SL Fitness

Hello readers! My name is Sabrina Locantore and I am 18 years old, living in Northern New Jersey (yes, we have some above average bagels. I wish I actually got a craving for a bagel here & there). I have a Level 1 certification through precision nutrition and about four years of a training background. Let's get to how I started out in the gym, now shall we? 

My family decided to have a christmas party in 2014, I was not supposed to be home for this but wow how am I thrilled to have not obeyed that request from my parents; for the purpose of this story and of course for that sushi boat that was there. A local gym opened a few months prior to this party and my parents began working with a trainer there. Well, he happened to be at this party. I walked up to the trainer and with no intention other than being all talk, I told him I'd be at the training session that Monday with my parents. Fast forward to the following week, I got home from school and the first words out of my their mouths... "ready to go?!" Me?! Little did I know that was the beginning of something I truly found myself in. (cliche huh?) I stayed with this trainer, now friend, for about a year until I knew it was time to begin my own research, create my own programming, and not have a trainer to rely on. From that time until 2015, I made a harsh decision to cut my calories to a dangerously low level in hopes of dropping a significant amount of body fat; meanwhile, I had a very low amount of muscle mass. The consequences included drastic changes in health, relationships, mental state, and more. To top that off, when February rolled around, I decided to embark in another journey, my first ever contest prep. After a breakdown in the middle of the gym at the end of April, my decision was to end prep. Between May of 2016 and January of 2017, I maintained a sub par, "balanced" lifestyle. My life was stagnant at this time, not one area of my life was improving even though time kept passing by. 

-> My senior year of high school, a million and one events going on, the norm at my high school was not in any way defined as a life I was living. I loved it and accepted that there would be judgement regardless. Heard it all before, right? I was the girl training at the gym until 10 PM on Friday nights instead of going out, drowning myself in alcohol. I say it to this day but I did not miss out and do not regret a thing. Being a freshman in college right now, I believe I am not meant for the bar scene and would 102% be A okay with skipping over that phase. Lets get back to senior year. In late February, I began my second attempt of prep. I put on a decent amount of fat and muscle the two years I took off from "dieting." But this also meant I now had to take off 20+ pounds. From then until August of 2017, I was in prep; in that time period was senior breakfast, prom and a bunch of social gatherings in and out of school. This prep was different, weight was stalling even though my calories kept dropping. Progress was just not budging. At the end of August, I felt extremely burnt out and decided to take a diet break which ended up calling it quits with prep. I never had been in a proper hypertrophy and strength phase. 

-> My current goals are to continue to improve a balanced lifestyle, go through a proper growth phase and plan a show date in early 2020. I am enrolled at my local community college and am looking to transfer to a four year college fall of 2019. I am pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice. Other than that, everyday I look to further my knowledge in training and nutrition; including staying up to date with research. 

Thank you for taking your time to get to know me a little bit better, have an awesome day (or moment!)

Sabrina Locantore