Early life
He was born in
Toronto,
Canada and later moved to
Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fitness industry.[
citation needed]
Pasternak is Jewish and grew up in a 'typical Ashkenazi household'.[1]
Pasternak graduated from
York Mills Collegiate Institute and holds an honor's degree in
kinesiology from the
University of Western Ontario and a master's degree in exercise physiology and nutritional sciences from the
University of Toronto.
During his time at University of Toronto, Pasternak served as a nutrition and exercise scientist at Department of National Defence's Defence and Civil Institute for Environmental Medicine from 2005 to 2007. As a scientist, he focused on performance physiology and nutrition, with a specialty in caffeine and ephedrine. His work was published in the scientific journal
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in June 2003
[2] and in
The Canadian Journal of Sports Medicine. Pasternak is also certified by the
American College of Sports Medicine and is an IDEA Master Trainer.
[3]
Notable clients
Pasternak has worked extensively with numerous celebrities.[4][5]
In 1999, Dr. Marvin Waxman introduced Pasternak to producer Don Carmody, who hired Pasternak to work with Jim Caviezel and cast on his film Angel Eyes.[6] After several subsequent films, Carmody hired Pasternak to train Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., and Penélope Cruz on the set of Gothika in Montreal. Berry suggested Pasternak move permanently from Toronto to Los Angeles to continue to work together, which he did.[7][6]
In 2004, Berry played the title role in Catwoman, a role for which she trained exclusively with Pasternak. Pasternak appeared on
The Oprah Winfrey Showto discuss Berry's training.
[8] After Winfrey suggested that he write a book about his program,
[9] he published
5-Factor Fitness: The Diet and Fitness Secret of Hollywood's A-List in 2005.
In 2022, Pasternak cut ties with rapper Kanye West after West posted a series of anti-Semitic messages on social media. Pasternak was West's former personal trainer, and said that West had a history of mental health issues.[10] In response, West released a tweet which showed texts between the two, alleging that he had been "drugged out of [his] mind to make [him] a manageable well-behaved celebrity" and that Pasternak had threatened to do that again and put him into "zombieland."[11][12]