I’ve been gifted with a great body. Unfortunately, I have spent years in deep discord with it, and it started when I was 18.

At that time I was living in Italy and I developed anorexia, an eating disorder that started off as a game of control, a game to manipulate the only thing I thought I had a grip on: my body.

Fortunately the darkest times didn’t last too long (full mental recovery, on the other hand, took many years) but I’m certain that living in extreme survival mode for even just two years had to be the greatest stressor my body went through.

Even if I was sabotaging myself, I always felt that silent, unconditional love, that the body is made of. The body just does it best, no matter what you put it through. It loves you no matter what and every single cell, out of the trillions and trillions, wants you well, healthy, alive, thriving. They live for you. F**k followers, you got the biggest fans you can ask for, inside you, making up who you are. So I’m a big believer in helping the body doing what it naturally wants to do.

Thankfully I’ve maintained great health, throughout the years, despite the damage I could have caused (missed periods for years, overtraining, depression, risk of osteoporosis, ketoacidosis, and so on).

Fast forward to now, 2025: I’ve been weight training for 24 years (with a 5 years hiatus when I started contortion), and contortion for 13. I did experience injuries (who doesn’t?), especially in my first years of contortion and I’ve undergone X Rays and MRIs, so what I’ll discuss has been diagnosed by actual doctors and radiologists.

Here is an honest review of what happened, in order:

• I got pushed hard in a shoulder stretch, circa 2012 during a flexibility group class (this was before I even met my contortion coach) and since then I felt some discomfort in my right shoulder that I left untreated for several years, unaware of the importance of rehab.
• I had a small labral tear in my left hip, caused (I guess, because these are fairly common in active individuals) by pushing too hard in passive stretching and a lack of strength around the hip and adductors (2014 circa), thankfully I regained total function and no pain after returning to weight training.

• A L5S1 bulging disc in low back, caused by again too much passive stretching and a lack of support/strength in glutes/low back area, healed through correcting my approach to training, including strength training, conditioning and an injection of PRP (Platelets Rich Plasma) that worked very well for me (circa 2015).

• A right hamstring strain while lifting weights (healed with strength training, dry needling/physical therapy, circa 2019).
• A right Quadratus Lumborum strain due to the fact that I wasn’t addressing enough thoracic rotation/flexion in my training (this one happened last year, healed with strength training and physical therapy).

The first three have been injuries to structural elements (which are considered bones, ligaments, tendons, cartilage etc), the latter where muscular (much faster to heal).

My most consistent injury has been my right shoulder. This injury (which ended up being a mix of tendinosis/tendinitis with 3 small partial tears to the rotator cuff’s tendons) kept existing and hanging in there surprisingly for years with not much discomfort, mostly instability (I did treat it with PRP in 2016 but it wasn’t successful as in my low back, also it wasn’t done with an ultrasound machine, way less accurate on something so complex like the shoulder).

Years went by and adding physical therapy exercises in my routine kept my shoulder at bay, meaning it didn’t get worse nor better, it was steady and manageable and I avoided harsh stretches when needed. A few months ago, out of nowhere I experienced a flare up and I started to avoid more exercises that exacerbated the pain, consequently pain decreased, but still few months passed by and I didn’t want to keep “avoiding stuff”, that didn’t sound like a long term approach. So I consulted with my physical therapist and decided to get treatment again, positive that 9 years later, regenerative medicine had gone through significant improvement. I was correct!

After a consultation, I decided to get Stem Cells (+Exosomes, which optimize stem cell work, +PRP). I was thrilled to find a great physician here in Miami and not having to travel abroad like many are doing to get affordable and reliable treatment (stem cell therapy is wildly expensive at the moment and not widely available in the States due to strict FDA regulations).

I’m ready to document the healing process with you in the next weeks and months, because part of my work ethic is to be open about healing injuries as well, and to also tell you, no matter how well you train, shit happens! Especially what hasn’t being healed properly in the past, can and probably will come back at some point.

I believe in the body’s intelligence and ability to heal, so I’m excited to help it do so.

More on the subject, soon.