Leo XIV attended a fitness studio near the Vatican and worked with the 26-year-old personal trainer Valerio Masella.
On
May 17, Masella told IlMessaggero.it that Cardinal Robert Prevost had
been a member of the gym for almost two years and had introduced himself
as Robert.
Masella did not know that Robert was a cardinal. "He
was pretty consistent with his workouts. I've been working with him
since 2023. He was precise, coming twice a week, sometimes three times,
depending on his schedule, of course."
Cardinal Prevost mostly
came in the morning, but the times could also change. "I think it
depended on his work appointments, although we never talked about it,
and I never asked him."
He trained for a good hour and had
“excellent physical fitness.” "We always started with aerobics and a
warm-up using machines like the treadmill or exercise bike. After half
an hour, we proceeded with exercises useful for muscle strengthening and
others more specific for posture."
They talked little or nothing during practice: "He was very reserved, but always kind and smiling."
Occasionally,
we would exchange a few words, and he told me that he had played many
sports as a boy and was a fan of various disciplines.
Masella
imagined Cardinal Prevost was a busy man, but he didn't know his
profession. "I thought he was a professor or an academic. He was
certainly a person who spent hours at his desk, although he was in very
good physical shape."
It was only after Cardinal Prevost was
elected pope that Masella recognized him on television. "It was
unbelievable, but to me, he was just another client, and he behaved like
all the other clients at the gym."
Masella recalls that Cardinal
Prevost came to the gym in informal clothes. "He was always kind and
never nervous or unnerved. He was a really serene and balanced person."
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