In Zurich, at Stockerstrasse 44, there is a shop that has chosen to go against the current. While protein and supplements can now be found on every corner, Triple X Fitness has decided to focus on something entirely different: selected products, high-end brands and advice that can last for hours. Behind this philosophy is Luca Mastrogiovanni, born in Lucerne to Italian parents and raised with sport always at the centre of his life.
Before the supplements, there was a whole life in sport. As a boy, Mastrogiovanni was a national-level golfer, a path he left at around 17. "I would certainly have gone far," he says, but his mind was already elsewhere. From there came an apprenticeship in catering, training as a chef and work in the dietary kitchen of a hospital, experiences that gave him a solid grounding in nutrition and in the relationship between food and the body.
Bodybuilding arrived alongside, a passion that began as early as 16. His first competition came at 18, then powerlifting, where he also set a few Swiss records. "I have always lived in this world," he explains. Three years ago came the decisive step: taking over the shop, a business that has existed for more than twenty years and has its roots in Lucerne.
Triple X Fitness's strategy is clear. "We stand out from other fitness shops because we don't cover the broad mass market, but focus on niche products, far more refined, things you can't find everywhere," Mastrogiovanni explains. The watchword is performance, not mainstream.
It is also a decision of commercial survival. The best-known big brands, he observes, end up wearing themselves out in a gigantic, saturated market, what he bluntly calls a real mud fight. Better, then, to specialise in products of the very highest quality, hard to find in Switzerland.
The shop's flagship brand is Italian: Yamamoto Nutrition, one of Europe's leading protein producers, with raw materials selected right down to cattle raised in Ireland. Mastrogiovanni already used it as an athlete, in his competition days, and that is exactly where the idea of working together was born. Drawing also on his Italian roots, he met the company in Italy and obtained an exclusive partnership for distribution in Switzerland.
Today orders arrive from all over the country, from Geneva to Ticino, because "people know the name." The two flagship products are the Iso Fuji isolate, light and easy to digest, and Hydrorazan, an already pre-digested protein designed for top-level athletes. Alongside Yamamoto, the range of amino acids and collagen comes from collaborations with qualified and registered producers: "You don't just mix something together, it is a genuine trademark with the highest quality."
The heart of the shop, though, is not the shelves. "We really do give advice. We take a lot of time for our customers, even if it takes hours," he says. The aim is for people to leave with what they need, not with what they would buy on impulse. That is why the questions don't stop at supplements, but touch on nutrition and lifestyle: "A supplement is not a detergent, everything has to add up."
His sights are already set beyond Zurich. Thanks to the exclusive rights he has secured, Triple X Fitness wants to grow as a distributor for shops and gyms across Switzerland, becoming the gateway for special brands that are otherwise impossible to find. The collaborations started with organisations such as the Club der Sportsfreunde and the Aussie Gym, linked to the world of CrossFit and powerlifting, go in the same direction. The vision over three to five years is ambitious: to dominate the segment of specialised, high-quality products on the Swiss market.
All of this springs from a personal motivation. "For me it's pure passion, I live all of this. Working is almost secondary, because I live inside this world," he says. He also trains twice a day, strength and cardio, with an avowedly old-school approach, the bodybuilding of the seventies and eighties, brutally hard, where "pain is the most important thing."
To those who don't have the courage to step into the shop, the message is simple: come by, there's something for everyone and you can ask anything. And his closing advice is almost a manifesto for life: "Living healthily is the most important thing for me, to stay as long as possible on this Earth with the people we love."
Triple X Fitness is located at Stockerstrasse 44, 8002 Zurich. All the information and the product range are available at www.triplexefitness.ch, while the shop's news and updates can be followed on the official Facebook page.
