About Me Continued

I wanted to take this first post to describe what inspired me to get into fitness and my own fitness journey. To me, fitness comes second only to my duties as a husband and father. I hope my story can help inspire you on your own fitness journey.

Growing up as an average kid in the Los Angeles suburbs with glasses and asthma, I was not really into fitness or sports. I only joined in physical activities at school if my friends were playing a game. I liked to ride my bike, play basketball, or go on hikes with my scout troop, but that was about it. I was however always impressed by superheroes like Superman, Batman and Spider-Man! My parents got me my first comic books to motivate me to read. It worked! It also got me into drawing and gave me an aesthetic to aspire to physically thanks to amazingly talented artists like Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. I wished I could be big and strong like those heroes in the pages of my comic books.

When I started the 5th grade my parents signed me up for Hapkido (a Korean hybrid martial art) classes. I loved it! Unfortunately, my activity-induced asthma put a stop to that by the time I worked up to my third belt. It would be almost five years until I took any action toward that private goal of mine.

In 1999, my best friends introduced me to the World Wrestling Federation & World Championship Wrestling. I was immediately gripped by the action and storytelling of these athletes. They got to dress up in a costume, fight bad guys, take a beating, they rise back up to fight, and they were cheered for by a live audience. They were basically comic book heroes come to life! After watching my first two-hour show, I told myself I must do that! The next part was to figure out the how.

I looked at the guys wrestling in the main events and watched the luchadores flying through the ring, then I looked back at myself. I looked again through the TV at the wrestlers who just showed me my future and once again back down at myself. It was time for a change! As soon as my dad brought me home from my best friend's house, I grabbed my Boy Scout Handbook and quickly flipped to the Physical Fitness chapter. There in my bedroom is where my journey began.

I started with bodyweight exercises and slowly jogging around my neighborhood envisioning comic book superheroes like the X-Men, Spawn, and pro-wrestling superstars like The Rock and The Hardy Boyz. Every day, I either jogged or exercised in my bedroom. I committed to my decision to also eat healthier at the same time. Lucky for me, I had a fantastic role model right at home in my mom. She was a very healthy eater by nature her diet helped her stay as healthy as possible while she struggled with health issues. My father was diabetic, so a healthy nutritional routine was of high priority in my home growing up. My mom would supply me with the best and latest nutritional information passed on from her doctors as well as what she would research herself. My mom has always been the smartest person I've ever known, and my dad was one of the hardest workers I've ever known. They supported me through every repetition and every lap of the way! To them, I am forever grateful.

There I was a 15-year-old chasing dreams and following icons. Eventually, the jogging turned into running. A few blocks turned into a few miles. Back in my room, the few minutes of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, lunges and jumping jacks turned into full-hour workouts. Even my asthma, which sent me to the hospital for a severe attack, eventually turned very mild. It no longer was induced by physical activity and only by allergies. I was handed down my mom’s resistance bands and my dad's Weider adjustable dumbbells. They weren't fancy but they were effective in my young and driven hands. The resistance bands were from the late 80's and the dumbbells were covered well in rust and dust but that did not matter. All that mattered was doing all I could to transform my average young boy belly into a web-swinging six pack and grow my arms into 15-inch pythons. I still had a long way to go for Hulk Hogan’s 24-inches.

Around the same age, my parents encouraged me to get into acting class in middle school so I would not be so shy. I continued with drama classes all through high school. After years of training, I reached one of my physical peaks during my senior year in high school. I was running on the varsity track & field team, taking weightlifting classes, and playing recreational basketball.

After high school, my focus was still sharp as I continued to take more acting classes along with as many physical education, weightlifting, and health science courses I could manage at a local college. My parents, being the intelligent, hard workers they were, had convinced me to take some business courses in college as well. Thank the stars for that!

In 2005, I finally joined my first gym. It was open 24 hours which was nice because my lifestyle as a southern California teenager led to some irregular gym hours. By that time, my parents and friends all believed I should become either a coach or a personal trainer. I was flattered but didn't think myself educated enough to become either. I logged the thought as a "Plan B" and kept moving forward.

Finally, that same year - BOOM - I had my first official in-ring wrestling match at a little show in the parking lot next to an outdoor soccer field in Anaheim, CA. I continued my hard work inside and outside of the gym for six more years, but I always felt like something was missing. Eventually after years of matches and being professionally scouted, I left behind my childhood dreams of pro wrestling. That is a longer story, but I decided to focus my sights on a new passion which grew from all my wrestling training. Something that would truly help those around me and give back to others. The lasting joy I get from helping motivate those to achieve their physical goals surpasses what I felt for those moments in the ring.

In 2011, I decided to become a Certified Personal Trainer and the rest is history!

I want to hear your story! Feel free to leave a comment.