My Story

My name is Antonio and this is my story in brief

School was never really my thing. I was always getting 6 just enough to pass, sometimes when I studied and applied I really got good grades. At school they always said to my parents I was the “has the capabilities but doesn’t apply” boy.

At the end of middle school I got out with the minimum and they proposed me to go to a Vocational Qualification/(CFP/qualifica professionale). I didn’t listen to them and I ended up in Technical High School.

I came out of high school with those same sufficient marks, and I won’t pretend it felt great. I never felt like school was pushing me and I wasn’t really motivated by the people there but instead no one believed in me and that’s why I think I simply didn’t feel like giving my best. Some of my teachers never really liked me, and I often felt a bit written off.

I think is very important to have someone that believes in you and sees the potential in you, I had a football coach who saw that in me, and under him I felt amazing — finally someone believed in me, and I performed at my best: assists for my teammates, goals, dribbling, playing with confidence. But outside of that I had to learn to believe in myself and I always believed I can do anything I can set my mind to.

People always told me, “You can’t do it,” or “That’s too big of a goal for you.” But whenever I heard that I couldn’t do something, it lit a fire inside me to prove them wrong. When they said “can’t,” I heard “CAN.” I knew that if I truly wanted something, I would do everything in my power to achieve it.

For most of my life, my world was football. I played for sixteen years and I was an Attacker/Left-Right Wing/Offensive Midfielder. Then in 2019 a teammate brought me to the football gym for the first time, and we started training randomly, that summer I also got my first gym membership and slowly I started stepping into that world. It quickly became a safe place for me. While things outside felt difficult, the gym was where I felt calm, hyped and I was enjoying working out and the process ; and one step at the time I actually started getting good at it.

The gym changed my life. I always had that drive in me and the one I found under the weights started showing up everywhere else in my life. The gym gave me proof that I was capable of far more than anyone had told me. So I pushed. I went to university (the same university people told me I had no business being at, same as high school). I earned my ISSA Personal Trainer certification, the boat license and other competences/certificates I have and personal skills that shaped me when I got out of my comfort zone, and that translated into simple things, like finally having the confidence/courage to go approach girls that I like, build friendships and do what I want with my life, as I started taking care of myself, understanding and loving myself.

For a 193 cm/ 70kg guy, not just physically but mentally I came a long way, and that’s my story.

So if someone made you believe that you can’t be anything you want to be, or if you feel like no one sees your potential, I know how that feels, never listen to them, they tell you something about them when they say you can’t do something, don’t take advice from someone you don’t aspire to be or you don’t look up to, that’s why having a guide and the right people to mentor you and teach you the right mindset is the key to success in life, and this is exactly why I coach. I help young men build the body, the discipline, and the confidence to become who they’re meant to be.