As an inmate, you have two options:
Either way, PROPTA gives you the opportunity to build a real career before release.
I can’t say enough great things about PROPTA.
This school goes far beyond just certification -it truly changes lives. One of the most inspiring things about PROPTA is its global reach and its commitment to giving incarcerated individuals a real second chance. They provide the opportunity to leave incarceration not just with hope, but with respected certifications in personal training, sports performance nutrition, and nutrition-ready to step into a career immediately.
The programs are thorough, practical, and designed for real-world success. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to grow in the fitness industry, PROPTA equips you with the knowledge and confidence to build a meaningful career. / personally earned my CPT, CNT, and SPN through PROPTA, and it has completely changed my life.
I now have the best career doing what I love every day, and I’m so grateful for the path this program helped create for me. What really sets
PROPTA apart, though, is the leadership.
Joe Antouri is incredibly kind, supportive, and genuinely invested in each student’s journey. He takes the time to understand your goals and helps guide you as you navigate both your education and your future business or career path. If you’re looking for more than just a certification
—if you want purpose, direction, and a team that truly cares-PROPTA is the place to be.
Carrey Woodson / 3-19-2026
Hi Joe. I have recently completed all three certifications (Personal Trainer, Nutrition and Sports Nutrition) you offer for people while incarcerated. / enjoyed every minute of the reading and exam portion of your courses. / cannot stress how much becoming involved in PROPTA has changed my life because as a person in prison, my daily life revolves around sports and weightlifting and I feel like PROPTA gave me the knowledge and understanding / was lacking.
I am passionate about physical and mental fitness and / promote it by running 25 man crossfit boot camp classes 4 days a week and working out one on one with others who are interested in working out in the weight room. I am constantly trying to better myself by studying new material about fitness and that brings me to my question. / understand you only offer the 3 certifications to prisoners but do you offer any type of literature or bookwork that would be part of the other courses that PROPTA offers to people not in prison?
Such as the Senior Fitness Certification Course or the Power Lifting Certification or other courses PROPTA may offer. / can look into getting restricted internet access if that is an issue for being able to complete a course also. Please let me know if you have anything else you can offer me through PROPTA or please point me in the right direction for me to continue to exercise my mind. Thank you for your time!
Ted Spakowski / 1-10-2026
Hi Joe, I recently started the Professional Personal Trainer Certification Course offered through PROPTA. / am starting the process by first reading the Basic Scientific Principles for Personal Trainers book that was included and then moving onto to the test portion of the certification process. I am currently about half way through the book and let me say thank you for writing this book and making this certification process available to someone like me who is incarcerated in prison.
I say thank you for writing this book because / have been involved with fitness on a regular basis and reading pretty much everything can get my hands on about fitness for the past 10 years but this book blows my mind by how little I actually knew about fitness and the way the human body works. I currently work in the recreation department at the prison I am housed at and I organize and run two (intermediate and advanced) group boot camps of around 25 people each group 4 days a week.
We utilize Rogue Fitness CrossFit sandbags, slam balls and steps and try to keep it high intensity because we are limited to 45 minutes a session. I am always trying to learn and pass that knowledge onto others when it comes to fitness. This brings me to the main reason 1 am
messaging you.
I have spoken with the recreation department leader here and he gave me the go ahead to teach others. Thank you again and I hope to hear from you in the near future.
Ted Spakowski / 8-23-2025
Thank you, Joe, for always providing excellent service by personally answering calls to address questions and provide assistance. PROPTA offers the highest quality of education and you personally oversee your students’ progress & performance. You truly care about each student, share your wisdom, offer encouragement, mentorship, and your time.
You inspire, motivate and transform lives. Not only are you a top-notch authority on fitness and nutrition, successful Entrepreneur, CEO and Founder of PROPTA, you are a top-notch human being, one in a million.
This has been our experience. Congrats on 45 years of excellence. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God bless you,
Lucretia E/ November 2024
I was the go-between for my son who is incarcerated and Mr. Joe Antouri. Mr. Antouri was very helpful in making sure my son got package and answered all questions that I had. He didn’t mind the many emails I sent asking for help to make sure things went smoothly for my son. I’m very grateful.
Katie Did / June 2025
Joe
Thank you so much for all the kind things you tell me. Finally for the first time in my life I believe I am special and 1 believe / will be very successful. Thank you for believing in me… / will always do whatever it takes to help you…./ appreciate everything you do for me and just being my mentor and pointing out the things you see in me has made a huge difference in my life!!
Have a great rest of your day!! And I hope everything works out with Mr. Tollison!! Whoo Hooo Go PROPTA!!!:))) Stay Strong
Carey Woodson
Joe
Heyyy!!! I appreciate you so much the blessing started with you believing in me and I spread the goodness you instilled in me and l am very grateful!! I would love the Sports Performance Nutrition Course…Can / wait until I’m in phase 3 of this program which will be April, because I have so much work right now and I definitely want to be able to dive in deep and not just fly through it be I’m stressed with so much on my plate. If that’s ok with you then /would love to do it… Thank you for all that you do for me Joe, You are helping me mold my future!!
Carey Woodson / 12-10-2024
Mr. Antouri hello. no i didn’t try to contact you yet. i was waiting until i completed my test to inform you that it was on it’s way when i mail it. i only have the written exam part left and i feel confident that i did well on the test but i’m still a little nervous. ha ha. i’ve already learned so much and i have already applied the methods to my daily workout and exercise.
there is a lot i didn’t know and i couldn’t believe that i was not reaching my full potential from a simple lack of knowledge. i want to thank you for sending me the booklet and test and i can’t wait study it more detailed once i’ve completed the test. i’m also excited about supplying other people with the knowlegde i’ve gained.
i’ve already been helping and motivating some of the other inmates in their workouts so this has really got me excited about applying it in the future. thanks again mr. antouri and happy thanksgiving. you’ll here from me in a week or so when i mail my test to you. thanks again.
Emilliano Cannan/ 11-21-2024
Hi Joe!
Thank you for the great news and information on the proteins!!
/ wanted to let you know that we had a “Veterans Day Competition” on Friday that we have been training for the past few months. It was a grueling six hours that tested our physical abilities, our mental & emotional toughness and taught us perseverance and team work! thought you would be happy to know that our team took 1st place in the competition and the individuals that placed and got medals are all graduates of your course!!
Pugh got 1st, I got 2nd and Vickrey got 3rd place!. /wanted to thank you for the knowledge and time you put into the courses and the time vou take with us to make sure we are successful with our nutrition and training efforts. We appreciate vou and consistently use your programs as an integral part of our daily routine to better ourselves.
Thank you for everything Joe!
Jennifer Shah / 11-12-2024
Joe
Thank you so much for the book and what you wrote on the inside is so nice / will look at it all the time, you are such an inspiration to me Joe!!! I LOVE IT!!! Thankyou for believing in me and pushing me forward every step of the way you are someone I highly respect and look up to! Im looking forward to so many more endeavors with you and PROPTA!!
Carey Woodson / 10-27-2024
Hey Joe
low are you?? Im doing great been super busy!! All the girls are super excited about their certifications! I wanted to thank you again for all your help and motivation through it all with all of us. You gave us something to look forward to and gave us hope for our future. / want you to know you had a huge hand in changing so many lives here and changing statistics. It is an honor to be apart of PROPTA!! Thankyou so much for being a wonderful human being!
Be Blessed
Carey Woodson 8-29-2024
Good Morning PROPTA!!
I am grateful we got to connect on here.
I had a couple of questions on the exam but Carey was able to help clarify some things and I just did my best and I did send it out to you last weekend, hopefully it arrived. The material is intellectual and inspiring to say the least and I look forward to networking and finding a path as soon as / am released. I am currently working on the Nutrition book now and will have that sent out to you before my release.
thank you for this opportunity of growth and Carey always shares the empowering things you say My dad enjoyed the conversation with you as well and I know it sparked some light and life into him as well. Hope this finds you well and I hope to talk soon!
Kayla Vickrey 8-17-2024
Joe,
My learning experience from the material was really good that one book taught me more than 10 books.. I learned a lot of new stuff. thank you again
Christina Pugh / 8-11-2024
Good morning Joe. I pray you are doing well. May God continue to bless you for the extraordinary help, patience and love you provide the inmates at FPC- Bryan, and all across the country. My wife Jenn is working to complete her PROPTA personal trainer certification. I am so proud of her.
My wife and I would like to help one of the inmates at FPC-Bryan / Federal Prison Camp Bryan. Her name is Christine. She works out with my wife and she is currently taking your PROPTA personal trainer course. / would like to pay for her personal trainer course.
Again, thank you so much Joe.
Sharrief Shah / 7-23-2024
Hey Joe,
I wish I was born a teacher. But nothing is workth it unless you work hard for it RIGHT!!! / will follow everything you are telling me, you give me so much hope…hope to become someting special…hope to follow my dreams… hope to recognize my God given purpose…hope to help other women achieve excellenc…. AM FULL OF HOPE!! You plant so many good seeds in my head that are growing and I truly appreciate you being my mentor.
Carey Woodson 7-7-2024
Joe Antouri
CEO PROPTA
May 24, 2024
Dear Mr Antouri,
wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself and to thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in creating PROPTA, and in particular for the correspondence courses which allow prisoners, such as myself, an opportunity to grow and expand our knowledge.
I have spent over twenty years of my life incarcerated, beginning at the age of fifteen. I don’t know if I ever could have made it through the time if it weren’t for my love affair with exercise, especially lifting weights. Weightlifting has boosted my confidence, taught me discipline, given me an outlet for negative emotions such as anger and frustration, provided a social mechanism for making new friends, all this in addition to the obvious physical
I have learned a lot over the years, and I try to pass it on by mentoring and coaching others.
Like anyone with a decent level of self-respect, I pride myself on my knowledge and giving good advice. That being said, after taking your course, I have to admit there are some things I have been doing wrong for years. There are also some things I have been doing right, that I now understand more fully WHY it’s right. For example, getting a full extension and full range of motion. Reading in your text about eccentric and concentric contractions. and the science behind what is happening with each muscle fiber as I lift has improved my mind/muscle connection, allowing me to get a better burn with fewer reps, making my workouts more efficient and effective.
I am getting close to release (under 2 years) and I am curious to learn about how I could become more involved with your organization. I understand that you are a busy man, however if you are able to send me any information or literature you have available, I would greatly appreciate it. I look forward to meeting you someday.
Sincerely.
Derek C. Collier
Thank you, Joe, for always providing excellent service by personally answering calls to address questions and provide assistance. PROPTA offers the highest quality of education and you personally oversee your students’ progress & performance.
You truly care about each student, share your wisdom, offer encouragement, mentorship, and your time. You inspire, motivate and transform lives. Not only are you a top-notch authority on fitness and nutrition, successful Entrepreneur, CEO and Founder of PROPTA, you are a top-notch human being, one in a million.
This has been our experience. Congrats on 45 years of excellence. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God bless you,
Lucretia E.L. / 4-20-2024
Joe
I have finished my test and I’m so proud of myself I feel accomplished and confident!! Thankyou so much for all your help and your quick responding and always helping me work through my thinking. I appreciate it so very much and I’m ready to get home and get involved with the fitness world. The sky is the limit and I am so excited to start helping people achieve their goals as well as my own. / will continue to read my book front to back it seems every time I do I learn something more.
Sincerely
Carey Woodson 4-6-2024
Joe,
Thank you so much! I got the orange set not the green set. I believe that’s my nutritional specialist set, right? I am so appreciative of you, your patience and support. This system is really made to break people down, but your way of running your program and being so positive, is really uplifting. Thank you again! I’m glad to have you as my mentor in this process.
Sherry Joseph / 4-6-2024
Hi Joe!!
I got so excited when I received your email, I didn’t hit send on my reply!!! This is AMAZING news!!! Thank you so much. / am so excited and my family is equally excited for me as well. I can’t thank you enough for putting this course together and providing an opportunity for me to better myself while I am here and have something to use when I return home. I appreciate you.
I am studying the PT course books now and will keep in touch as questions arise.
Have a great day, Jen S. 3-19-2024
Jennifer Shah / 3-19-2024
