New London ― On Wednesday morning, just as the sun began peeking over the darkened storefronts on State Street, a steady stream of clients walked into the new FIT F.A.M. gym and recovery facility.

Inside the training and recovery center, North Stonington resident Hanna Swanson sparred with gym owner Samer Delgado near a rack filled with weight belts, resistance bands and jump ropes.

In a backroom, a client roasted in a radiator-powered sauna before taking brief, icy plunges into a tub filled with 40-degree water. Next to a rack crammed with dumbbells, Plainfield resident Kayla Grimshaw, 31, hefted a squat bar while checking her form in a mirror.

“It’s less intimidating here than other gyms,” Grimshaw said, preparing to tackle another set of sumo squats. “It’s family friendly, and I can learn proper techniques from someone who knows what he’s doing.”

And everywhere a client stretched, pulled or lifted, the 38-year-old Delgado was there offering advice and encouragement.

“We’re not the kind of gym where someone’s yelling, ‘one more rep’ in your face,” said the Groton resident. “This is not an ego gym. This place is bigger than my name.”

He noted that the second part of his business name, “F.A.M.,” in addition to standing for Factory of Aesthetics & Movement, doubles as a shortened reference to family.

The Dec. 1 formal opening of the gym at 310 State St. marks the latest move forward for Delgado, a bullied New London high school dropout who, years after immigrating to the city from Venezuela, reinvented himself as a fitness trainer who’d later become a finalist on the “American Ninja Warrior” show.

“When I came to New London, I was a 10-year-old kid who didn’t fit in with the white kids or the Hispanic students,” he said. “I grew up in the State Pier projects and had to learn the rough, hard way how to live. That meant lots of fights.”

After dropping out of high school, Delgado worked a series of menial jobs, idling away his off hours playing video games, smoking cigarettes and packing on the pounds.

And then, on a random day in his 20s, he was struck by an epiphany.

“I was spending enough on smoking to pay for a Mercedes Benz,” Delgado said. “I quit and substituted that habit with working out.”

He eventually parlayed those gym sessions into a personal training career, meeting clients in his New London and Groton apartments for years until moving into the former State Street bank ― his gym office is tucked inside an old vault ― three months ago.

As of this week, Delgado trains 43 clients, all with different fitness goals. Waterford resident Dan Radin, 44, hopes the recovery offerings at the gym will alleviate chronic back problems earned by years of powerlifting.

On Wednesday, that meant hopping back and forth from a dry sauna to an ice bath.

“It feels like my legs are going to fall off, but in a good way,” said Radin, after a few seconds in the chilly water. “I’m learning from (Delgado) that it’s not just about focusing on the physical side, but also the mental and emotional parts.”

Like many of the gym’s clients, East Lyme resident Jennifer Cady discovered Delgado though his social media pages, including an Instagram account that shows him tumbling, flipping and performing various feats of strength and agility.

Cady, who’s worked with Delgado on and off for years, said she’s pleased he’s opened his own brick-and-mortar facility.

“It means there’s more people to work out around, and I like that ability to socialize,” she said.

That close-knit atmosphere was reflected on a front counter sign-up sheet on which members listed their planned contributions ― deviled eggs, protein cookies, grape salad, eggnog ― to an upcoming holiday party.

“I came to this city not knowing how to do life,” said Delgado, the father of two daughters. “I went on to train people in my first apartment’s livingroom and then a basement in Groton. Now I get to work as a gentle-and-fun type of trainer here. It’s a gift.”

j.penney@theday.com