Costa Mesa personal training, built around you.
One-on-one coaching with Santiago Cardenas, Coach Santi, at Focus Athletics, Costa Mesa's private boutique studio. Programs shaped to your body, your schedule, and your goals. Premium, warm, and genuinely fun to show up for.
No two bodies are the same, so no two programs should be either.
Most gyms hand you a template and hope it sticks. Coach Santi starts from the opposite place: you. Your body composition, your chemistry, your history, and the real demands of your week all shape a program that's built for one person, you. That's what makes personal training in Costa Mesa with Santi feel different from day one.
The philosophy is simple and it never changes. Training should be individually tailored, it should be fun and attainable, and above all it should be safe. You'll be challenged, but you'll never be thrown into something your body isn't ready for. Progress comes from smart, consistent work you can actually keep doing, not from punishing yourself once and disappearing for a month.
You don't need to be an athlete. You don't need to already be fit. You just need a coach who meets you where you are and builds forward from there, with a plan that fits your life instead of fighting it.
Individually tailored
Your program is designed for your body and goals, reassessed and adjusted as you change, never copied from a template.
Fun & attainable
Sessions you look forward to, with goals broken into steps you can actually reach, so momentum builds instead of burning out.
Safe first
Technique and joint health come before load. You'll build strength on a foundation that protects you for the long haul.
What training with Santi looks like
A clear, low-pressure path from first hello to real, repeatable results, start to finish.
Free consult & movement check
We start with a relaxed conversation about your goals, history, injuries, and schedule, then a simple movement assessment. No pitch, no pressure. You leave knowing exactly how Santi would coach you and whether it's the right fit.
Your tailored plan
Santi builds a program around your body composition, your demands, and the days you can actually train. Strength, conditioning, mobility, and, if you want it, nutrition coaching, all mapped to attainable milestones you can see.
Train, adjust, progress
You train in a private pod at Focus Athletics with hands-on coaching every rep. Your plan flexes as you get stronger, and we track progress together so every week builds on the last.
Free 1-on-1 consult, no pitch, no pressure.
Coaching for every goal and every schedule
Five ways to work with Coach Santi in Costa Mesa, pick your lane, or blend a few. Every path stays personal.
Weight Loss
Sustainable fat loss built on strength, not starvation, a plan you can keep long after the scale moves.
Explore weight loss
Strength Training
Get stronger, move better, and feel capable, technique-first strength work for every level.
Explore strength
Small-Group & Partner
Train with a friend or partner in a semi-private setting, shared energy, still personally coached.
Explore small-group
Online & Hybrid
Coaching that travels with you, custom programming, check-ins, and form review from anywhere.
Explore online
Nutrition Coaching
Simple, realistic habits that fit your life, fuel your training without a restrictive diet.
Explore nutrition
See All Services
Not sure which fits? Compare every way to train with Santi and find your starting point.
View all servicesFocus Athletics, a private boutique studio in Costa Mesa
Your sessions happen inside Focus Athletics on Airport Loop Drive, an 8,000 sq ft boutique studio designed to feel calm, warm, and anything but a crowded chain gym. Think limewashed walls, arched doorways, natural light, and equipment presented like a gallery, a space that makes showing up feel like a reset, not a chore.
You'll train in one of five private training pods, so there's no waiting on machines and no self-conscious glances, just you and your coach. And recovery is built into the building: a cold plunge and infrared saunas with red light are steps away when your session ends.
Coaching for real, everyday people
You don't have to be an athlete to belong here. Most clients are exactly like these.
You've got a demanding career and not a minute to waste. Santi builds efficient, high-impact sessions that respect your calendar, early mornings before work, or a focused hour that fits between meetings. You'll get stronger and feel sharper without living at the gym. Popular with professionals across Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Irvine.
Training for the decades ahead. Programs for adults over 50 focus on joint-friendly strength, balance, mobility, and everyday energy, so you can keep doing the things you love, pain-free and confident. Every session is paced to your body and coached with patience.
Never touched a barbell? Perfect. Beginners get extra attention on the fundamentals, how to move well, breathe, and build confidence, in a private pod where no one's watching. It's the least intimidating way to start, and the plan grows with you.
Results that speak for themselves
Everyday people getting stronger, leaner, and more confident with Coach Santi, their reviews will live right here.
Real reviews are on their way. Strive with Santi is a growing Costa Mesa practice, and client reviews are being collected the right way, with permission, in each client's own words, posted where you can verify them. No borrowed quotes, no invented star ratings.
Until then, the best proof is the daily work on Instagram @strivewithsanti, or come feel the difference yourself with a free consult + first session.
Serving Costa Mesa and all of coastal Orange County
Coach Santi trains clients from every corner of Costa Mesa, Eastside and Mesa Verde, the Westside, South Coast Metro, and the shops and cafés along 17th Street. The studio sits right off Airport Loop Drive near John Wayne Airport, so it's a quick, low-traffic hop whether you're coming from a home office, a nearby business, or straight from a flight.
Because Focus Athletics is tucked into the airport-adjacent business district, it's also an easy drive from Newport Beach, Irvine, and Huntington Beach, many clients build a session into their commute. Training in South Orange County? See our Laguna Niguel & South OC options →
Neighborhoods & areas served
- Eastside Costa Mesa
- Mesa Verde
- Westside Costa Mesa
- South Coast Metro
- 17th Street district
- Newport Beach
- Irvine
- Huntington Beach
Personal training in Costa Mesa, from $85 a session
Real numbers up front. Your exact rate depends on your goals and how often you train, we'll map it out together in your free consult.
Small-Group / Partner
- Train with a friend or partner
- Semi-private, still coached
- Shared energy, lower rate
1-on-1 Private Training
- Fully personalized program
- Private pod at Focus Athletics
- Lower rates on packages
Online & Hybrid Coaching
- Custom programming & check-ins
- Form review from anywhere
- Add nutrition coaching
Prices shown are starting rates. Multi-session packages lower your per-session cost, ask about current packages in your consult.
Personal training in Costa Mesa, FAQ
Everything people usually want to know before their first session.
Train with Santi off Airport Loop Drive
Free, easy parking at Focus Athletics, near John Wayne Airport in Costa Mesa.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Your first session is on us
Book a free consult and first session with Coach Santi, a relaxed conversation and a real workout, so you can feel the difference before you commit. No pitch, no pressure.