Beqir Gjoka

War-veteran-turned-trainer Gjoka now dedicates his time to helping others fight the battle of obesity.

Beqir Gjoka has whipped more people into shape than he can count—and he’s never relied on
just any ordinary regimen to do so. His trick?—mental discipline. It’s one he learned from the many life challenges that a teenager should never have to face.
In 1992, when Gjoka was 17 years old, he fled from his home in Dibër to Greece in an effort to support his family suffering under the post-Communist political turmoil. Six years later, the genocide in Kosova compelled Gjoka to return and enlist in the army. While he did not fight in the Kosovo war, he made history by becoming a member of the very first Albanian Special Forces Battalion.