From Coach Pete: Today’s spotlight is a very special one for me and our community. This is the story of one of our founding members and of a great friend of mine. The year was 2013 and I was working as a personal trainer in a local gym when I met Carmelo. Little did I know he would be a part of my life for the next 12 years and counting. Carmelo and I found that we had a lot in common such as Tough Mudder Races and interest in the sport of CrossFit. As my training evolved, I began hosting boot camp classes that resembled CrossFit classes. Carmelo always had a desire to push himself and take on new challenges and soon began attending my boot camp classes. After several years of this, CrossFit Roaster Barbell was born, and among the brave few that took the leap with me was Carmelo. On October 1st, 2015 Carmelo was a part of the very 1st CrossFit Roaster Barbell class over on Pelret Industrial Parkway. I’ll be forever grateful for his belief in me and for his loyalty through the years. The rest is history. My purpose in recognizing Carmelo is to shine a light on this man and his journey to be the best version of himself that he can be. He may be one of the most humble humans I’ve ever met. Many years before I had ever met Carmelo, he had decided that he was going to change the trajectory of his entire life. His fitness and health were in need of an overhaul and thats exactly what he did. Here we are now in 2025 and I think he may be in the best shape of his life at 50 years old. In all honesty, there’s really no words I can come up with that can accurately describe Carmelo’s importance to me and this community. Thank you for being a part of this community and thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey.
1 – What is your why? What gets you out of bed in the morning?
The obvious answer would be for your health. But I actually just like to work.
2 – What is your definition of success?
Staying consistent.
3 – If you could give your younger self advice, what would be?
Stay present in the moment. Enjoy what you have and be grateful.
4 – What is your biggest goal right now? Could be life or fitness or anything.
Just continue to have quality relationships with my family and friends.
5) If you could have lunch with anyone ever, who would it be and why?
My grandfather, the original Mr Sapio.
6) What is your favorite part of training?
My favorite part about training at our gym is having fun in our community, laughing with the crew and of course getting swoll.
7) What is your least favorite part of training?
Being sore.
8) What has been your biggest obstacle on your fitness journey?
Diet
9) What would your ideal day consist of?
Two workouts a day, a great day at work. And a quality meal with my family.
10) What is something that no one knows about you?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot.
11) Who is your biggest inspiration?
That’s easy, my dad.
12) What brought you to Roaster Barbell?
Dale Smith
13) How has the gym influenced your life outside of the gym?
It’s made me more curious about adventure. Doing stuff that I probably wouldn’t have done fifteen years ago.
14) What advice would you give someone who is on the fence about CrossFit and Roaster Barbell?
Keep an open mind, stick with it. And most of all have fun.
15) If you could go anywhere in the world for a day where would you go and why?
Japan. Love stories about samurai warriors and martial arts.
16) You have 1 guaranteed wish, what would it be?
I would wish for my loved ones to have great health and happy lives.
17) What is one important lesson you learned the hard way?
That procrastinating is awful. It just makes things twice as hard.
18) What makes you the most happy?
Making my dad laugh
19) You can have anything, what is your ideal meal?
Steak and sweet potato fries
20) Is there anything else you would like to add?
Don’t get too crazy with numbers. If your efforts are honest and you stay consistent success will come. I would say just try to enjoy the time that you’re at the gym, enjoy the community and have fun and hug Pete daily, he loves that shit.
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Thank you for taking the time to get to know Carmelo and his journey! If you would like to learn how you could become our next success story, just email Coach Pete at ptaylor@mail.bw.edu and lets begin talking about how Roaster Barbell and help you reach your goals!