The most common conception of a personal trainer is akin to that of any skilled trade in America, like a carpenter, electrician, or mechanic. These tradesmen receive your report of a problem, roll up their sleeves, and return to you with the holes plugged and circuits rewired. Personal trainers, however, can’t work that way with you. If they sell you their service the same way—like your body is something they can ‘work their magic’ on—you’re probably getting scammed. Ovi Ilica went into the fitness world from a different perspective. He was looking to engage in his passion to the utmost extent, but even he saw the toxicity of the fitness world. He started OviPhysiques to help push forward the right way to train people, the best way to build programs, and a positive light in the fitness world.
The snake oil salespeople of fitness may have some techniques that work. It’s wrong to say that you won’t get in better shape with some of the existing programs out there, but they fall short where you want your results: in the long term. If you go to a gym or a fitness store, there is no shortage of ‘fixes’—ground-up veggie supplements for your heart, animal, and plant proteins that promise massive gains, diets and diet books with lifesaving recipes, and lean, ripped trainers with all the fitness secrets—geared to prey on the average persons’ insecurities for their own profit. These fixes are flawed because they treat fitness like a whisper in the wind that finds people and pushes them into prime shape. In reality, fitness and staying in shape come from a proper understanding of motivation, and this motivation can only last if it’s positive.
Ovi’s philosophy is a positive one. He believes that motivation and confidence exist together as a part of the same system. A lot of people feel like they’re trapped outside of this system because they can’t find motivation or confidence, but Ovi bases his programs on the idea that you get your confidence and motivation from your own strengths. You don’t just wake up motivated or confident one day, but you are definitely confident in a skill or attribute that you’ve already developed. For example, Ovi has worked with lots of people in corporate jobs. They come into his service because they feel insecure about their weight and want to make a change. Ovi notices one strength immediately: this new client wants to make a change in their lifestyle! As they go further into their consultation, Ovi is able to pinpoint another strength—maybe that strength is their love of sports—to supplement the program. If the goal is to lose weight, and you love sports, let’s train you to get better at your favorite sport! OviPhysiques is all about setting you up so you aren’t dependent on training for your results.
Ovi has seen for himself the importance of consistency and long-term thinking when working towards a goal. He empathizes with his client base because he feels a lack of control that comes with low confidence. Before he became a trainer, he was laid off from multiple jobs. The first time, he felt the rage and sadness—as well as the desperation—of losing your livelihood with no say in the matter. After the second layoff, he followed his passion, created an LLC, got certified as a trainer and nutritionist, and never looked back. Ovi is a certified personal trainer and fitness nutritionist with both the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), as well as a Total Resistance Exercises (TRX) certified instructor.
Since branching out to follow his passion, Ovi has written over 800 fitness programs, and he’s responsible for hundreds of individual transformations. Before OviPhysiques was in full swing, he coached over 7,500 classes for Orangetheory Fitness as regional manager and a dual head coach. On a personal level, he’s competed in seven men’s physique bodybuilding shows, including the NPC Nationals. He’s opening up more to the public, too, increasing his involvement in the community and joining The Blox, a competitive reality show of dozens of small business owners.
With his specific philosophy, Ovi believes in his consistency and approach enough to expand. He wants to hire new coaches who can listen to clients’ demands and help them build using their strengths. If they can’t go in-depth with clients and use the positivity philosophy to help them bring out their own confidence, they aren’t right for the job with Ovi. He loves to see the transformations of people; a lot of them are scared to go to social events with their towering anxieties at first but progress until they can keep their heads held high with pride. He also wants to show his son that you can achieve anything you put your mind to if you put the work in, and he’s already shown to be an inspiring father with the success of OviPhysiques.
Published by: Josh Tatunay
