Weeks 1–4
Bands & light dumbbells
Ten pounds or less. The first month is about acclimation, not load. We build the habit and the movement pattern while your body remembers how to move.
One-on-one coaching for busy adults: in your home gym, at O’Malley’s, or online. Built around your life, not a gym’s schedule.
I can't recommend Antonio highly enough! He has a real talent for finding that sweet spot—every workout was challenging enough to make me feel stronger, but never so brutal that I had to roll out of bed for the next two weeks. He introduced me to new exercises and machines that I probably would have walked right past on my own, which kept every session fresh and engaging. But the biggest flex? Antonio's conversation skills! Between the great chats and the great coaching, every workout flew by. Before I knew it, we'd already finished our last set. If laughter burns calories, I definitely got extra cardio. Thanks to Antonio, I left every session feeling stronger, more confident, and actually looking forward to the next workout. That's a personal best in my book!
Antonio is a fantastic trainer! He has all the attributes of an ideal trainer - he is highly motivating and encouraging, diligent and dedicated, endlessly patient and supportive, genuinely compassionate and kind, expertly skilled, knowledgeable in a way that reflects great experience and natural talent for training, and best of all - he truly cares about his work, which is evident in his always positive attitude and his continuous self-improvement through study and learning everything he can to provide the best experience for clients, even the complicated ones like me! :)
Antonio is a phenomenal coach and has gone above and beyond the designated parameters. As I was just beginning to step into the weight lifting world, he created an easy to navigate entry plan, adapted as needed to my personal strengths and weaknesses, kept an encouraging mindset which inspired me to challenge myself, and celebrated my wins. His instruction helped me to feel comfortable and confident in a public gym setting which was one of the bigger factors holding me back before.
At almost 65 and never focused on weights, I knew it was time to start building muscle or lose it forever. He made it fun and made me very comfortable in the gym. Muscle toning off the charts, for a 65 year old. Antonio showed me the way and I will not stop where we left off. Antonio taught me to fly.
Antonio was my first personal trainer at 24HR Fitness. He did great at helping me get started with the gym. 5/5 stars!
excellent 🫰
Most of my clients are in their thirties, forties, fifties and sixties. Parents. Professionals. People who have tried this before and stopped, and who are quietly worried the window has closed. It hasn't — and the plan that failed you was the problem, not you.
I'm Antonio Balandi. I've coached clients of every age who thought their best years were behind them. They weren't.
You get me — the same person on your first session and your hundredth. I answer my own texts. I write your program myself. When you're on week three and want to quit, I'm the one who calls.
Read my full storyNo cookie-cutter programs. Here's exactly what happens when you start.
Before any program or recommendation, we capture a full week of your real numbers.
Daily check-ins for seven days, so the plan is built on your actual life, not a questionnaire.
I build a custom program from your data, your goals, and your real schedule.
We get on a call and walk through the program together, line by line.
We adjust and lock in the plan you'll actually run week to week.
Every four weeks we reassess and adapt the plan as your body responds.
Every client new to training walks the same road. Three phases, in order, no skipping. The gate between them is your comfort — never the calendar.
Ten pounds or less. The first month is about acclimation, not load. We build the habit and the movement pattern while your body remembers how to move.
Machines put the exercise on a controlled path, so you can push harder without guessing at form. This is where most people first feel genuinely strong again.
Introduced only once you're comfortable on the machines and comfortable in the room. Still anxious at week four? We extend phase one. No exceptions.
You pick the setting. The programming doesn’t change — only the room does. In-person needs real equipment, so it’s one of the first two.
If you already own the equipment — a rack or dumbbells that go heavy enough to keep loading you, a bench, and clear floor — I train you in it. Zero commute, zero gym anxiety, no membership to sign.
Book a free call
No home gym? This is the answer, and most people land here. Full racks, full energy, and the first time you walk in you’re not walking in alone. You carry your own membership, about $45 a month.
See the phasesFull coaching anywhere: custom program, 30-minute Zoom check-ins, and daily tracking I actually read.
Online coaching — from $300/moThree, six or twelve months — never charged upfront. In-person is two 90-minute sessions a week, capped at five clients. Online is Zoom check-ins and daily tracking, from anywhere. Thirty days to walk if it isn’t for you.
Pay a term in full and one month is free. Three days to cancel from signing, 30 days to walk with nothing owed, then 30 days’ notice either way. No exit fee. In-person needs a home gym that can actually load you, or an O’Malley’s membership — I don’t haul equipment.
As a fitness coach, you'll get more than just fitness out of me.
Answer a few questions and I'll estimate your daily calories and macros using the Mifflin–St Jeor equation — the same starting point I use with clients.
We use your age, sex, height, and weight to estimate how many calories your body burns at rest.
Pick the option that best matches a typical week. This helps estimate calories you burn beyond resting.
Choose what you want to do with your weight. We'll set a safe calorie target and estimate a timeline.
Slower is usually easier to stick with and kinder on your energy.
Estimates based on the Mifflin–St Jeor equation (used by NASM and many coaches). Adjust with your coach as you see how your body responds.
Think of macros as the building blocks of your food. Hit these gram targets across the day.
A calculator can't watch your form, adjust when life gets busy, or keep you going when motivation dips. That's my job. Let's build this around your real life.
Book Your Free Discovery CallEstimates only — not medical advice. Work with Antonio Balandi Fitness for a plan tailored to you.
A certification gets you licensed. The reading is what makes you useful. Here’s some of what shaped how I coach.
In-person and online training across the Greater Portland metro.
Pick whichever is easiest. I answer all of them myself.