Sometimes, amongst the avalanche of emails I get every day, I get that one email that makes me stop in my tracks.

The one that stands out enough to make me sit down and think.

This email I just received is one of them.

It’s addressed to my Dad.

Reading this letter made me realize that my Dad and I have come a long, long way since my earliest memories, when he was encouraging me to do situps and pushups in our back garden.

Or having me dangle like a monkey from his waist while he smacked out one full range pullup after the other

Or did an effortless bicep pose while I swung from his rock steady arm.

Those were the days.

At the time, it was just playing with Dad.

But it instilled in me a lifelong love of fitness that eventually turned into a coaching career that has touched tens of thousands of lives in over 25 years.

Back then, I used to think my Dad was superman, because he was the fittest and strongest person I knew.

(With a set of guns to match.)

I guess he still is.

A former football player, team captain, football coach, tennis champion, tennis coach, and physical conditioning coach, he is now training his own little army right here at The BodyForge.

Right here with me.

Making people happy every day.

This is an appreciation written by one of his clients.

Thank you for this Geoffrey. It has a special significance to me.

And it neatly encapsulates what The BodyForge is all about.

(We had to publish this without my Dad’s knowledge or he would never have allowed it.)

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The Rough Diamond

I am well aware that the above title is a phrase which could be considered to be a cliché, however these are the words that come to my mind when I think of Toni Pisani, the man who looks after, cares for and trains me at The BodyForge three times a week.

I first met Toni around two years ago when I enrolled for the Re-Invention programme at The BodyForge. My first reaction was to wonder how a person who was more or less my age could look so fit and display so much energy and enthusiasm. Here was an unassuming man who was almost apologetic when he demanded that I follow his instructions.

I know I am a difficult person to deal with. Apart from being moody, I was so unfit when I started and so full of difficulties health-wise that my approach to training was rather apprehensive. Toni took everything in his stride and gradually build up my confidence and I started to believe I could succeed.

Toni is not a calm person and does not suffer fools easily. However I never saw him lose his cool in the two years I’ve known him. He has been very vigilant in the training sessions and often changed or adapted the programme when he saw me struggling.

This attitude of his is what allowed me to carry on in difficult moments. When Toni is in the gym, he is completely at the service of the persons training. He helps and has a good word for everyone.

Thank you Toni for being who you are and I am very proud to call you ‘friend’.

Geoffrey

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