Once Upon a Time

I've been racking my brain trying to decide what my first post should be so I figured I'd just tell ya'll a little bit about my fitness history. When I graduated high school in 2007 I weighed about 220 lbs with no muscle mass. The local national guard recruiter at my school was one hell of a salesman so I signed my enlistment papers shortly there after. Being out of shape of course made basic training very difficult for me to the point where I didn't think I was going to pass but with hard work I graduated basic training at around 190 lbs. I still wasn't where I wanted to be. I had a lot of endurance but I wasn't very strong. When I got home one of the first things I did was join a local gym. A few months later I moved outside of logical (or what seemed like it at the time) driving distance of my gym and fell off the wagon for the first time. Over the next couple of years I started putting on weight again due to poor nutrition and lack of exercise. By the time I reached 235 lbs the national guard was threatening to kick me out so I knew I had to do something. That's when one night at around 3:30 I saw an infomercial for P90X. I got on my computer and placed an order. I didn't have very much equipment but i did what I could with what I had and probably quit a dozen times but between that and a calorie counting app the weight was slowly coming off. I eventually got back down to 190 and was able to pass my military PT test (push-ups, sit-ups and a 2 mile run). My military career was no longer in danger but I still wasn't where I wanted to be. By this point I was going to my cities local community college. Once I discovered that it had a weight room it didn't take me long to realize I enjoyed lifting more than math class. I still wasn't entirely sure what to do so I basically did what I learned from P90X in addition to playing around with some of the other equipment available. I didn't know it at the time but as it turns out play is just as important for adults as kids when it comes to exercise. As Christmas break approached I realized that I had caught the bug and didn't want to be without access to a gym for two weeks so on the way home I joined the first gym I saw. I started going 5 days a week but still wasn't quite sure what to do. I had my days split into chest and back, legs, arms and shoulders, a calisthenics day and legs again (skipped that one a lot). Each workout lasted nearly 5 hours and started at 7pm. I was over trained and under rested and had no clue what either of these concepts meant. This went on for almost a year until I eventually bought my own cheap squat rack (that pissed my roommate off). Shortly after this I discovered that over training was a thing and started actually getting stronger for the first time. This is around the time I found out that my national guard unit was going to Afghanistan. During the mobilization process I met a man named Henry Shelby. He was about twice my age but an veteran of the iron and strong as a bull so I stuck to him like glue and learned as much as I could. I already had a good handle on things like form but this is where I learned about intensity. One night while lying in a shitty ass bed in a shitty ass tent I decided that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I went online and ordered all of the study materials for an ACE certification and started studying. When I got home in 2014 I went and took my test to get certified. Shortly after that I landed a job at a Snap Fitness near my house as the personal trainer and assistant manager. It didn't take long before I realized that certified doesn't necessarily mean qualified. In addition to this I started to go to a local crossfit gym run by a man named Charles Hair. This man has probably forgotten more about strength and conditioning than I knew at the time. In addition this he knew how to teach. I kept my ears open and made sure to learn everything that I could until I had an opportunity to do his internship. This was my first hands on training about how to cue people. I also began reading more than I ever had. Shortly after the internship came to a close I accepted a position as the General Manager of the Snap I worked and soon switched my focus to a mix of powerlifting and strongman . So here we are. I'm stronger than I've ever been but still not where I want to be because the finish line moves further each day. I am still learning. I will always remain learning.