If you follow my socials you’ve noticed that I train and workout a lot, not just because I’m a fitness junky but because most of the time I need to stay fit or transform my body.As you may or may not know about a year and a half ago I broke my spine risking to be badly permanently injured but I was lucky enough to get operated and heal almost completely: this is just a reminder that everything that happens in life whether is simple or complicated can always be overcome so try to approach everything with the smile: no matter if it’s diet, work, problems, life … your smile can help a lot yourself!
All this to say that especially for work purposes in the last year I had to re-gain a lot of weight (lean weight) which I lost while I couldn’t move.
As doctors and therapists said I could start again doing my stuff and my work I took a couple of month to get back in the zone and right now I’m in full preparation for all the events to come.
BEWARE that in this moment I’m working to get bigger in order to comply to a new project (very soon you’ll get news about it, we are just waiting for the final script, some permissions and one part to be casted), to prepare for new auditions, to be ready for my coming trip to Europe (probably the post about that will be live next week), to finish to shoot an older project and in between to be ready for any fitness photoshoot where I need to be more muscular.
Preparation time: a day in the life
For the records I needed to gain from January over the end of the year around 20 pounds (while being very lean) a goal that seems to be reachable since I gained already a good 15-16 pounds. A day during a preparation can change consistently depending from where you are at, how many gigs you have planned to do while you’re in prep, how many other works you have to do (like TV/radio/podcast appearances or photoshoots) or if you need to bulk up or slim down. Here is my actual typical day in this moment.
– Because I have to gain muscle I’m not just training harder but I also eat 8 to 10 meals per day of clean food: bare that in mind!
– Wake up at 530am, take a coffee right away, drink a lot of water (consider that I live in a tropical island) and do 30 mins of fasted cardio, no food in the stomach. I have cardio machines at home but I rather go for a jog with my dog or for a quick hike always with the dog. If I’m on a cardio machine I check my Instagram and my email to answer to the comments, to the DM (are plenty every day) and to the most important emails.
– As I finish the cardio I eat right away the very first meal of the day, while I’m eating I check my Instagram profile if I did cardio before, same as my email.
– Shower again and I give a quick look to the planning of the day. Let’s consider this day as a one photoshoot or recording free.
– Not even the time to finish it I have to eat again: the majority of my meals are very high in proteins, average on good carbs and low in fats
– At this point I normally get in contact with agents, agencies or eventual Skype meetings to choose the next strategies
– One more meal (lighter) in and I’m ready to go to workout at the gym. The length of a single workout may vary but is never longer than one hour and a half.
– If I see that I’m bloated I do an extra 20 mins of cardio after the weight lifting session and while I’m doing this cardio I normally study lines of the scripts or checking my email.
– Right after the workout I get a shake and time to shower and get home (no more than 10 mins away) I get in another meal.
– Right after this meal I get a bit of chill, some rest, playing with my buddy (my dog Pam), reading a book, watching some Netflix and then back to work.
– If I have a photoshoot approaching this is the time of the day where I practice for posing, or I study eventual lines of the scripts or I check the coming events to be ready.
– Time to eat again …
– At this time (mid afternoon) is the typical time when I chat with potential people who wanna hire me, or I have a Skype meeting, or I record eventual podcasts (I try to be available as much as possible (meaning: I don’t care if the show have big or small reach) as long as the quality is good, the contents are good and they allow me to build my own brand/persona)
– One more light meal and I’m set to go (every other day unless I’m really under pressure then I’d train more) to stunt practice which I normally do at the beach (again: I live on a tropical island). Once a week I have acting classes, when required I have voice coaching lessons and I’m currently a student of acting masterclass.
– Another meal eaten on the spot and then is time to open my laptop to write contents such us this one you are reading. I post every other day (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) on my Instagram profile and on my Facebook page as well as on this website.
– Get back to the office quickly, consume another meal, and I check again emails and especially DM from Instagram: sometimes happens people ask me advises, sometimes they ask me to send them stuff (which I try to do as much as possible) other times I have to face with trolls. Luckily I have people helping me with that.
In the same range of time, being an official ambassador of Online Personal Trainer Fitness I deal with their merchandising, their stuff and sometimes I call some of their clients too (by the way if you use with them my discount code “CHEERS10” you get 10% off on every program they sell).
– Then with two meals remaining I finally can dedicate time for myself, meet friends, eventually eat something out (where they have food that suits my needs). I play a lot with my dog, he literally grew with me and he would die for me: so I love spending time with him.
That being said even for a very busy person as I am I think social life is important, keep your friend close, help them and be helped: sometimes I’m very tired but at least once a week I force myself to go out, some other days I just relax, watching some movies, chill and getting a nice night of sleep (hopefully).
I must thanks all the people that cooperate with me: can’t list them all (I’ll probably make a post on its own for this): from my agents to my agency, from my doctor to the people who help me training, my therapist and my lawyer, the guys who help me to manage and grow my social media presence, my teachers and especially: my followers, my dog, family, friends and everyone who’s close to me … they put a smile on my face … always.
Thanks to all of you for your love
Ivano C.