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♪

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Exercise is my life.

It's what I love, it's my passion.

♪

I'm a martial artist.

♪

I've been teaching kicking and punching

with Powerstrike for over 20 years.

♪

And I've always believed that if you exercise a lot,

you're more confident, you're more prepared for life,

you're more disciplined, you're more determined.

Strengthens your willpower.

It just prepares you for what life throws at you.

♪

Joining us now to show us the basics

of her truly unique sword-fighting workout

called Forza is fitness expert and black belt

Ilaria Montagnani.

- Hey, welcome. - How did I do?

♪

You know, this is not the way you're supposed to do matcha.

You're supposed to have all the...

And just because I have chopsticks

it doesn't make it more Japanese, but...

So, right now I'm choosing the music

for class.

Based on what I've not used in a while,

based on my mood of the day.

I have about 500.

And then, "Definitions," one, two, three, four, five.

Here we go.

Right now I'm gonna prepare for three,

then I have two more, so it's five classes today.

This is the first one, 8:45 in the morning.

It's called "Definitions."

♪

Gonna start to get nicely crowded soon.

♪

Okay, going in to second class.

Powerstrike.

Second one of the day, still the beginning.

♪

She's always raising the bar, and she's always coming up with

better workouts, not only for us,

but for herself.

She sets the bar, and that never stays stationary.

♪

Third class.

♪

You know, she's... She's in control,

and she has command of the class,

and she has a very strong presence.

♪

So, I just finished the first three classes.

Having a quick sandwich, espresso,

and then heading uptown

to teach the next two classes.

Doesn't stop.

Never stops.

All right, espresso and uptown.

♪

Four classes down.

Fifth class is starting right now.

Forza, ready to go.

♪

It's 5 to 4:00,

and...

Well, I'm done teaching.

Now, I have to choreograph for tomorrow.

I have books,

books of choreography.

No, I write everything down, but first I have to try

to see if it feels good on my body.

If it's... if it makes sense.

♪

When I left Italy, I left as an angry,

young Italian.

I was rebellious, and my father was very strict,

so we had fights all the time.

I had fights with my mom because obviously

she has to support my dad.

And now, I've very close to them, I'm very lucky.

♪

My mom is such an amazing friend.

♪

I grew up in Florence.

♪

I'm the oldest of three.

I think my mom and dad were a little bit surprised

that I had so much energy, so at one point,

my poor mom decided to put me to ballet school.

I mean, I always wanted to be physical,

but I couldn't figure out a way to be physical.

One thing that I knew was I want to do martial arts.

That for me was clear, always.

I think my parents went through

a difficult moment.

She always wanted to say something,

like, "I don't want to be

like an Italian woman,

sitting and preparing food for the family,

and that's it, and obeying the man of the house.

I don't want to be like that, so I want to...

I want to be a woman that

has a different attitude in life.

So, if I can't have this attitude of living in Italy,

I will move away from this to...

To express myself."

I always thought that she would've come back one day.

Never imagined she would go there for good.

What got me about New York was the excitement.

The fact that I felt

that you could do... this is really the American Dream.

You can do so much in America... In Italy, I don't know

that I can do this in Italy.

♪

I just turned 19,

and I couldn't do anything.

I didn't speak the language, I didn't have a working visa,

I didn't know how to survive.

I sold moldings, I sold frames.

I pretended I could cook Italian food, which I couldn't,

and I thought, "I'll just work in a restaurant later,"

even though I did not really know English.

I did every single job I could do

for a few years to try to make a living.

I started to get involved with fitness

by taking aerobic classes.

At the same time, I was really starting to be

so much into martial arts, and just wanted to get

my black belt.

♪

I remember when you first walked into the gym.

I started slowly showing you

some self-defense moves.

That's true, that's where we started from.

And then, I started combining the fitness training

with the self-defense moves, I was... kept pushing you harder.

I also remember, you were the first person

to start me with the Vulcan.

You put a Vulcan in my hand, everything changed then.

You never questioned anything.

You never complained,

and then we got strict.

And then, you were training me on the bag,

and that I loved.

We hit that heavy bag

about two, three times a week.

Put a lot of dents in that bag.

That was some of the happiest, happiest time in my life.

♪

And then, I was like, "What if I could bridge

the martial arts, that I'm experiencing it,

to the people that do fitness."

We really both had this feeling that

this was something that other people

could really love and benefit from.

And it had more than just

what we were doing in an aerobics class

to burn calories.

There was nobody teaching anything

evenly remotely like this,

and especially not two women.

I stayed teaching Powerstrike Kickboxing,

I continued with the company and created many other programs,

such as Impact, such as Forza, Bodystrikes, Atletica.

Right away, it took off.

Hi, everyone, I'm Ilaria Montagnani,

and I'm here today with Elizabeth.

One more.

♪

The videos make it accessible to the regular people.

So, then you have the mother of three kids,

the guy that comes from Wall Street

and had a stressful day at work

can come here and take his mind away

to burn calories.

♪

♪

Seeing to a fitness craze called Forza,

which means "strength" in Italian.

Diagonal, diagonal,

then we go horizontal, and push.

Again.

The Forza, the concept was totally innovative.

It's totally innovative, even from the point of view

that it was a girl doing this.

There was not even a man doing punching with music,

but she was a woman.

♪

Exercise is what made me who I am right now.

Exercise is

the vehicle that made my mind as strong as it is.

♪

Exercise makes you stronger for life.

♪

We always say, "Your mind is so strong,

you can always tell yourself what to do."

Absolutely true, absolutely true.

But, a lot of times, our mind is not that strong.

Make your body be your strength,

because everybody can take a step,

everybody can get up in the morning,

everybody can go from here to here physically

and that makes your mind stronger.

The two things work together, but the mind needs to be helped

by the body.

♪

"What is your occupation?" Fitness instructor.

"Would this disrupt activity?"

Yes.

- Do you want me to kill? - No.

I knew something was not right, but I never thought

it was anything serious, I just thought it was

a little cyst, and of course I waited for it to go away,

I waited, and then I started to feel instead of one, two.

When I started feeling two, I was like,

"Maybe I should really have it checked."

So, tell me about what's been going on.

I felt something in my breast.

I never had mammograms or anything.

Um, I ignored it.

Then, uh...

Well, it's been resent.

Take your time.

♪

They called me with the biopsy first of all, then they said,

"You have cancer."

♪

I just hung up the phone, and, um,

just kind of thought about it, because they told me

over the phone, "You have cancer."

That first couple of hours, I was like, "Okay,

I have cancer, I'll deal with it."

But, I think inside something broke.

I felt that my body had betrayed me.

It was always something that I could coach

to do whatever I wanted,

and my body was the vehicle of my strength.

I just felt really defeated.

♪

I never had a doctor.

I think that's why this is so traumatic.

I've never had a doctor, I've never been to the doctor.

Even just the appointments, they're making me so crazy.

I've never gone to appointments.

♪

And my brother, who's very holistic

and is a yoga instructor, was like, "Okay,

now you cannot eat anything.

You have to starve the cancer," which I had read.

I was like, "Okay, the best thing is, like,

starving the cancer."

And then, I was like, "Just juice."

But, like, I'm bombarding my own self, like,

"I'm just gonna starve... No, I can't starve."

It was kind of a very up-and-down moment.

♪

- How are you? - Hi.

- How are you doing? - You're so beautiful.

I'm fine, I'm just coming on the side porch.

- How are you? - I am, uh, good.

I am good, I'm okay.

I get very emotional these days, sorry.

No, it's okay, you have to let it out.

I'm the best person to do this with.

- We're old warriors. - No, I know, we are,

and I'm gonna do it, it's just that

I just got the news, and I just... you know, of course,

I mean, I was floored, I'm like I felt something,

and I'm like, "Me?"

I mean, come on, I was like...

It also was, you know, obviously being a doctor

they just call, "Hey, we got the results."

I'm like, "Okay, hi, how are you?

"You have cancer." It's just hearing the words,

- you know, so. - Right.

I... this is the worst time, I was trying to explain

to a friend of mine, it's just like being

in, like, this limbo, just waking up

and being emotional, and doing all this

case scenario, you know, like, "What if, and what...?"

And I know I'm gonna be fine, I'm sure, and I have to say it,

I'm gonna pos... We gotta be positive.

- We gotta be positive. - No, you have to.

I know, but then I'm by myself,

and you know, what happens in the middle of the night?

I'm not positive.

♪

The worst are the nights, when you wake up

in the middle of the night, and you start thinking,

"What if I die?"

And then, I feel stupid to think,

"No, you're not gonna die."

♪

So, then I started to feel like, "This thing is growing

by the hour," and I started to panic.

I would walk into the room thinking, "Nobody knows

I have cancer."

It was literally like, "Jab, jab, cancer,

kick, kick, cancer, squat, cancer."

Like, I was like, "Stop it!"

And then, I went to see... Finally went to see

the surgeon I decided to be my surgeon,

and she was very calming.

She was like, "It's okay.

We're gonna do a mastectomy."

This is now the important thing.

- You didn't see this. - Yeah, I know.

So, this was the bed that I was lying down,

so he starts from here, and explained everything.

That's my boob.

Nice.

That's the fat, that is not true.

And it's... no, there is a little layer of fat

that he said there's not enough in there.

So, we have to be careful with the skin.

The good thing is that, if when they take

everything out, the cancer has not touched the nipple.

They save the outside of the nipple.

And we jump here,

and they're gonna put an implant

right under the muscle.

And the first step is to put what you call

a "tissue expander," and tissue expander

goes under the muscle.

This is the under the muscle.

Where my brother was very emotionally helpful,

Jackson, he's right there.

He's like, "You have to call the insurance,

you have to ask this to the doctor.

This is what you need to know, this is what you need to ask,

these are the things that you need to keep in mind."

I told my brother,

and I... I decided I have to tell my mom.

I said, "Lorenzo, please help me.

I can't do this without..."

And that was very hard, telling my mom

over the phone was hard, it was horrible,

and I was like, "I can't do this."

♪

♪

I'm on my way to the hospital, and actually

I don't feel too bad.

I'm ready, I'm ready for this.

I think I may be panicking by the time

I walk into the hospital and actually smell

and see everything, but I just want recovery

on the other side.

♪

Everything that I stand for is,

"Be strong, life throws challenges at you,

and we all have to learn how to overcome them."

But, you know what, I never had these kind of challenges.

♪

Now is different.

Now I have my challenge.

♪

♪

♪

I'm hungry and I'm thirsty.

I'll pour us out some Pellegrino.

Oh, my God, that feels amazing.

That's... that's it.

Ilaria was able to undergo a procedure called

a nipple-sparing mastectomy,

which was to remove all of the breast tissue,

but preserve all of her natural skin,

her nipple, her areola,

and in addition to that, to remove a couple

of lymph nodes from her armpit area.

At the time of surgery, we were able to reconstruct

the breast so that she was able

to wake up immediately

with a new reconstructed breast.

It's just annoying some days.

You couldn't wrap here.

- I am, in fact it's... - Yeah.

Oh, okay.

I thought the night you wanted to.

No, she said not till tomorrow morning.

I'm not sleeping with it.

- I'm taking it off. - Yes, at some point.

They have to say certain things, but that doesn't mean

that you have to follow them.

A big line.

Okay, Mom.

That was so good.

And so, you remind me.

Wanna look?

Yeah.

It's done.

Thank you.

This is... will help prevent any complications,

especially pneumonia, so it gives you

- exercise for your lungs. - Okay, so.

So, what you need to do is breathe in like a straw.

- Yeah. - Okay, and then you want

this little chip to flutter in between the arrows here.

So, you wanna try to do this at least 10 times an hour.

You don't have to do it 10 times in a row,

just 10 times in an hour.

Breathe in, hold it, and exhale there?

Correct, so you just want... yeah.

Just take a deep breath in through here,

and just let the little chip flutter in between

the arrows here... Keep going as much as you can.

And then, exhale.

Okay, one more time.

Again.

Okay.

So, you wanna try to do that at least 10 times in an hour.

- Okay, all right. - Okay?

I need water.

Uh-huh.

- Then comes the button. - Sure.

Yeah, we can detach you in a minute.

Yeah, we'll re-tighten this one a little bit.

Um,

yeah, so we're gonna have somebody who's gonna

check on you probably one more time tonight

- just to see how you're doing. - Okay, great, great, great,

because I'll be out for a little bit, I'll be asleep.

- And is... I'm sorry for... - Yeah, keep going.

The IV, not the pain one.

Is it going fast enough?

- That is dripping, right? - It is, it's going at

- 100 milliliters an hour. - So, it's all working fine?

- Everything is...? - Everything's great.

- Have a good night. - Thank you, see you tomorrow.

I will see you bright and early in the morning.

- Thank you, man. - Bye-bye.

What do I wake up?

Uh, we will probably wake you up around 6:00.

Ciao, everybody, I'm leaving.

- No, no, no, no. - Not yet, but I'd like to.

So, the first week was hard.

I was not prepared for that much pain.

♪

Everything hurts, so you cannot

pull yourself out of bed.

You can't reach to get something,

you can't cook.

My mom was... was amazing,

because I couldn't do anything.

Mom.

♪

♪

♪

Me, me.

But, I'll be queen, I have no breathing capacity.

That's... that's sad.

I know it will come back, but...

That's true.

Okay, that's it.

♪

Oh, these people are elegant.

I wanna be running.

♪

It's a bad day.

This is really hurting me.

Every two seconds, it feels like somebody's

pulling to my wound.

Just a constant pulling pain.

Come on, come on.

Okay.

All right, so the first thing I'm gonna do,

I'm just gonna clean the drain tubing

and make sure that it's not backed up at all.

So, it's called "stripping the drain,"

and that's not gonna hurt you at all.

When they remove so much tissue,

the body leaks fluid and blood,

so they have this thing that has a drainage.

Are you taking anything for pain, or nothing?

- I'm on the first day of... - Okay.

It hurts, but not the night before, so.

Oh, okay, every day gets a little bit better.

The first three or four days, maybe between being so out of it

or the painkillers, you don't mind so much,

you just have to go and empty every three or four hours,

and measure it.

So, we're leaving it until Monday.

That's not gonna be too long, no?

No, definitely not too long, no.

I think four days is a little bit on the early side

to remove it anyway,

so I'm just gonna leave this like this now,

and I wouldn't empty this again until tomorrow morning.

Yep, what is my range of motion on this one?

So, we generally say that you can raise your arms low

up to the level of the shoulder.

- Already, I can? - We say just not...

We don't want extension in this way.

Yes, no I can't.

But, you can keep... you can...

And you should move that, you shouldn't be too scared

- not to move at all because... - Okay.

What about extending forward, I can do this, right?

Forward is fine, but again, I wouldn't go up.

Yep, okay.

It just constantly hurts.

I'm sorry, I just wanted to adjust it,

I wanna... to pull that.

Just...

And the more I try to make it better, it gets worse,

so I'm gonna stop.

I just have to be patient.

If I'm honest, today was not good.

I just feel dizzy right now.

I don't know why.

I shouldn't.

I have to feel happy, I have to feel positive,

but I'm upset.

Sorry.

♪

I never realized how much you use your pecs.

♪

So, if I use just my hands and squeeze it like this,

I can do it.

If I go with two hands and try to use them both

at the same time, and obviously have this kind of motion,

I have to wait for that.

♪

Cutting the bread,

I can't cut with my left,

so then I figured out if I just lean with my whole body

and do this,

then I can cut my bread, because, again,

I'm using my hips, my abdominals.

I'm not squeezing too much my chest,

but I have to be careful.

♪

The majority of us don't have family in New York City.

We have a New York City family,

and it's our New York City support system.

So, when she was ill, well let's...

Let's give her coupons

so she could get her hair washed,

or let's get coupons to get a meal plan.

So, it's just this unified love Ilaria

that has brought us together,

so we're family.

She is our family.

It was important for me, I think,

to share this with my community,

because it did hit me so hard.

I put on Facebook an announcement

that I had cancer the night before

I was going to surgery, and I started to receive

so many messages on Facebook,

on emails, on text,

on everything, to reach out to me on Instagram

to tell me how much they love me,

how much they... You know, "Stay strong,"

"You're gonna make it."

So, the outpour of love and support

in every way was so amazing.

That was a crucial part

for my recovery to be so positive,

and stay so happy throughout it.

Nevermind that people help me out with food

- once my mom left. - Oh, my God, wait,

- first of all, you guys. - Everything.

- Look at this. - Container of juice for...

This... Elizabeth and Sabrina

- came with... - Everything.

All of the greens.

- All the greens. - All of this.

I would hug you if I could,

really tight, but I can't.

When I met Ilaria,

I... I saw how she was with people,

and that was one motive why I wanted to teach fitness,

because of her.

Everything that I learned was just by watching

and by doing.

Luckily, and thank God as well,

I found something that I didn't...

I didn't think I had.

♪

Week 2, the pain started to be much better.

Also, because they finally took the tubes out.

Kind of went for a beautiful walk

in Central Park, which after half an hour,

I was done.

Then, I went from walking 30 minutes

to walking 45 minutes, and I was like, "Yeah!"

And then, I was like, "What if I started to do the bike?"

First day was hard.

Second day a little bit better.

Today's my third day, and I'm gonna try to push it.

I'm trying to get my strength back,

my cardiovascular capacity,

my stamina back.

I can't really do anything with my arms yet.

I cannot put any pressure on my chest muscles.

My rib cage is still pretty sore.

So, I can only work my legs.

20 more minutes here,

and then treadmill for another half hour.

♪

Okay, I'm moving pretty slow still.

♪

Maybe tomorrow I'll do better.

♪

♪

Get ready for first class.

I'm not doing anything, but just teaching it.

I don't know why I have to warm up.

I have to warm up with them to do the class.

I have to warm up my spirit.

I don't wanna do this inside, that's the thing.

I'm ready.

All right, let's do it.

♪

- Everybody up. - Yeah!

All right, now let's workout.

♪

It's painful because I can't do anything,

so I'm seeing all these people sweating

and having a great time,

but it was great to start to see people

and to be back in the gym, and everybody being like,

"We're so happy to see you,"

and I'm just receiving the love of people.

♪

I mean, when Ilaria first came back,

it was very emotional.

I remember the first time I saw her.

I was surprised at how quickly she came back.

That was one thing that was

pretty remarkable that she was able to come back

only a couple of weeks after her surgery.

But, I mean, I think that also speaks to

her love of what she does.

I also think it speaks to

her dedication and her continuing to find strength,

and to fight through it,

and to recover as quickly as she can.

Selfishly, of course, I was thrilled that she was back

because I could take her classes again,

and see her,

and feel inspired by her.

But at the same time,

on a human level,

I wanted to make sure that she was okay

and that she wasn't overdoing it

and overexerting herself.

Part of me wanted to come back to work

as soon as possible

because I never wanna leave my students

not having my classes,

but also feeling the pressure of like,

"I have business.

What happens if I take a month off?"

I've never taken a month off!

I don't even know what happens!

I came back to teach three weeks exactly

after my surgery,

and I think that was a little too fast.

♪

♪

When we clear patients, we ask them to kind of

work on range of motion first.

Once you've got range of motion,

then you can kind of add weights and resistance,

and gradually work through that process

required to get back to your fighting shape.

♪

I constantly face my limits,

and I'm someone that has never used to see life with limits.

It's always been limitless, especially physically,

so that sucks.

♪

I think in Ilaria's circumstance,

a lot of what she does is

very aggressive, forceful motions

and a lot of overhead activity.

And she's super motivated in wanting to get back to

where she was before surgery and restore a sense of normalcy,

and that's entirely understandable.

But, unfortunately in her circumstance,

I think that she may have jumped back into things

a little bit too quickly.

♪

Ah.

♪

That's the best feeling, after when you're finished.

Okay, I'm gonna go stretch.

Nice.

Finally, yes, I know this is now my happiness.

To be able to see that I'm sweating.

No shoulders, nothing,

and it's like, "Pffp!"

There's no shoulders.

My arms.

Haven't done Forza in seven weeks.

But I still have to warm up and do upper body

with little light weights.

It's better than nothing.

This is an injury, so, I'm gonna do to them now.

Such an amazing feeling to have

this kind of workout, and just sweat.

I've really missed it.

This is my cardio.

The weights is a completely different story.

That's gonna be much more exciting.

But what I'm gonna do now is take the pills.

These pills.

I take three every day.

I don't know if they're helping.

Everybody's like, "Take the mushrooms,

the bitter mushrooms from South America.

Take the lemon, take the bitter melon,

take the black seeds, take this oil."

Like, all the natural things.

And the people that have used them,

they say it really helped them cure cancer.

Of course, my doctor looked at it,

and they're like, "No."

So, the only one they'll oversee,

they have to believe that in is Tamoxifen.

So, I take this and this.

It's my new life now.

All right.

I'm cured, I'm cured of cancer.

Cured!

Okay.

I have to take this medicine,

and the side effects are pretty significant.

It makes me feel much more tired,

and I'm in a lot of pain.

Every single muscle,

and every single... Especially my joints...

Are really, really hurting.

And I didn't know if it was because

I started working out again, or... but it's different.

It's a pain that is not a workout...

It's not after-the-workout pain,

it's before, it's...

And then, so I asked the doctor,

and some of the side effects

of the Tamoxifen that I'm taking

is joint and muscle pain.

And, in my case, having to teach this many classes a day,

and this being my profession, and my passion also,

it's a big deal

because I almost told my doctor.

I'm like, "What if I stop taking it?

What if I don't wanna take Tamoxifen?"

And she was like, "No, you should really take it.

I mean, you do what you want, but it would be kind of

stupid for you not to take it.

You're not cleared from cancer.

You didn't come back 100 percent clear.

Your cancer was very aggressive.

You still have one boob,

so you could get it in your other."

She just didn't make me feel good.

She just made me feel,

"Oh, shit.

This is real again."

And then, when she found out that

the lymph nodes are swollen...

I'm excited to go teach on Thanksgiving.

Every time I say I go teach on Thanksgiving,

people that don't go to the gym are like, "What?"

Like, "The gyms are even open?"

Yes, the gym is open, and there's gonna be...

It's usually very crowded, at least the classes

because everybody wants to work out

before they go eat

and they go with the family.

So, it's... I can't wait to see.

I really want to try to do my own Athletica class.

I don't know

that I should.

I think I can, I think I should.

I think it's two months now,

it's exactly two months, so.

♪

In this kind of job, you have to be like, "Rah!"

It's show time!

And you teach, and it's three, four

hours a day, every day.

And if you finish teaching a class,

and you're not exhausted, like mentally,

you didn't do it.

It's a performance, what you're doing,

for everybody.

The athlete mentality is all about

fortitude and strength, right?

And there is, there's never "I can't."

It's always, "I can."

You can do it,

and you think always moving forward,

the next progression.

And that's with anything that life throws at you,

whether it's personal, financial,

anything that you're challenged with.

You find a way to get it done,

and it gets done.

♪

So, the first time I met Ilaria,

I took her Forza class,

and I went up to her and said,

"You know, I just had a double mastectomy

because of breast cancer."

And she said, "Oh, I had that too."

It built this bond between us very quickly.

And I'm pregnant now, I'm 37 weeks pregnant,

and I think it's really important to

raise a child who will see that,

"But my mom can do things," and I hope that

they learn this really important lesson.

♪

Oh, come on!

♪

It's harder than I thought.

♪

I think I have to warm up.

♪

Let's see how I feel tomorrow.

Okay, now pushups.

♪

Ugh.

Pushups are way harder than I thought.

Wow, ouch!

Can't go.

It's up here, I can't do it.

I'll do it one more time.

♪

I'm getting a ticket to go to Italy in two weeks.

It hurts.

I'm planning on going

back for Christmas to see my family.

I spend every Christmas with them.

♪

♪

Ciao!

♪

It's a very bonding time.

We get all the groceries together, we cook.

It's preparing the meal with my mom for everyone.

But, of course, she's the chef.

I'm just like cutting in the kitchen.

But it's been a tradition.

These are precious, precious moments.

♪

♪

♪

My father has been having some problems

on his prostate.

And now he thinks maybe his liver.

When I was little, I was more a daddy's girl.

I really had a special relationship with my dad.

My father was a typical Italian man,

who never went too deep in expressing his feelings,

but I always felt his love.

♪

♪

♪

Thinking about my dad.

Yesterday,

my mom told me

that he has liver and lung cancer

and stage IV.

Oh, this is my dad!

He never even text me once in his life.

He doesn't even know how to text.

Now, he learns how to text?

I have to go, I have to go to Italy.

Okay, so, his cancer is everywhere.

It's everywhere,

it's all over, his blood, everywhere.

It's all over his body, so.

Damn it!

Stronger for Life, right.

My father's not eating,

so I asked my mom to send me a picture.

He's lost 20 pounds

in two weeks.

Fuck, cancer sucks!

That's all I can say.

Cancer sucks.

♪

♪

♪

My father's a hunter,

so he has hunting rifles.

And he has one next to his bed that he's charged

with two bullets.

The doctor told us, and my father's already starting,

every now and then, to say things that are weird.

So, my mom, and my brother, and I were like,

"Oh, my God, we have to take the bullets out."

♪

My dad,

so he's fighting

his cancer.

He's deciding to fight with chemotherapy.

I was with him the entire second cycle,

which was very nice.

I think after the third, all the doctors are saying

things are gonna get much worse for his health.

He makes jokes at the hospital.

It's funny, but I think inside he is very anguished.

I can see it.

So, it's hard to see him sad like that.

All of a sudden, in like two months,

he's aged like ten years.

That's the hard part.

See him physically deteriorate that fast.

There are moments that I feel like I wanna cry and I feel sad,

but I can't, and I don't want to.

I wanna be, I wanna be positive for him.

I wanna be strong for him.

Coming here, and finding a little bit of time on my own

to exercise,

as usual, that helps me.

It's amazing how therapeutic it is to be able to come here,

break a sweat, work hard,

and then go back home, and be with him.

♪

♪

My sister and my brother, very good.

They are, they've basically half moved in,

so they're there pretty much every day,

and to be with my dad, and just to be with him.

They're helping my mom a lot,

and my sister is, she's just been amazing.

I remember when her father was diagnosed,

and I couldn't believe that...

I was shocked.

And meanwhile, she's teaching,

continues her schedule,

and that's very demanding.

And the fact then now she has to worry about her father

- in another country. - So we have a meeting.

It's a Thursday.

This is a great opportunity for us

and as Powerstrike, and as a group.

This class is a martial arts,

high-intensity, cardio workout

with a great component of bodyweight exercises.

I think when we go on the 7th, we're gonna be like...

amazing looking.

And, and, and, and, and, and.

Sixteen times!

- Thank you. - All right, thank you, guys.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Ugh!

Now, legs out, regular crunch on the floor.

Get ready for your last exercise.

Bicycles.

I'm calling my parents every day now,

and my plan is to be here for a little bit,

a few more days, and then travel back to Italy,

and just stay there.

Cause Ethan invited me for a ceremony,

which I did not know what was the reason.

I have the opportunity to present for the first time,

the Life Achievement Award for an instructor.

This award is for the GFI

that has made a significant contribution

over the years of service,

and has had a profound impact on Equinox growth.

Their talent and legacy is overall success

year after year.

And the award goes to

Ilaria Montagnani.

♪

Unfortunately, Ilaria had to leave

and will not be here to accept today.

As we were landing,

I got my mom's email saying

he just died.

So, we didn't make it on time.

I didn't say goodbye.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Ah, today I'm making

tomato sauce.

This is a family tradition.

♪

Thank you!

♪

♪

But right now, I'm still a little bit

scarred by my dad's death

and my diagnosis.

One of the things that I really wanna fight is

this feeling of fear

because I don't wanna live in fear.

That's my father's favorite picture.

I love it.

My mom and I went to get these three sweaters

for his birthday.

It's a little big, but I like it.

Smells like him.

So, that's what matters.

Reminds me of him.

So he's with me now.

The last time I left,

I was not even few days...

I left, I went for his birthday.

He was pretty well on his birthday.

Then, I came back to America,

and I left, and I said, "Hey, I'll see you.

I'll see you qui... I'll see you all right?

I'll come back in a few weeks."

So, then I'm thinking, "Maybe you should have said,

'I love you?'"

But we don't say it,

not with family, we don't say it.

You never said it.

And now I have to go teach.

Oh, God.

Let's go, I have to go get my karate outfit together.

That's life.

♪

♪

♪

Many people, students of mine,

have told me how important it is for them

to come to the gym.

That that is there place

to build themselves back up,

to find an oasis of peace,

an oasis of distraction,

that this is their me time,

and it's true.

This is one of the most amazing things

about exercise, working out.

It has nothing to do with the physical body.

♪

You know, my entire life, basically, my entire adult life,

I felt that I had the mission of telling people

that they should exercise,

the importance of exercise,

how amazing is exercise,

and that's what really we should be doing

because life is hard,

and there's always things that life throws at you.

And the stronger you learn to be, the better you are.

It's really kind of like that simple.

My back injury was devastating.

The idea of having to go through surgery

was devastating.

In that time period, I continued to work out,

even though I was in a lot of pain, I just...

And that was kind of my sanctuary.

I can almost remember the exact moment

in which I was working out and I felt no pain.

I know I just continued to work,

and in about eight months down the line,

I started to get better.

As a teen, I was disrespected, and betrayed, and wounded.

In fact, it was violent and traumatic.

So, exercise, for me, is about tying up loose ends,

regaining empowerment,

and the process of healing from violence

because I think it's a lifelong process.

So, exercise...

♪

I think always gives one another chance.

Exercise, being physical,

however you wanna call it,

will forge a stronger spirit,

a stronger armor.

It's like gladiators,

the more you fight, the stronger you become.

I started with Forza,

and that just became my class that every Thursday,

I would take Forza.

In the beginning, it was very, very hard.

I have bad knees,

and it was a struggle to get through one class.

And then, that just became my nightly routine,

like, every night, Monday through Friday.

Literally changed my life.

♪

The second half of my life, being a new mom,

what it means to me now is being stronger for my son,

and being able to run around,

and being able to get up off the floor

with a little 20-pound chunk,

and know that in a couple of years,

I'm gonna be able to do that.

So, for me, right now, fitness,

more than ever, is,

I mean, it's truly Ilaria's tagline,

it's Stronger for Life.

♪

♪

How are you?

How was class, good?

♪

♪