COACH ANTHONY LaVIGNE

Lifting weights will stunt your growth. That’s what I was told before I was 14 years old & finally got myself into the gym. I grew up playing baseball so stunting growth was always considered extremely counterintuitive & although that’s just a myth, back then lifting weights was a straight up no go. But I remember itching at the thought of training in the gym. (One of my earliest inspirations was the cartoon Popeye hahaa) So from 8 to 13 years old I would do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and go on runs. Finally when I was 14 a baseball coach gave me the green-light to weight training &  it was game over, I was unchained. Well just about as unchained as you could be eating spaghetti O's and drinking chocolate milk. (See photo below LOL) Well all had to start somewhere. I remember signing up for Retro Fitness writing down that I was a born a year earlier so they wouldn’t make me have parental supervision. I Immediately began tracking my progress in a notebook. As I progressed through high school putting on about 10lbs a year I became more knowledgeable & began watching hundreds of workout videos online. I came across CT Fletcher (who I  later in life had the pleasure of training with) and began implementing the concept of OVERTRAINING to force growth to create a guaranteed stimulus. I’d sit in class drawing the next blue print I would execute the following week of training. I also drank a TON of milk (which I believe was beneficial for muscle growth but hindered overall health) & my IG handle was at one time was literally @ the_milk_man  Me and my best friend Andrew were either getting up at 4am to train before school or I was training right after but either way we got it in.

Then I was off to college and majored in Exercise Science with a specialization in Nutrition - I loved it. Throughout college I would draw bench, squat & deadlift sketches and write in my max for each week. I hung it up on my dorm wall and was tough on myself. If I failed, I failed. I would look at “FAILED” week after week and let it eat at me until I’d finally hit a goal. Obsessive was an understatement. I lived for it. 

In college the hard work began paying off a bit becoming the youngest natural professional bodybuilder on the planet, getting my first sponsor, and placing 3rd at my first ever pro bodybuilding show. This was all just the beginning of a wild ride in the fitness industry. 

I never took PED’s, steroids, pro-hormones or SARMs. I also never hated on or talked shit about anyone who took that route. I accepted staying natural as a challenge rather than trying to use it as an excuse for why “I can’t do this” or “can’t do that” or “he looks better than me because of” - I’m firmly against that and always have been. I’ve always tried to build a bridge between natural and enhanced bodybuilding. They’re different in many ways and the same in many ways, accept it. I did in fact (and do not do this) take 2-3 advil pre workout on many occasions because I was extremely sore from the day before. Of course not healthy but I rationalized this at the time because it kept me on my extremely high volume plans. 

I always felt like there was no way to not succeed if you do everything possible. My mindset was - Ok, they say eat your lbs of bodyweight in grams of protein - got it. Overtrain to force growth - got it. Get quality sleep, eat complex carbs for energy, track and monitor progress, research to gain more knowledge, intensity all the way up for training sessions, drink a gallon of water, hit muscle groups 2x a week, stay away from alcohol - got it. Drink protein right after your workout so you hit your “anabolic window”, cool I’m in. Stay away from running. Gain 1-2 lbs every week. Wear a belt to keep your lumbar spine healthy and “tighten your waist”. Get your quality sleep. Take joint care products. Wear leggings on leg day to keep joints warm. Take beta alanine for muscle contractions. I was like ok.. roger. I’m not going to do 1-2 of these things… I’m going to do every single one. 

What I did isn’t for everyone. It probably isn’t for anyone but.. I really lived this. A lot of people talk about reaching their ultimate natural potential and… I’m not quite sure I did that but I do think I got nearly as close as humanly possible. I’m finally at a point now where I maintain but for 8 years of my life I really put in the hours. I learned through anecdotal evidence, trail and error, college, gym bros, working at GNC, being a sponsored athlete, injuries, scholarly peer reviewed articles, expos, etc. I was a sponge. Still am. With all of this experience came an expertise in a field that I love. Some of what I did worked and some of it didn't. That's why I've developed this program - To help you cut 10+ years off your learning curve and give you tips, tricks and arm you with the tools that actually work.

Now you know a little bit more about the come up and a little bit more about me. I love bodybuilding and always will. I will compete again (most likely in 2023) but for now my primary focus in this fitness industry is my clients and the #TeamAntGainz family.