Fitness guru Tadeo hopes to bring his brand of fitness to Latin America.

Timothy Ferriss presents bold ideas in his bestselling The 4-Hour Workweek: Quit your job, start an Internet business, outsource daily tasks to overseas virtual assistants for $5/hr and go travel the world. Can it really be that easy?

This week I found someone who lives it — Tadeo, an old college chum turned personal trainer who recently filmed a fitness-themed infomercial. Here’s what he had to say during our interview in Los Angeles:

So what is a typical day for you?

Tadeo: The three hours I work a week training wealthy clients allow me to dedicate the rest of my life to maintaining a physique and building a brand. My office consists of a Blackberry and a Macintosh. In my entire life, I may have worked one year in a traditional corporate structure and worn a tie. I considered it a noose.

Timothy Ferriss makes it look easy to work for yourself, not to mention become a millionaire. I think your lifestyle is more realistic — you still struggle to get by now and then. How do you do it?

Tadeo: Since my first memories, I’ve lived each day for the day. I wake up in search of food, shelter and survival. But it’s a natural high. Every day I go out into the world to survive. There’s never any monotony or boredom.

Networking plays a big role. What’s your strategy?

Tadeo: I kill ’em with kindness. Whenever I meet people, I introduce myself to the high rollers, we do each other favors, and one way or another it works out.

What’s the hardest part?

Tadeo: The biggest challenge is to not compare myself to my peers from the gym or from college. Some have long been millionaires and living the proverbial American dream. But I’ve realized there is no correlation between happiness and financial success. I don’t envy $200,000 cars or million-dollar homes.

Tell me about your DVD. It’s like aerobics with a soccer ball?

Tadeo: Since soccer is the most popular sport in the world, I find it’s the most effective and exciting way to burn fat and form lean muscle. I use soccer techniques and drills and interject Latin dance so you’re not bored on a treadmill in an air-conditioned facility. For those who can’t afford to go a gym, it alternates resistance and cardio; the soccer ball is the resistance. It’s something women, kids and people most ages can do and enjoy. For adults, it brings back their childhood. For children, it’s a good foundation.

What do you plan to do with it?

Tadeo: I took it to the Electronic Retailing Association convention in September, hoping to persuade stakeholders to allocate TV space for my infomercial, and to build up the brand equity and word-of-mouth. I want to lead a health revolution in Latin America to end the obesity epidemic that affects two thirds of most Hispanic countries. My tour of Latin America will empower people to have fun as a family unit.

You’ve lived in a lot of countries during the last decade. The Dominican Republic, Brazil, Venezeula, Mexico, Guadeloupe… What has that been like?

The author (right) catches up with Tadeo in Los Angeles

Tadeo: I wake up excited. I carry my Visa every day and consider myself a traveler of the world. I’m never homesick. Wherever I am in the moment is my home; whatever country I’m in, I’m treated as if I’m indigenous to theirs. I just wake up and wonder which language to speak, since I speak four and it gets confusing. French, Spanish, Portuguese, English.

Ironically you’ve never read “The 4-Hour Workweek?”

Tadeo: I’ve read 20-30 pages. A buddy sent me a copy and said it sounds like me. I started it at least.

Tadeo can be reached for training sessions or appearances at cuerpaso@cuerpaso.com.