I OWN A PERSONAL TRAINING BUSINESS, WHICH MEANS I CHANGE LIVES FOR A LIVING!!
BIG BACK GRIPS USER PROFILE INTERVIEW: Nicole Forlenza
Certified Personal Trainer
BBG: Can you start by telling just us a little about yourself? What do you do professionally?
Nicole Forlenza: Well, I have been involved in fitness since 2002 when it changed my life! I own a personal training business, which means I change lives for a living!! I LOVE my “job” (please notice the quotes, because if you love what you do…. Anyway, I motivate, inspire and challenge others in a positive way every single day!
BBG: Where do you work out?
Nicole Forlenza: I mostly work out at 24 Hour Fitness…I love when I can get up to Venice Beach to train at “The Mecca” but my busy life doesn’t make that possible as much as I would like.
Interview Questions
BGB: We do want you talk about this for a moment. One of the reasons we’re interviewing you is because we know you’re avid Big Back Grips user. What did you use before BBGs and why did you settle on BBGs?
Nicole Forlenza: I use to use basic gloves!!! I met Larry, the owner, at the LA FitExpo where our mutual friend Adam Strachman introduced us. Larry let me try a pair – I will try anything if it is proven to make my performance better – and sure enough they helped so much!!
BBG: How do they help your workout?
Nicole Forlenza: HELP??? Ha increased my strength tremendously & they made me significantly more defined.
BBG: We’d like to ask you a little about personal training since we have a lot of trainers and clients visiting our site. We know there are better and worse clients. What makes for a good client for you?
Nicole Forlenza: A great client is a client who listens to the advice they are given and shuts up and does it. You can lead many to water but you can’t make them drink…the great clients are those who drink what I tell them to – and then come back for more. “Drink” is a metaphor, of course.
BBG: Did you play or excel at any sports?
Nicole Forlenza: I excelled as a swimmer….my stroke was the butterfly. Which is why I think I LOVE training back now…..and BBGs have made it the most fun to train!!!!
BBG: What brought you into the world of lifting and when? What are your main goals in bodybuilding?
Nicole Forlenza: When I was 21 I had never lifted weights in my life…I always ran and swam. My boyfriend at the time was a bodybuilder. And while he never pushed his lifestyle on me, I asked him so many questions about it that he finally bought me five training sessions with a personal trainer so I could see for myself. And it CHANGED MY LIFE!!!Seriously, I was hooked half way thru my 1st session. I worked out with that personal trainer for nine months straight, 3x a week. And then I continued on my own to become a certified personal trainer myself so I could change people’s lives just like he did mine.
BBG: What are your biggest accomplishments in your workout history so far? : Titles, personal goals achieved, etc.
Nicole Forlenza: I placed 2nd in Figure class A at the NPC Excalibur Show in Culver City, CA. The rush of being on stage is priceless!!!!
BBG: What is your workout schedule like?
Nicole Forlenza: I lift 5 days a week. And I do cardio 5-6x a week
BBG: Is that how you stay so ripped. We’ve always admired that about you.
Nicole Forlenza: Well, I make cardio the 1st thing I do in the morning, on an empty stomach. That and diet has a lot to do with it.
BBG: So what about your diet? Is it the typical muscle building diet?
Nicole Forlenza: Not exactly. I have been gluten-free for 10 years, dairy-free for 3 years & no artificial sweeteners for 2 years! So my diet is really clean. But I do cheat 1 meal per week.
BBG: What are your favorite exercises or body parts to work? What do you consider your best body part? Do have a body part that’s especially challenging to make headway on?
Nicole Forlenza: MYT FAVORITE TO TRAIN IS BACK — HANDS DOWN. As far as the most challenging, I would say glutes and shoulders had been. Hardest was shoulders but I worked at them for a year 2x a week….now I would say it’s my triceps!!!
BBG: If someone were going to work out with you, what are they in for, what’s your workout style? What would you want from a partner? Perhaps describe your ideal workout.
Nicole Forlenza: I train pretty intense….old school bb style! I was taught that way and that is my favorite way to lift! I don’t like to do functional training at all!
BBG: What’s your advice to people just starting out?
Nicole Forlenza: ENJOY IT!!! Fitness is addicting & changes lives.