A warning from personal trainer Rocco Castellano:

        “I know time is tight and no one has much of it, but you gotta exercise. If you don't, you die fat, ugly and soon.”

        Kind of blunt, 'eh?

        Always, says the 36-year-old Covington resident and owner of Rocco's Complete Fitness Systems. He moved to Cincinnati in 1994 and since then has become one of the busiest trainers in town.

        “I came here with $60 that I borrowed, a bus ticket and my clothes. Everything else, I sold in New York to pay the bills I ran up being a screw-up.”

        In his seven years here, Mr. Castellano, who is 5-foot-9, 240 pounds and owns a chest the size of your father's Oldsmobile, has become a familiar sight in the MainStrasse area. Soon, he'll be more familiar: As we speak, he's renovating a MainStrasse building, turning it into a private club and wine bar: “A throwback to the old days — bathroom attendant, quiet corners, a place you can feel safe, where there won't be some drunk chasing your girlfriend. I'll be there to make sure.”

        He's also what you call, um, a colorful character.

        People hanging around Covington's Maifest today will see him, probably with Bosco, a mix of English pit bull, terrier and lab, and Snoopy the beagle in tow. Make nice when he's around.

        “The cops hate me. They don't like the public taking matters into their own hands. But when I see some guy beating somebody up over here, yeah, I go slap the guy around. Then the cops come and off I go.

        “When you see people hurting other people, you just gotta put the cape on.

        “I haven't been in jail for five years though. My lawyers told me to quit hitting people.”

        Used to be, he hit people legally — 18 years as a boxer.

        “That's what got me on Gary Burbank's show,” he says, referring to his six-month stint as a regular on the popular show. “I didn't want to go on because I stutter and don't like to be put on the spot. But he was so funny, making me the butt of jokes about a loud guy from New York, ex-boxer, I spent all my time laughing.”

        Then, bluntly again: “Boxing is the most corrupt sport in the world. I couldn't wait to get out.”

        Not that he has lived the life of a saint. After growing up in New Jersey in a family with strong ties to, well, the family, he moved to New York to box and work as a trainer. Among his high-end clients: The late John F. Kennedy Jr., Spike Lee, Bonnie Raitt, Joel and Jennifer Grey.

        “I was making $160,000 a year and spending every penny of it living the fast life, in and out of trouble, running gambling parlors, running with a bad crowd. Of my group, everyone is either dead or in jail except me and my friend Tommy.

        “I was doing things some might call illegal, at least borderline, and making money. Then it hit me, I could transfer those skills to something legal and still succeed.”

        In the years after, he went to school and became a chef, then a carpenter, then massage therapist and, finally, back to training, “because I spent my whole life in a gym. I knew it was something I could succeed at.”

        He has. Big time:

        • He trains 35 people three times a week and has a list of 25 waiting to get in.

        • His book, The Mechanics of Manual Resistance (Castle Co. Publications; $19.95) is due in late summer.

        • He has been named Official Trainer of the Miss Ohio USA pageant (Nov. 16-17 at the Omni). It's the feeder pageant for Miss USA, which is the feeder for Miss Universe.

        • He's a favorite among local charities. When Cincinnati Opera opened Samson a few years ago, they asked him to pull a bus past Music Hall with his teeth. A root canal got in the way, so he just dragged it. But he did pull a fire engine with his teeth for Chilifest.

        • When Masters Press wanted to put out a bible on fitness training, its panel of experts identified their picks of the nation's top 30 trainers to contribute to Maximize Your Training ($19.95). Mr. Castellano did Chapter 30: “Fiber Types and Repetition Ranges.”

        • His very expensive seminars — “Are You Fit to be a Personal Trainer” ($249.95) and “Mechanics of Manual Resistance” ($395) — sell out in Cincinnati and on both coasts months in advance.

        Whew. Now say something blunt again, OK?

        On his personal habits . . .

        People say to me, how can you be a trainer and smoke cigars? I tell them to shut up.

        On his ongoing battle with stuttering . . .

        If you don't want to hear me stutter, don't talk to me. And it's not a real stutter. It's more of a hesitation.

        On why he moved to Cincinnati . . .

        You got the Roebling bridge, prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Carew Tower, prototype for the Empire State Building. I thought hey, it's New York. Then I found out it was not only the most livable city, but also the nation's eighth fattest. That's my demographic.

        On boxing . . .

        They need to change it to winner takes all. You lose, and you're still guaranteed millions. You gonna try all that hard?

        On his family back east . . .

        You never lose that persona of being related to the mob. People want to challenge you. It makes you do stupid stuff. Like I did.

        On why he broke off his recent engagement . . .

        I'm hard to live with. I'm married to my job, and I can be a real jackass.

        On his seminars . . .

        The reason I do so many is I wanted to be a teacher, but my high school guidance counselor told me not to go to college. Get a trade job where I wouldn't have to talk. Because I stuttered. I got determined. Twenty years later, I teach to full houses.

        On his clients . . .

        I only take people who are committed and driven to succeed. When people come in with an agenda and issues, I tell them no, you take too much energy.

        On his local success . . .

        People are going to be PO'd when I say this, but there's a lot of mediocrity here, and that makes Cincinnati ripe for the picking. All you do is work a few extra hours each week and you succeed. But I don't see much work ethic here. One thing I really want to say with all this bad stuff going on around town, is that if I could change my ways and succeed, anybody can.

        On his rough image . . .

        My mouth gets me in trouble, but if you're going to make a difference, you need to be candid and not pull any punches. Everyone knows where I stand.

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