Our Best For Your Better

Why Ambitious Exists

Most people don’t need more workouts. They need a plan, coaching attention, and an environment that makes consistency easier.

Ambitious Athletics cuts through the noise, delivering a professional coaching experience that eliminates guesswork, builds real progress, and supports lifelong health and performance.

What Makes Ambitious Different

From the moment you walk in, the room is ready for you. Your coach knows what the day looks like, what you worked on last time, and what you may need before you have to ask. You’re greeted by name and coached as a person, not handed a generic workout.

We call it casual high-touch: the polish and anticipatory care you’d expect from a great hotel, without any of the stiffness. Training, physician-guided health, nutrition, and recovery work as one connected system, with a team paying attention to how the whole picture fits together.

We also coach the person who shows up that day. Sometimes you’re ready to be pushed; sometimes life requires a different approach. Anyone can make you tired, we’d rather make you better, and help you understand more about your body every time you train.

How It Started

After college, I struggled to find a fitness program that felt smart, sustainable, and versatile enough for real life. The options felt extreme, generic, or overpriced, and none of them matched what I believed training should do: build a body that’s capable for anything.

In 2006, that belief got personal. My dad suffered a stroke and an aortic dissection, and I spent weeks in the ICU helping him relearn movement, one small win at a time. That experience shaped how I coach to this day: progress is built through patience, precision, and real support.

Ambitious Athletics was built out of the belief that training should be smart, progressive, and sustainable so it improves your life, not just your fitness.

Read the full story: How I Got Here

Carmen Sturniolo, Founder

I founded Ambitious Athletics in 2010 to raise the standard of what coaching should feel like: organized, professional, and personal.

Over the last 20 years, I’ve coached a wide range of clients from beginners rebuilding confidence to high performers preparing for personal and professional events, helping them move better, gain strength, improve body composition, and stay athletic for life.

Ambitious Athletics has been nationally recognized by Yelp and Entrepreneur as one of America’s Favorite Mom & Pop Fitness Businesses.

Credentials

• NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)

• NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) + Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES)

• Precision Nutrition Level 1 & 2

• Pain-Free Performance Specialist

• TRX Certified

Beyond The Gym

#girldad x2 · Spartan Trifecta finisher · 2x Half Ironman finisher · Penn State (BA, 2006)

Deanna Ballard
Lead Health & Performance Coach

Deanna brings a wide range of coaching experience to Ambitious Athletics. A Long Island native and former goalkeeper for the Towson University Women’s Soccer team, she has worked in clinical rehabilitation settings alongside physical therapists and chiropractors and coached everyone from high-school athletes and active older adults to Paralympians.

That background allows Deanna to meet people where they are while helping them build strength, confidence, and long-term capability. As Lead Health & Performance Coach, she guides members through their training and leads Coaching Conversations for prospective members looking for the right place to begin.

Credentials

• BS, Towson University

• NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Beyond The Gym

Former collegiate goalkeeper, and, in a past life, a baker.

Ready To Train With Clarity?

Book a Coaching Conversation and we’ll recommend the right membership tier and training format (Small Group or 1:1 Personal Training) based on your goals, schedule, and experience.