Since this blog is called the journey into fitness and nutrition, I figured why not write about my journey and how it all started. I have always been an active person and always riding my bike or playing some outdoor sport so I guess you could say it started there with the pushups sit ups, and pull ups in my room at night.  Just seeing the way my body responded got me hooked instantly and I never looked back. At certain points in my life I took things to far and was even hospitalized when I was in my young teens for over exercising and not eating enough to the point where my heart rate slowed down. This was a big wake up call for me, I never expected to go through something like this. It was scary learning how much I actually messed up my body from not having enough knowledge about exercise and the role of nutrition.

So after that experience in my life I took it upon myself to educate myself and make sure never to go down that road again. I read everything on training and nutrition I could get my hands on. I got really obsessed with body building and getting huge and shredded, basically eating every three hours and eating out of plastic containers everyday. Not going to lie looking back its embarrassing to think all I did, even measuring my arms all the time and posing in the mirror. But it was what all the best guys were doing plus the behind the counter supplements that I would never use.

Next came the adventure into pure strength, I still remember the good old days lifting with my  buddy Dave Whitaker out back if my house in the garage gym we called The Grind. We always had a good time and pushed each other. This also was about the time where I picked up kettle bells and boy o boy did I fall in love. I got the best results in my life swinging those around in my back yard. I saw my body fat levels drop and my muscles grow at the same time which was something I strived for my whole life. I even went as far as getting RKC certified sometime around 2005-2006. This was an experience I will never forget, that weekend was the most brutal training I have ever been though, talk about an ass whooping. But I managed to complete it and got my certification.

I started to combined all sorts of bodyweight, kettlebell, and bodyweight training all out of my back yard for a long time and loved being able to be outside and get creative with my workouts. Then I found the sport of kettlebell lifting and got hooked instantly. It was brutal and pushed me both mentally and physically at the same time. I seem to improve really fast and couldnt get enough. I even got a coach, His name was Chris Duffey. He was one of those tough love sorta guys, no bullshit you either were doing good work or your sucked. I learned a lot from him and we became great friends traveling all over the US competing and pushing the sport. I finally achieved Master of sport in Biathlon and started working on Long cycle when I got injured. My right shoulder started killing all the time and got very weak, I pushed it out of my mind and kept training. I had a competition in california in February and would not let anything stop me. Well to say it lightly I was dumb and managed to compete in that competition but missed Mater of sport long cycle by 2-3 reps which was a huge let down. I flew home and made an appt with the doctor to find out I torn part of my rotator cuff and might need surgery. My world would turn upside down after that day.

I got depressed for a while, Kettlebells were my identity and my life. What would I do not being able to compete. I had been teaching kettle bells for a while during the nights after work so I thought maybe I could pass on my passion of training to other people. I looked into becoming a personal trainer, I mean why not I love exercise and fitness. So I found a great certification in NASM and started my journey into becoming a trainer, after 6 long months I passed my exam. At this point I picked up another training position at a gym and was really starting to enjoy the process of helping people and getting the most out of there time in the gym. But I also learned that its not just about the fitness aspect its also about selling and I sucked at selling.