Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Briglio
Hi Benjamin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Benjamin Briglio. I am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (C.S.C.S) and owner of Briglio Strength, an Orlando based mobile fitness business.
It all starts from my upbringing. I was born in Long Beach New York into a major athletic family. My dad is a sports psychologist and former Hofstra University college football player. Additionally, he served nearly two decades as a Town of Hempstead (TOH) Ocean Lifeguard. His brother, my Uncle Bobby was also a former Hofstra University college football player and TOH Ocean Lifeguard. On top of that, Bobby was a major marathon runner, running all around the world in various marathons, and was a multiple time Runner of the Year for the New York State Empire games. Next, comes my older brother Greg, who played college football at East Carolina University, is going on 25 plus years as a TOH Ocean Lifeguard and is a 15 year veteran FDNY firefighter. To say I grew up around athletics and a bunch of tough guys would be an understatement. As a small child, my dad took me out of school every Friday early to fly across the country to see my much older brother Greg play college football against many of the very best college football programs in the country. I saw him play countless future NFL players and the first thing I ever really knew was the beauty of college football. Not wanting to sound sacrilegious, football is sacred in my family. All I ever dreamed of was being around the game and it really was my life from as long as I can remember. After Greg graduated, my dad began taking me to see every Hofstra football game we could. Sprinkle in trips to Yankee Stadium to see our beloved Yankees and other big college football games like the annual Army vs Navy Game. As they say “Ball is Life”.
We also have a great passion for the ocean. My dad who unrelated to the topic is the hardest working person I’ve ever seen, grew up with major poverty and limited parenting in Yonkers, New York. His Grandmother, lived on Long Island and at 13 he moved in with her for the summer and lied about his age to get onto the Town of Hempstead Ocean Lifeguards, an organization that to this day has an outstanding record of zero drownings with lifeguards on duty going back nearly 100 years. He rose to the rank of captain and is credited with boat surfing one of the largest waves on a 2000 lb wooden boat in New York history, a local legend. My brother Greg in his younger years was a leader on the TOH Competition team. The team that I later resurrected from the dead, and became Captain of. The TOH Comp team travels all around the country competing against other municipalities in the sport of Lifesaving/Surf Racing. Aquatically, I learned under fire from my dad and brother who would throw me into dangerous rip currents as young as 5 years old. Later that turned into all of us having a love for dominating hurricane season waves as I became skilled enough to surf them. Definitely an iron sharpens Iron type of family. I spent 8 years as an active TOH Ocean Lifeguard, rising to the rank of Lieutenant and still compete in summer lifeguarding competitions when I can get the time. I have won several medals at the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) National and Regional Championships over the years.
My love for athletics and exercise in general, really advanced to another level when I attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY. Chaminade is nationally known for rigorous academics, athletics, and overall environment. The place was not for the weak but I loved how intense it was. As an undersized athlete, I really had to work super hard to get on the field at Chaminade. I knew my goal was to play college football and I spent all of high school working my ass off to accomplish it. I trained in the weight room 3 hours a day, 5 days a week in high school, and then went home and studied another two hours. I had two major mentors at that time that I still look up to to this day. Kahmal Roy was a former Hofstra and New York Jet football player who I started sharpening my football skills with at 11 years old. We trained countless hours on various football skills with the most microscopic approach possible. Not only, did I learn a lot about football from Kahmal but I also adopted a lot of his coaching style. He has a major ability to break things down step by step so that nothing is missed. His attention to detail is legendary. Kahmal really inspired me and really cared about me. From him I learned that you need to care and make strong bonds with your athletes, clients, etc. My other major mentor was Stephen Boyd, my high school head coach. Boyd, a former All Pro Linebacker from the Detroit Lions took me in from a young age and coached me in football, the gym, and in life. He was a big aggressive personality that taught me it was ok and good to have that juice. Ill choose not to speak much about certain parts of my childhood coming from my mother’s side, but I had a lot of anger and aggression as a kid. He helped me to channel that energy into controlled chaos on the field and in the gym and also to make sure I have as much fun as possible along the way. To this day, I am always one of those guys bringing a ton of “juice.” Big energy, big intensity, big fun! Though all that work and determination, I graduated with a 4.0 GPA and a 40-3 High School football record, throwing a New York State Championship on top of it in 2012.
Going into college, I knew that I wanted to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach. Always a strong student, I was inspired to get my degree in Applied Human Physiology after turning my love for training into a 10th grade biology paper on “The Science of Muscle Building” and the rest is history. From then on, I researched everything I could related to health and fitness. I chose to attend and play football at Chapman University in Orange, California starting in 2014. At Chapman I had to absolutely battle in the gym and on the field. Even at the DIII level college football is no joke. We had great success over those years where I won two conference championships, an all conference academic team selection, a 4 time member of the 1000lbs club, and a Special Teams MVP award. I also settled into my adult personality which brought that blue collar New York attitude and aggression paired with a ton of juice, energy, and fun. Coaches often commented that I was an all time great guy to have in the lockeroom for team chemistry. Academically, at Chapman I learned from the best. Dr. Erik Sternlict and Dr. Frank Frisch both leaders in the field of exercise science helped to educate me about training the body from the molecular level up. I left Chapman with a beautifully advanced understanding of exercise physiology and I feel it has greatly set me apart from other “Trainers.”
After Chapman, I studied 6 months for my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (C.S.C.S.) licensing. The CSCS is considered to be the “Gold Standard” when it comes to the fitness industry. If your, watching any professional or college athlete on TV, they are almost certainly trained by a CSCS. The test is a major comprehensive test that entails a written section and a hands on practical section. It essentially, covered everything that I learned in college and then some. While studying for that licensing, I continued to lifeguard, coached high school football under Kahmal Roy at Holy Trinity High School, and took every other license and certification that I could. I love learning about exercise science and my goal was to broaden my knowledge far beyond what any normal trainer would have. To this day, I am a jack of all trades and feel comfortable training pretty much any person and in pretty much any way. I have a super broad range. I eventually passed my CSCS exam with a very strong grade for the exam of 92% and my next step was coming.
I wanted to get into college football coaching but did not particularly have any connections or know where to start. The only thing I could think of was to find the emails of any coach, athletic director, president that I could. That ended up being a great move because upon shooting my resume around I had nearly 100 responses from Division I College football programs inquiring about adding me on to their Strength and Conditioning Staffs as an intern. Eventually, I chose to join the staff of Stanford University. It was a dream at Stanford, future NFL talent left and right on the team and tons of active NFL players coming to train in the gym. It was certainly the big leagues. We worked to death there. Grueling 14 hour days 6-7s a week. It was a ton of fun and an incredible experience and then Covid hit. During the pandemic we went home and I thought about my future. I decided that it was going to be hard to have a family and to enjoy life as a college strength coach. I’ve always liked being in charge and hustling though so I decided to open up my own training business. The mobile gym idea sparked in my head one day and I found a military contractor that makes them custom. I had one shipped to San Diego, CA where Briglio Strength was born.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No business’ story starts easy. Over the last few years, it has been a total grind, but I would not change it for the world. The biggest struggle we face is sticking out through the wild world of fitness misinformation and social media glory. If you were to go to your local box gym or open up your favorite social media app, you’ll see a cesspool of misinformation and deception. For the average person, it can be extremely hard to decipher what is right and what is not. Our view is so wildly warped by filters, drugs, and people that claim to be fitness experts who do not have a shred of proper education and its extremely dangerous. The biggest struggle with all of that is that the average eye often does not look into the background of who is training them. If it looks cool on social media that’s enough, people will often pick the flashy tic tok trainer who passed an online training certification over a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who has taken 5 years of college courses and has a ton of serious training knowledge and experience. In the end, when they do go for the more qualified coach its a game changer and the clients can absolutely tell the difference.
Another struggle was the relocation to Florida. I relocated upon meeting my beautiful Fiancé who was on an extended vacation in San Diego. It was the best move that I ever made, but it is never easy starting over, and I did not know anyone in the area.
We’ve been impressed with Briglio Strength, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Briglio Strength is a mobile training business located in Orlando Florida, led by Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Benjamin Briglio. A Swiss army knife of fitness knowledge Ben Briglio is skilled at working with clients with a wide range of goals and abilities. Are you a high school athlete looking to earn a college scholarship? We got you! Are you a grandmother looking to still chase after your little grandchildren? We got you! Are you a family that wants to get the whole house in shape? We got you! Some specialties include athletic performance, teens with disabilities like non verbal autism and cerebral palsy, those with chronic illness and pain. Our goal is to elevate ANYONE looking to train as long as they want to put the work in. We feel that too many people are denied training knowledge because trainers are not educated, patient, or skilled enough to work with them. At Briglio Strength, we are not intimidated and will always do the research and work needed to bring the clients, especially special population clients, everything they need to crush it in the gym.
As for the mobile aspect, we bring our fully equipped mobile gym right to our clients homes or parks of choice. The gym itself is loaded with everything from dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, bands, medicine balls, etc. Everything needed to get an epic workout in! The exterior of the trailer also has walls that fold out into squat racks and a pullup bar along with several other valuable exterior attachments. When dealing with the heat we have several fans including a very large drum fan. The mobile concept has been a major calling card as clients are significantly more likely to stay committed and consistent when training at home. Additionally, many people have major fear and insecurities around training in a public gym, with the mobile concept they feel much more comfortable.
Most importantly, we are a family. Individual connection is everything in this business and we strive to make everyone feel special and cared for.
We offer in person, small group, online, and hybrid training.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can always help by spreading the word about the business! We also love to talk shop and educate other trainers on various topics.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brigliostrength.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brigliostrength
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brigliostrength
