Interview with Personal Trainer & Bodybuilder Luis Angel

The army helped me push towards always being in top physical shape. During my first deployment in 2008-2009 in Iraq, I started lifting weights for the first time and put on 35 pounds in that year. After that I always worked out either at the gym or at home.

What I like the most about building muscle is that you get to see your hard work pay off. You see your body change through everything you push for. It’s amazing. It’s a great feeling mentally.

The first thing a beginner needs to know when it comes to training is that you will not look like your trainer, partner or idol. Our bodies are different. Get, “I want to look like you” out of your head. You are going to get the results that you put it in. Not them. Next is being open minded and listen. You are a beginner. You need to learn how to do exercises and diet the right way. Don’t be scared to ask for help. Ask away. Most people will give you advice. I’ve taken plenty of advice when I started and still and till this day. The gym is a learning place day in and day out. Everyone in there knows something that someone else doesn’t. Third, embrace the suck. Dieting and exercising is hard at first and takes time to get used to doing. Allow your mind and body to become one and stick through the pain. It’s a good pain. It’ll pay off in the long run. Think about what your body is going to look like in a few months and aim for it. After you hit that goal, make another one and so forth. It’s a never ending battle in the gym and you have to mentally ready for it before you are physically ready. Find the reason why you’re beginning this fitness journey and keep it in your head as a reminder of why you’re gonna work hard, go through pain, sweat, bleed and make major life changes.

May 22, 2017. My heart condition came out of nowhere. It caught me by surprise. I was actually recovering from my second ankle surgery when it happened. I was at home watching TV when all of a sudden my heart began to race. I tried to slow it down in many ways but it just didn’t. After two hours I knew something was wrong. I rushed to the ER and just standing there talking to the receptionist, my heart rate was at 165. They thought I was on drugs. They rushed me to the back and had me on high alert. My heart was just going and going, but I felt fine. I was scared as I was surrounded by about a dozen different doctors. Finally, they decided to give me a medicine that was supposed to slow it down, but it backfired. My heart rate instantly jumped to the low 200s and my chest felt like it had caved in. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt as it instantly made me cry. They quickly put me to sleep and shocked me to restart my heart. When they did that, I stopped breathing. After about 45 minutes of them pumping air into me, I finally started breathing on my own. During those 45 minutes I experienced something I would never forget. I wasn’t in my body nor this planet. I saw a white light and many other colors. I was being pulled from it. I felt myself sit back into my body and that breathe I took felt like it was my first time breathing. After that I found out that I was born with Wolf Parkinson’s White syndrome. I had to get an operation done in my heart called an ablation to help fix it, but it was two months later that I got it.

Within those two months I had to be careful with raising my heart rate because medication wouldn’t slow it down. I couldn’t have any alcohol, caffeine or even run. I had to be very careful with my heart rate. After the surgery at the end of July, I was still cautious. But four days later, I was back in the gym getting after it again. All of my fellow soldiers, family and friends helped me stay focused. My wife kept my head up because I wasn’t able to do what I loved and that was workout in those two months. My mother always checked on me and my fellow soldiers always kept a smile on my face. I thought of my wife and kids that day in the hospital when I took my first breath again and I told myself that I am going to use this second chance at life to help others more. I was given a second chance to inspire others. Ever since than I’ve been doing just that. It helps me move forward. It keeps me going. 

I joined the army in November of 2007 and was medically retired due to injuries in March of 2018. I joined because I felt like I had nothing going for myself at the age of 18. I didn’t want to become a statistic living in Jersey City, NJ. A few days before I decided to join, I had went to my mother’s friend’s boyfriend’s funeral. He was a marine who died in a motorcycle accident. For the first time I was seeing a soldier being buried. When I saw the flag over his casket and the Marines dressed up in their dress uniforms honoring this man, it touched me. I told my mother at that instant that when I die, that’s how I wanna be buried. After that I thought hard and decided to join the army.

Being in the army for 10 ½ years with 2 deployments and three different duty stations taught me many things. First, the military as a whole is a group of people who make up less than one percent of US who choose to defend this country. I learned that these people of different color, race, gender, religious beliefs and views are doing something together. Defending this country and are being happy doing it. It showed me that there are people out there who don’t know you besides from your rank and name, will have your back no matter what. They are unselfish and are some of the most cool people I’ve ever met. We embrace the hard times together to create the good ones. We bleed, sweat and cry with each other. We are family. It taught me that the world can be a better place if we just stick together rather than be individuals. We can push each other and bring out the best in each other by just being there. Being a leader in the army taught me one thing, everyone needs guidance and not many can give that the right way. I was blessed to be able to lead, train and mentor many successful soldiers who are now leaders themselves. Being a leader is being able to understand, listen and coach another individual without force. I will always love the military and am proud to have served my country.

I have many hobbies because of the fact that I’m always trying to learn something new. I write poetry, DJ, play Xbox, fix cars, and draw. I find myself watching anime now a days and spending time with my family.

As far as body builders go, Arnold, Ulysses and Kai Greene are my top inspiration. I enjoy and gain inspiration from CT Fletcher because he has had many surgeries involving his heart and is still pushing through the days hard. I watched his documentary “My Magnificent Obsession” almost everyday when I was recovering from my ankle surgery and my heart complications.

Keeping a level head for me is through my past. I went through many struggles growing up, in the army and everything I’ve mentioned. Putting all of that together I’ve been able to share my story on Instagram with many others and have been inspiring many. I battle through, PTSD, depression, anxiety and insomnia because of my experiences so keeping a level head is a must. The gym and my family are my go to antibiotics for this. My wife has always been by my side pushing me to be better and will correct me the instant she sees me lowering myself. She’s my rock. My kids watch me and know when I’m going to the gym just by when I grab my gym bag. I want my kids to see what hard work and dedication can get you as long as you do it the right way. Knowing that people around the world are watching my videos and are messaging to tell me thank you for helping them push hard everyday give me a reason to keep going. I don’t do what I do for me anymore. I do it for everyone watching. Being humble and sharing what I know with others makes me feel good. This is what I was given a second chance at life to do. I don’t put myself on a pedestal nor look at myself better than others because when I was in the army, I wore the same uniform as everyone else. I worked as hard as everyone else. If you want to view me as a sex symbol, a god, Superman or something else (I’ve been called these things), than that’s your point of view. I thank you for looking at me like that, but I’m just a human being as everyone else.