He Doesn’t Need a Crutch : * Tenacious Degen Keppler overcame drugs and the loss of a limb to become a bodybuilder and sought-after trainer.

You can’t miss Degen Keppler among the workout crowd at the Spectrum Club in Agoura Hills. He’s the trainer with the jam-packed schedule, the Charles Atlas build and the artificial leg.

And a sense of humor.

“I definitely, well, limp to the beat of a different drummer,” Keppler said.

Yet Keppler--call him a rebel without a pause--has made remarkable professional strides solely on his ability to walk his talk.

At 38, Keppler, a former heroin addict turned workaholic, is among the unlikeliest of workout gurus. Despite never having been certified as a professional trainer, he has become one of the most successful and sought-after trainers in the Spectrum company, which also includes two clubs in Santa Monica and facilities in Century City, Culver City and Manhattan Beach.

For five consecutive months, Keppler has been selected trainer of the month at Agoura Hills. In January, Spectrum executives commended Keppler for setting company records for private training sales for a month ($10,346 in December) and a year ($47,734 in 1993).

His daily schedule typically includes about 12 one-hour sessions with clients who range from a 16-year-old high school soccer player to a retired aerospace executive. His training figures undoubtedly would be higher if only there were more hours in the day.

“He accommodates as many people as he can, but he has gotten to the point where he’s full, and he has a waiting list,” said Scott Reeves, fitness manager at the Agoura Hills club. “People see him on the floor training, and they come to him.”

Bill Kerr, an Agoura Hills attorney, did exactly that in May after seeing the results other clients were getting under Keppler’s tutelage. He remains one of Keppler’s regulars.

“He makes you realize all the little details, all the little things you’re doing wrong,” Kerr said. “And he corrects them.”

Since becoming a full-time trainer two years ago, Keppler, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 175 pounds (“I’d be 15 pounds heavier with another leg”), has begun to compete as a bodybuilder with the Natural Physique Assn. of America, a fledgling organization based in Thousand Oaks.

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“I’ve been working out for 27 years,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time and a lot of effort finding different exercises, finding which ones are most effective. I taught myself through years and years of practice.”

Pretty ironic, considering Keppler unabashedly admits that he never will have what all bodybuilders painfully strive for: a perfect physique.

“Sometimes I get in front of a mirror and I flex to see how I’m improving, and some people take that like I’m an egomaniac or something,” Keppler said. “For God’s sake, I’ve got one leg! How much of an Adonis can I possibly think I am?”

Eighteen years ago, Keppler lost his right leg below the knee in an accident involving a friend, a .44-caliber Magnum, and a hazy evening of drug and alcohol abuse. He has remained drug-free since undergoing rehabilitation in 1977.

For 14 years, he was employed manufacturing prostheses, including his own.

He also worked as a handyman, and a job as a painter in 1991 led him to the Spectrum Club, then under construction. Keppler immediately decided that he wanted to be a trainer. He approached company executives “like a pit bull on a mailman’s leg” and was hired, he says, because of his enthusiasm.

Personal trainers are not required by law to be certified by a fitness organization, but most are, Reeves said. Keppler was hired as a rare exception.

“There are some people who come in here with certification and they don’t have any idea how to apply their knowledge,” Reeves said. “Degen’s lived it; he’s practiced it. And that’s why he is successful.”

Club members consider Keppler an inspiration, Reeves said. He is approachable and easygoing. And not afraid to joke at his own expense, which he likes to do.

“I’m the first person to tell somebody, ‘Hey, we could make a great three-legged race team,’ ” Keppler said. “I can laugh at myself now. I couldn’t always do that.”

WHERE TO GO

What: Spectrum Club.

Location: 5115 N. Clareton Drive, Agoura Hills.

Price: Initiation ranges from $150 to $300; membership, $55 per month; initial session with trainer, $45; multiple sessions at a discount.

Call: (818) 879-9500.