How Ovi Ilica Shapes Long-Term Fitness Success

How Ovi Ilica Shapes Long-Term Fitness Success
Photo Courtesy: OviPhysiques

By: Oscar Lang

“Eat the food!” It’s simple advice, no? Ovi Ilica has developed a fitness and nutrition philosophy by contrasting simplicity and complexity with short-term and long-term goals. What does this mean? Simplicity belongs to the immediate. When starting a training program, a client should know that they can continue this practice into the future. Simplicity assures this assumption because simple tasks are more accessible to keep track of and complete. Complexity, on the other hand, is welcome for the long-term plan. 

In all areas of life, we discover that our initial goal has more steps than we thought, and it might also have more benefits along the way of pursuing it. “I want to be skinnier and skinnier” is an unsustainable long-term plan. A better way to look at a fitness goal is maybe, “I want to feel more confident in my skin, and I want to know that my body will hold up strongly as I age.” That’s a goal that you can implement with OviPhysiques. Even if you want to get skinnier as a goal, opening yourself up to long-term additions to it can help you build a natural and effective routine. 


Ovi starts by listening to his new clients. He develops his written programs by leaning into your professed strengths. If you enjoy lifting heavy weights, he will get you under a barbell; if you’re a proficient manager in your workplace, he will give you the power to schedule and delegate your program with extra fitness guidance on his end. He wants to provide all clients with a way to meaningfully propagate habits that stick, and going at them from a point of strength is a sure-fire way to do so. 

Through consistency and small, manageable changes on repeat, progress is inevitable, and confidence comes with it. Just like building a program from your strengths is simple, his diet program will always be easy. Clients start off simply by ensuring that they get the right nutrients in their body. Adding nutrients is essential before taking away calories. Food is how we feel energized and healthy, so uninformed diets can actually be dangerous. While in the long-term, nutrition can get more complex, you can start simple and eat the food. The OviPhysiques approach is not a one week body fix. There is no cleanse, supplement pattern, fat-burning exercise, motivational speech, or pilates class that will get you where you want. Ovi believes strongly in his clients, and it’s all about centering them to make serious positive changes in their bodies and minds. 

Before starting OviPhysiques, Ovi struggled with where he wanted to go in life. He was laid off twice, and it taught him how to bounce back. After losing the first job,he felt lost, confused, and ultimately frustrated. Taking a man’s source of income is scary, especially amidst raising a young boy. After the second layoff, however, he realized that he needed to implement his own structure in his life. He created an LLC, got certified as a personal trainer and nutrition specialist, and started changing lives. Today, he holds two American Council on Exercise (ACE) certifications for training and nutrition, two additional certifications in the same fields from the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), and TRX certification. He has competed in seven Men’s Physique bodybuilding shows and coached over 7,500 classes for Orangetheory Fitness as a Dual Head Coach and Regional Manager. 

He has been featured on The Box Entrepreneur TV Show and has helped hundreds of clients transform their lives, writing over 800 custom programs. Ovi is in the industry of realization; clients are not stretching what they can do, they are realizing just how much they’re capable of with discipline and confidence because of a long-term mindset. Ovi knows the mindset himself. He started with simplicity—leaving the trepidation of layoff behind for the fitness world—and graduated into a more realized career with strong goals. 

He wants to turn OviPhysiques into a national brand, with hundreds of coaches who care about their clients and get as excited as he does to see them change for the better. By growing his business, he’s showing himself and his son how inspiring it is to follow your passions with discipline, and his clients can see a way towards their goals themselves. Shedding pounds, building up muscle before a competition, or keeping your body healthy as you age all take the same approach. Start simply—look at your goal and take one broad step towards it, but keep your mind open to expanding this goal as you realize just what you’re capable of. 

Published by: Holy Minoza

(Ambassador)

This article features branded content from a third party. Opinions in this article do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Miami Wire.