Famous author and motivational speaker Bob Proctor is considered one of the pioneers of law of attractionA concept based on manifesting your goals and dreams into reality through human thoughts that vibrate at specific frequencies.
It is unknown whether Athena Vaas was remotely a follower or student of Proctor, but one thing is clear. If she sees a goal for herself or makes up her mind that she has to do something, she wastes no time in working to accomplish it.
“I am the definition of never giving up, no matter what your obstacle is.”
Early career as a mathematics teacher
Vaas remembered growing up as someone who was misunderstood and was usually picked last for games or events. However, she has some positive memories of her childhood, such as the time she took up figure skating when she was six and received her first pair of dumbbells from her uncle and fell in love with training at the age of 12. After visiting several commercial gyms, Vas’ mother took him to New York Sports Club in Whitestone, New York.
“The basement looked like a dungeon, and I thought it would make me feel powerful. And I wanted to be around other bodybuilders.”
Once he was bitten by the iron bug, Vaas made training a fundamental aspect of his life. Even after growing up and becoming a math teacher, and despite teaching all day and taking care of her sick mother, Vas kept a pair of dumbbells in her classroom to work out and used bands when she was in the hospital with her mother. Although those sessions beat doing nothing, it wasn’t enough for Vaas to feel like he’d done something worthwhile.
“Sissy working out with those light dumbbells wasn’t working for me.”
it’s time for him to move on
The mathematics degree Vaas received proved to be little more than a fallback plan in case his dreams of filmmaking did not materialize. After his mother passed away, he realized that his dreams were not going to come true just sitting in the classroom.
“Life is short,” she insists. “I had dreamed of competing since 2014. After my mother passed away, I moved to California.”
Vaas instinctively knew that to achieve her dreams she had to be around people who were successful on a large scale. So she immediately joined Gold’s Gym in Venice, California. If there was ever a place to turn bodybuilding dreams into reality, “Mecca” was it.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger gave me advice on how to pose. Robbie Robinson, Silvio Samuel, Michael Lockett and Rick Valente were also my mentors. Samir Banout was like my second father.”
Once Vaas saw his potential in both his body and life, success came in waves. She joined the cast of season 2 The Bachelor Greece. she won!!! After this he was featured in the series have to get out, Produced by Jimmy Kimmel. and later became a published book author and keynote speaker.
finally come on stage
Vaas’s initial goal of breaking onto the bodybuilding stage had not yet been realized, but that was about to change. Vaas has been a regular at Gold’s Gym Venice since 2022, preparing for her moment, and 2025 will be the year it comes. She entered the NPC and the newly created Fit Model division, a more streamlined category that focuses more on size than separation. Many athletes in this category look to Bikini Olympia veteran Ashley Kaltwasser’s early look as the standard, but Wass also admires another athlete.
Wass said, “I personally think there is no one better than Laura Michelle Prestin. She was able to be feminine, muscular, petite and beautiful.”
Vaas took inspiration from Prestin as well as mainstream stars such as Britney Spears and applied it in her preparation for the competition. She would win six individual titles in 2025 alone, including wins at the NPC Fitworld and the Adela Garcia Classic. By the end of the year, her ultimate goal was realized when she competed on the Olympia stage as part of the 2025 Amateur Olympia.
“That’s what I set my goal for and it happened,” Vaas said proudly.
what is next?
Vaas wastes no time in looking towards the future and setting new goals for herself. He already has plans to dabble in the field of personal development and is in the early stages of production on his first Greek American comedy film. She’s not ready to share details yet, but hopes it will be an entertaining way for viewers to temporarily escape from the stresses of life.
“That’s my biggest goal, to give people happiness.”
Vaas also lives and shares her life as a positive example for others so that they can know that they too can achieve their dreams. She hopes that even if people around them are trying to extinguish their spark, they choose to achieve greatness like her.
“You have to know that you are worthy. Everyone is worthy.”
athena’s upper body workout
Vaas is proud of the way she approaches her training, pushing herself to become stronger and better every time she enters the weight room. Knowing that other future athletes can be inspired by her success, Vaas sometimes shares her workouts, such as this one, on her Instagram page. Along with the training routine, she reminds her followers that you can’t just go to the gym when you feel like it.
“The real way to work out is the old school bodybuilding way. It’s the only way to see real results,” Vas explains. “Success doesn’t happen overnight – it takes consistency, discipline, and showing up even when you don’t feel like it.”
- lat pulldown – 4 sets x 10-12 reps
- seated cable rows – 4 sets x 10-12 reps
- dumbbell shoulder press – 4 sets x 10 reps
- side raise – 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- pulls face – 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Dumbbell Bicep Curls – 3 sets x 10-12 reps
- tricep rope pushdown – 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Keep visiting with Athena Vaas his website And following him on Instagram @iamathenavas.
