Sign Up For Lean Teen

James Mander, Founder & CEO

James has been involved in the fitness industry since 1981, with extensive experience helping individuals from all walks of life and abilities to achieve their goals in conditioning, weight loss, and overall wellness. His fitness consulting practice, based in Santa Monica, has a diverse roster of committed clients, some of whom have been working with James for over a decade. Growing up in Pennsylvania, James was always interested in athletics and spent his teen years playing sports and working out in high school. During college, he served as a lifeguard on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, where he saved a total of nine people from drowning over the course of two summers. After college, he joined the U.S. Army and worked up to the position of reconnaissance team leader in a Light Infantry division. Then in 1991, James moved to Southern California and began working at a Los Angeles gym.

In early 1992, James was retained to provide fitness consultations through the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica. Five years later, the Pritikin Longevity Center brought James on board as an independent trainer at their facility. Finally, in 2001, Mander Fitness moved to Le Merigot Hotel and Spa, where James offered personalized training programs and wellness programs to members and guests through the beautiful Spa Le Merigot.  In 2013, James resigned from The Spa Le Merigot to pursue Lean Teen full time.

Throughout his career, James has steadily built his skills and expertise to offer his clients proven methods of exercise and training along with new innovations and exciting variations in workouts, to keep routines from being anything but routine. His repertoire includes weight training and flexibility exercises, cardiovascular conditioning, yoga and Pilates, nutrition education and motivational counseling. He works one-on-one with individuals and also with small groups, offering everything from local fitness adventures to exotic vacations and corporate team-building events.