P
E R S O N A L _B I O G R A P H Y
After a bachelor degree in
psychology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Royka moved
to Clarksville to earn a commercial pilot license
for a family-owned hot air balloon business. Serving as Fitness Director
for the Clarksville Athletic Club, he earned a Master’s degree
from Austin Peay State University along with his piloting license.
Piloting eventually fell to the fitness fanaticism, and Royka took
a job in Nashville
as fitness Director for the Club at Westside in 1997. In 1999, he founded
the Nashville based personal training company, Royka’s InnerStrength,
L.L.C.
For fun, Royka likes
to compete in 12 to 60-hour Adventure Races. “I
had a wonderful opportunity to be on an Eco-Challenge team in Fiji,
but had to surrender the spot for our annual benefit,” Royka
and his wife Jill organize fund-raiser for meningitis research,
a disease
that affected their son Max at just six weeks of age. Events organized
each year include a dinner, silent auction and concert with special
guests dubbed, Keith Urban’s
Max It Out For Meningitis.
Q&A
provided by Drew Walen of The City Paper.
What
don’t
most of your clients know about you?
Maybe that my childhood dream was to have a pet monkey one day with
his own room.
What is your favorite
thing to do on a Friday or Saturday night?
Pretty simple
now, staying home and spending quality time with my sons Max and
Luke, or going to a new restaurant for a long dinner and good conversation.
What is your favorite
fattening meal?
In Rochester,
New York they serve this great dish at a dive called Nick Tahous called
a “Garbage Plate.” It is a huge plate of cold
macaroni salad on one half, fried potato cubes on the other, topped with
two cheese-burger patties, onions and their special hot sauce. You chop
it all together and eat it with some thick stale bread, real butter and
a Coke. You won’t be hungry again for days.
What is your least
favorite and most favorite exercise?
Least favorite, swimming. Most favorite, free climbing without rope
support. It uses the whole body and mind.
What music do you
listen to when you work out?
I listen
to Sevendust, Creed, Limp Biskit, Korn, Van Halen,…I
like it pretty hard and pretty loud. The lyrics don’t mean as
much to me as the beat and how it makes me feel. If you could invite
three celebrities to a slumber party, who would you pick?
David Letterman,
Sammy Hagar and Ranulph Fiennes. (comedy, music and inspiration)
If money were no
object, what would you do or buy?
A personal
flying machine of some sort and an island beach house. I’m
really a beach bum at heart.
What day of your
life would you like to live over again?
April 28,
2001. Crossing the finish line of the Country Music Marathon with my
three older brothers and carrying my son Max
with me. You
just can’t reproduce the significance of that moment.
What
assumption do people make about you that isn’t true?
That I never had a body fat issue growing up. I was the chubby
one of the family and the one who was teased for having a belly.
Fill
in the blank: “No one will ever catch me…”
With a wrap-around or “comb-over” hairstyle. |
