The Brand

About Conquering Barbell

Company name is registered as Conquering Barbell LLC, family owned and operated since 2013 formerly known as Forged Iron Training.

Conquering Barbell was born from the humble beginnings of CEO/Founder Audie Antonino. Everything in my life has been earned and not given. Growing up in the Philippines, life was never easy. It’s the reason my outlook on life is so much different than others and it’s what keeps me going; keeps me persevering. My family was very poor growing up and lived in the slums. Faced with many trials and tribulations all through life from typhoons, volcanic eruptions, drug raids, gang wars... I use these past experiences to fuel my fire, my drive and my passion. I have moved on from my past but I will never forget where I came from. I turned to the iron game at the young age of 15, when I first started training at a local gym. After my first weightlifting session, I was hooked and the rest is history.

In 2013, I was faced with a difficult time in my life when I lost my job. For 8 months, I was faced with hardship not only financially but emotionally as well as I could not land a job. With a wife and child to support depending on my income, I had to use my creativity and drive to start out a small business venture. My original plan was to start a personal training business locally and the very first Forged Iron Training t-shirt design was created for my potential trainees to have as a giveaway. At that time, I was an active forum member of bodybuilding.com; so I reached out to the community to see what they thought of my very first t-shirt design. To my surprise it was a hit, I had 27 orders for my first print run. Then, it dawned on me, why not combine my passion for designs, training balls to the wall in the gym and my background in business management/supply chain roll into one? So became the Forged Iron Training apparel line. It was tough starting out with this new business venture, especially when all I had was a small amount of money that my wife and I had saved up. I hustled t-shirts at my local gym, through the online store, and reached out on social media and to everyone I knew in the fitness community.

In December of 2014, I decided to re-brand and Conquering Barbell was born. Conquering Barbell is for the blue collar, heavy lifters who compete and walk the talk. It’s about forging brute strength. It’s never fake, it’s about defying the struggle in and out of the gym. Attaining success through hard work and perseverance... just like how I was shown by my grandparents growing up.

About the 4 a.m. training sessions... Growing up, I saw my grandparents get up at 3 a.m. daily; this was their routine. They woke up early to hit the fresh market and buy fresh produce. When they get home, my grandma would cook and sell her meals as a street side food vendor. Rain or shine my grandparents did not miss a beat. I did not understand what they were doing or why they were doing it then. But now as an adult, I get it. It's about making sacrifices and going after what you want out in life. It's about providing an honest living to the family. So when my alarm hits at 3:45 a.m. I never hit the snooze button, because I never seen my grandparents do it.

I sincerely hope that my work will motivate and inspire others. Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit about me and the company. I hope you enjoy the website.

Your brother in iron,
Audie