Born to Stand Out” reflects Bauer’s physical fitness regimen, and shares his belief that good conditioning adds to one’s mental well-being, as well as provides a spiritual strength that contributes to all areas of one’s life. By combining balance, flexibility and strength, Bauer teaches readers how to use these principals in order to achieve peek physical fitness, while adopting a whole new outlook on life.

The Man Behind the Book
An athlete himself, Stephen Bauer has worked with many sports figures, including Maria Sharapova, who he currently coaches, as well as Conchita Martinez, who he helped climb up the ranks from number 42 to number 2 in the world in the Women’s Professional Tennis Tour. Stephen also guided junior tennis player Michael Joyce from number ten, to number one in the U.S. and number five in the world and was responsible for helping Hugo Perez make the United States World Cup Soccer Team.

In addition, Stephen has trained members of the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, New York Kicks, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Rockets, U.S. National Soccer Team, Oakland Raiders, as well as Pro Volleyball players, WTA/ATP tennis players and USC, UCLA & Pepperdine athletes.

With 10 years coaching on the WTA Tour, 18 years teaching professional tennis in Los Angeles and 2 years of coaching footwork and conditioning at Pepperdine University behind him, Stephen also trains many members of the Hollywood elite.

Stephen has also shared his considerable knowledge with media outlets such as, “People Magazine”, “Runners’ World”, “GQ”, “Vogue”, “Vanity Fair”, “Muscle & Fitness”, “Tennis”, “Tennis Weekly”, “CBS”, “BBC”, “USA,” and the “LA Times.” 

When he’s not training or coaching, Stephen donates his time to many worthwhile charities. Working with the US Open Tennis Foundation, he brought Jim Carrey in to play in the tournament, lined up pro players to participate in the Bank of the West Pro Celebrity Tennis Tournament and works with the Make a Wish Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

Born to Stand Out
Bauer’s book includes exercises for every part of the body, as well as demonstrates how to build the foundation for a complete lifestyle makeover by focusing on:

*The elimination of negative thinking
*The uses of positive reinforcement
*The benefits of visualization
*Making time for yourself
*Cleaning up your space
*Bringing on supporters
*Dealing with and eliminating distractions
*Finding your inner child
*The necessity of good nutrition

We sat down with Stephen Bauer to find out more about his life and philosophy: 

LA’s The Place:  What lead you into an athletic career?

Stephen Bauer:  In high school I started playing tennis and joined the track team as a 400 meter runner.  While in college I continued to excel at both sports and considered competing at the professional level. I then had an opportunity to coach on the pro tennis tour and found it to be a perfect fit as I enjoyed helping people improve themselves.

LATP:  Why tennis?
SB:  Tennis had always been a significant party of my life, I had started when I was 6 years old.  I could identify much more with the sport and found it full of opportunities worldwide.

I also appreciate the complexity in the range of techniques involved with tennis. There are so many different parts to the game (different swings, footwork, strategy, etc.).Tennis is a the kind of sport in which someone can integrate into their whole life. Finally, I like the fact that tennis is an individual sport, 1-on-1. Your success is completely in your hands, you take full responsibility for your results.

LATP:  How did you get involved in teaching celebrities?
SB:  Originally coaching with pro-tour tennis players as well as cross training athletes from other sports such as the NFL and NBA.  I met Tim Caviezel while sprint training and he suggested I start training his brother, Jim Caviezel (Jesus in Passion of the Christ).  Since then my client list has had a snowball effect, growing by word of mouth. Now I coach about 10 A-List celebrities in tennis and conditioning.

LATP:  What do you attributed to your success?
SB:  I really love working with people, very positive, never negative. I’m honest, loyal, punctual. I enjoy bringing happiness into people’s lives with success and achievement.
Helping my clients achieve their goals and improve their lives is more important to me than picking up a paycheck.

LATP:  What is different in your approach?
SB:  I am extremely visual. My coaching is very tailored to each individual. Once of my key strengths is being able to relate tennis to their personal lives in order to help them understand and learn new skills. One of my current clients, Loren Levine, was a world champion wakeboarder. I will talk with him about his wakeboarding skills and then interpret them and apply them to tennis. Regarding kids, I treat them on an equal level like adults. I can really relate to kids. Most of all, all my clients become my friends.

LATP:  What is one of the most important things you want to get across in your book?
SB:  The discipline, strength, and balance of an athlete can directly translate into balancing an maintaining the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of anyone’s personal life.

In addition to reading the success stories of Bauer’s well known clients, readers will learn how to become physically fit by participating in different types of workouts, finding the right trainer and figuring out the best workout for the individual.

Some of the top celebrities Bauer is the personal tennis coach/trainer for include Jim Carrey, Jenny McCarthy, Tom Arnold, Mariska Hargitay, Jodie Foster, Eric Braeden, Jack Huston,  Ben Stiller, Sam Mendes, Brian Robbins, Renee Taylor, Kirsten Dunst, Jeremy Piven, Ewan McGregor, Martha De Laurentiis, Mark Ruffalo, Joe Bologna, Hugh Jackman, Jim Caviezel, Christine Taylor, Morris Chestnut, Kate Winslet, Deborah Gibson, Chris Roberts, Euzhan Palcy, Kathy Bates, Stephen Schwartz, Sheryl Lee, Chris Spencer, Mike Medavoy, Cynthia Margolis, Nastassja Kinski, Charlie Sheen, Harry Abrams, Bill Bindley, David Ladd, Cybill Shepherd, David Arnold and more.

Stephen has coached members of the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Rockets, U.S. National Soccer Team, Oakland Raiders, USC & UCLA & Pepperdine Athletes, Pro Volleyball Players, WTA/ATP tennis players.