10/03/2023
âIf youâre fit, read books. If youâre smart, get fit.â
I was neither.
Before I started working out I was a VERY shy kid. If you werenât close to me, I didnât talk much. This made it hard to ask for help in classes I didnât enjoy or struggled with - it was uncomfortable and I avoided doing any work for those classes. And because of this, I was close to failing a few classes.
Fortunately, I started working out with a group of friends but it wasnât all sunshine and rainbows. The first day I trained with them we started to Bench Press (of course). I was given an instruction then gave it a go. It was 55lbs and it dropped on my chest and I had to get it picked off.
I was embarrassed BUT no one laughed. They were all supportive and dropped the weight every time it was my turn to go.
And even though I still felt embarrassed and was much weaker than all of them, I continued to train with them and slowly fell in love with the gym.
I put on about 15lbs of muscle in my first year of training and felt a lot more confident. I wasnât as shy and started to notice improvements in the sports I was playing and my grades improved every year.
I learned that if you work hard at something ⊠you can make a lot of progress and even excel. And as an ignorant, shy kid who wasnât âsmartâ in school, this was special.
I started working hard in other areas of my life knowing that if I put in the work, I can see improvements.
I went from a SMALL town shy kid (in the Northwest Territories) to playing University football and eventually moving to the States to work in the fitness industry.
What if I was laughed at after weight dropped on my chest? I couldâve given up that day and my life could be entirely different âŠ
I became âfitâ and then read books. It changed my life for the better ⊠and now Iâm helping busy professionals get âfitâ. My client whoâs job (surgeon) is âstressful and extremely time-intensiveâ said it best here, âgetting stronger has made living in my body a pleasure instead of a choreâ and her âbody is much better prepared for that work now.â