Each week we highlight a Fit Father or Mother of the Week. Typically this is one of our members who is making great progress or who has impacted the community with their posts and experience. This time, we get to do the same thing… with our founder, Dr. Anthony Balduzzi!
If you’ve spent any time in the Fit Father or Fit Mother community, you already know “Dr. A” as the heart behind the mission. And the longer you're around this ecosystem, the more you realize—he’s not just a doctor or a founder. He’s a real man with a real story, walking the walk alongside all of us.
Some of you have even met Anthony in person—at one of our Ragnar Races, in Belize, at our retreats in the red rocks of Sedona, or on the Heroes Blueprint trip to California. If you've been fortunate enough to share one of these adventures, you know just how down-to-earth and deeply connected he is. But for those who haven’t had the chance yet, we wanted to offer you a window into the man behind the message.
Anthony's Personal Life & Interests…
Anthony lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is the proud father of his 3-year-old daughter, Brooke. He’s been open about the challenges of his recent divorce, a road many in this community have walked themselves. He’s found healing in the same things many of us do: nature, movement, his faith, human connection, and showing up even when life gets hard.
When he’s not leading the mission, you’ll find him lifting weights, hiking the Arizona mountains with Brooke, playing chess, meditating, or unleashing his inner warrior in competitive paintball.
About paintball, Anthony declares, “I'm a beast. I kick ass, haha. I've been playing for several decades and I absolutely love the game!” Anthony explains:
“What I love about paintball is it's a way to express my inner child. I take these attributes I’ve honed though my life—my focus, agility, my ability to stay calm under pressure—and I channel them into a deep flow state on the field. A state where you're not thinking… you're just being.”
Anthony takes his paintball seriously!
When asked about the most exciting moment of his fitness journey, Anthony didn’t point to a PR lift, or reaching a certain weight, or ability. Instead he said that his biggest moment was the first bodybuilding contest that he won.He was 18 years old and a Sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). He took home the title of Mr. Pennsylvania—and did it again as a senior, and even went on to win a national title.
Why does that memory still matter to him?
Because he built it all from scratch. No YouTube tutorials. No Google searches. Just books, sweat, trial-and-error, and heart.
“I poured my soul into transforming my body. By 18, I'd been training for 8 years since my Dad passed. I figured it out on my own. And for the first time, I truly loved how I looked. I felt proud of my body. That changed everything for me.”
Anthony's Struggles With His Health & Fitness
Many of us have trouble continuing to stay faithful to our fitness plans over the long haul. We see that mentioned in our communities frequently. It is so easy to fall back into what we've known in the past. And Anthony's path hasn’t been a straight line. When asked if he’s ever fallen off track, he didn’t talk about willpower lapses or junk food binges. Instead, he shared a much deeper struggle—one that transformed not just his body, but his soul.
I have never gotten off track due to not being faithful to the plan – like losing like the emotional connection to fitness or falling into something like a deep depression. My story's been different. I've had immense adversity physically. I had a terrible skiing accident when I was 26 which set me off on a 10 year path and I went through an unbelievable amount of pain. There were 7 surgeries, my leg sawed in half, rods in and out of my knee. Stem cells. Screws in and out. Basically, I lost my ability to do the high-level fitness stuff I loved… and I had to grieve that.”
But this led to the discovery of myself on deeper levels. I had to pivot. I lost weight and tons of muscle during that time. There were times I wasn't able to exercise for even periods of years, and I was doing this all while running the company.
I just believe in, even when things are hard, in finding the value in persistence and alchemizing the pain that we have and the pain, the frustration of limitation, and turning that into your spiritual dojo and practice.
I had to pivot from my body to my health being the goal and the goal became actually showing up in the challenge. Persisting became the victory. Not outcomes. Just the process. And I’m still in that process to this day.
The goal was no longer outcome focused because I couldn't control how fast my bone regrew or if my muscles would come back, or if my knee would ever be the same again. But I could be persistent. And I was. And I'm still persisting to this day. I'm still in the path of persistence, and it's getting gradually better.
Anthony inspires us to find what is truly motivating to you in the process and to change what motivates you away from outcomes, to the process itself. “Process, process, process.”
When we experience setbacks, Anthony tells us to, “Get back to the process which, I think, is what also makes our health spiritual. If it's just outcomes we're still focused on the world, we're focused on what the body looks like, we're focused on, you know, the temporary accomplishment. If it's a process, then it's who you're becoming at all times, the values that you have inside that become living expressions of your true self.”
Ever the teacher, Anthony shares what he learned first-hand.
“The secret is to fall in love with the process, not the outcome.”
- “The only way to fall in love with the process of living healthy is to understand that showing up every day, fueling your body right, training, and sleeping – that is the living expression of your deepest values.”
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“It's the way that you express your integrity and your deepest values in this body vehicle and when you can make that jump to understanding that this is not about the outcome of the body, but that it's about the process of of of expressing your truth in your being in this physical form. Then you'll find a level of motivation that will never wane because the body will eventually accumulate limitations.”
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“There will be challenges there will be breakdowns but if you have this process, the process will always just adapt to the state of the body in every stage, and you can find deep joy and motivation in all of that.”
Powerful words—worth sitting with. Let them settle in. Let them challenge and guide you.
Anthony recently returned from a two-week trip to the jungles of Brazil! He posted about this our communities but here are some photos of his adventure.
During his time in Brazil, Anthony had a lot of time to reflect while camping among the stars, sitting by the fire, being eaten by critters, and sharing life with the Yawanawa tribe.
“This adventure triggered a massive wake-up call… I now vividly remember what actually matters to me: genuine connections, heartfelt service, and spreading brotherly / sisterly love.”
More than ever, Dr. A wants to walk with you—not just lead from afar. He wants to hear your story. To share time together. To build deeper bonds in this community we’re all shaping.
That's why he's inviting you to our Fit Father/Fit Mother Live Event happening August 29-31 in Phoenix, AZ. It would be his great please to meet you there. We will have incredible coaches, fantastic experiences, and time. Time spent with each other and helping to grow and improve our own processes. Things which are vital to our sustained health and wellness.
You can learn more and grab your ticket here:
👉 www.fitfatherproject.com/live-event-2025
👉 www.fitmotherproject.com/live-event-2025
If you find yourself reading this after August has passed, no worries. Be sure to check out our sites:
www.fitfatherproject.com
www.fitmotherproject.com
There's always another opportunity to grow, connect, and rise together. Join in! We will leave you with a few other photos of Anthony and his adventures with our Fit Father/Fit Mother Family.
Fit Father / Fit Mother Sedona Retreats
Ragnar Races
Belize Trips
