My Story

Continued from My Story

One of my brother’s friends happened to set the bench press record, (1 rep at 340 pounds), during his senior, which was my sophomore, year. I remember like it was yesterday, vowing to break that record before I graduated. Over the course of the next three years I worked toward this, and a few other fitness related goals. I enrolled in Weight Training and Conditioning as my first period class for the next three years in high school. As I worked out each day, increasing my strength and improving my technique, I knew that before I graduated I would hold the bench press record. There was never a moment that I considered if I would break the record. My preparation was so complete that I knew I would do it. I saw it first in my mind’s eye, and my body followed.

Just a few weeks before the end of my senior year, I broke the school bench press record (1 rep at 355 lbs.). I also broke the jump rope and arm curl records. At the time I did not realize how goal setting provided the stimulus to drive me toward these achievements. I know now that without having specific goals to aim for and the power of visualization as a stimulus it would not have happened.

Finding My Way

Following high school, I decided to study Physical Education in order to become a teacher and coach. I wanted to help others, the way my mentors had helped me. Before attending university, I went to Community College to play football and improve my study habits. Moving to a school outside my home town meant adjusting to many different things at once: independence, college, and athletics at a higher level.

This proved to be a difficult time in my life: I was not prepared for the changes that took place. I neglected to apply the lessons of goal setting and visualization I learned early in life. They had not become a habit and without a clear goal my performance, both within academics and athletics, declined. My football playing days ended as it became clear I did not have the size or speed to compete at the next level. Since the age of eight, I had been active in sports and now for the first time in my life I didn’t know what to do next. With no new sport or activity in mind, the motivation to work out was gone. I started to get fat and out of shape; I needed something to get me going again.

Later that year, a friend of mine told me about an upcoming body building contest and encouraged me to enter. He invited me to the gym he worked out at and introduced me to the owner. Soon I was pumping iron again, this time purely for aesthetic reasons. In addition to my workouts, I began to learn more about proper nutrition and improved my eating habits. Like many of us, I had grown up on the traditional meat and potatoes diet and loved fast food. For many years I considered junk food to be one of the four food groups. I soon found out that much of the food I was used to eating was now unacceptable fair. With guidance from some friends at the gym, I began eating a natural diet consisting of lean meats, fish, eggs, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. As before, mentors showed me the way.

Once again I had a goal! The contest date was set, and I had to be ready to present my body for the judges and everyone in the audience to see. And if you haven’t seen what a posing suit looks like, you should know there is not much left to the imagination. I remember mine arrived from the mail order company in a small envelope. I pulled my burgundy suit out of the package and tried it on. It was obvious I still had a ways to go before I could wear it proudly.

Over the next three and one-half months I worked out six days per week, two hours each day. By combining rigorous training and a natural diet I went from a fat, out of shape 199 pounds to a lean, muscular 175. I did this without the use of steroids, and in fact at no time in my life have I ever used performance- enhancing drugs.

Training for this contest was one of the most demanding things I have ever done. Although I didn’t win, I placed 7th out of 18 in my weight class, the experience proved valuable as it reinforced the idea that I could do anything that I set my mind to. The experience also raised my interest in Fitness, leading me to change my course of study to Exercise and Sports Science.

University – The Science of Exercise The following year, I transferred to university to begin my degree work in physical education. One of the first courses I took was Anatomy and Physiology. While studying bones, muscles, and the many body systems my fascination for the human body continued to grow. During these early university years something else made me particularly interested in how the body works, rowing. Having little knowledge about the sport I attended an informational meeting. Many of the seasoned rowers spoke at the meeting, and they all talked about the commitment and hard work that would be expected of anyone who turned out. Sacrifices would have to be made and that you would either love it or hate it. I found a real camaraderie among the crew and decided that would be my next challenge.

Before I knew it, I was waking up before dawn for practice. The best time of the day to get smooth water was in the morning, something I had learned years earlier waking up early to go water skiing. But what I didn’t know was how physically challenging rowing would be. Every day before practice, my teammates and I would go on what coach optimistically called a warm-up run. Still half asleep and feeling the morning chill we would work our way along the lake shore. Since the run was typically a few miles long, most of us first year rowers were so tired from this warm-up that the last thing we wanted to do was row. After a couple of weeks, however, our bodies adapted to these morning jaunts, and we became primed and ready to row.

Rowing is a very technical sport. The boats crew shells, used for rowing are very narrow, and the seats are on a slide. Your feet are strapped into shoes stretchers, so that you can generate leverage with your whole body, legs, torso and arms. Rowing in both four and eight person boats each of our movements had to be performed together as if moving as one. To achieve this objective we practiced proper stroke mechanics, often twice a day. Once we improved our technique and timing, we began to move as one. As our technique improved, we picked up the pace. The amount of power we generated together was tremendous, and our boat really started to move. For conditioning purposes we worked on longer distances to improve endurance and shorter ones to increase our power. It was during, or rather after completing one of our shorter sprints where I began to notice the effects of our training. During practice one day, as we were working our way through a particularly difficult workout, I found something had changed. At the end of each segment my teammates and I were always winded. But on this day, although we were still winded, the amount of time needed to recover was much shorter. We went from gasping for air one minute to breathing normally just a short time later. Our bodies had once again adapted to the demands placed on them, just like with our warm-up run.

As I considered the many physical changes my body had gone through over the years, my knowledge and passion for this amazing machine we call the human body continued to grow. I didn’t know it at the time, but my passion for fitness would take me to places I never dreamed and open up a world of possibilities.

Sharing My Passion Over the next few years, I continued to study Exercise Science: Biomechanics exercise’s relationship to physics, Kinesiology, the study of movement, Exercise Physiology, the body’s response to increased physical demands and other pertinent courses. In addition to my course work, a practicum was organized at a clinic nearby the university. Most of the people coming to the clinic were either recovering from an orthopedic injury like a torn knee ligament or an illness such as heart disease. It wasn’t long before I knew this was not the environment for me. I wanted to focus on the prevention of such conditions, not treating them. My next practicum was arranged at the local Athletic Club, which I found to be more suited to my interests. Following a few days of observation at the club, I arranged for my internship to be done there. It was time to share my knowledge and passion for fitness with others.

I remember being a bit nervous at first, as I had never instructed someone I didn’t already know. Many of the questions in the Risk Assessment Survey were quite personal and required people to open up a great deal. I was surprised to find most people eager to tell me their stories. Some of our members had specific goals they wanted to achieve with regard to their fitness level, while others did not. Yet again I was shown the power of goal setting, as the people that set written goals and kept them foremost in their minds made the most dramatic changes in their fitness levels.

Following my internship in 1985 I was hired on part-time as a Fitness Consultant. Since then, apart from a few breaks for extended travel and a job with a Seattle based dot.com venture that went dot gone, I have continued working in the Fitness Industry. During my career I have never stopped learning. I believe continuing education is vitally important because if you are not improving, you are going backwards. I have been fortunate to learn from a number of excellent fitness professionals: Randy Huntington, Tom Purvis and Neal Wolkodoff to name just a few. Lessons learned from these experts have taught me a great deal; however, the knowledge I have gained working with people like you has been of even greater value. I am forever grateful to all of you, as without your efforts and feedback I would not be where I am today.

Life Changing Experience During the summer of 1997 I had decided to move to a bigger city. I am from Seattle, Washington, but I had been living and working in smaller towns the six years following my college graduation. The town I spent most of my time was a population of about 65,000 people, and at this time I felt I needed to enter a larger market to further my career. I had no idea how much larger a market I was about to experience.

I found a place to live in a suburb of Seattle and began to network with some Fitness Professionals in the area. A week later, standing in the kitchen of my new home, I received a life changing phone call. One of my contacts referred me to a group of clubs: Clark Hatch Fitness Centers. It turns out they were looking for a Club Manager at the time, but there was a bit of a twist. Clark Hatch Fitness Centers operates in Asia Pacific. Clark Hatch is an American who was first in Asia during the Korean War. Following the war, he decided to remain in Asia and opened his first fitness center in Tokyo, Japan in 1965. Later, as he traveled about Asia he found many of the hotels were lacking quality fitness centers. There was a need for professional consulting and management services within the major hotels, and he began to fill that need. Today, Clark Hatch still has many clubs throughout Asia Pacific, most of which are within 5-star hotels. So here I was, just getting settled into my new home, and I was presented with the opportunity to move to Asia. The company was to pay my air ticket to Honolulu, Hawaii, and then on to Tokyo, Japan or Shanghai, China.

With a sense of adventure and interest in learning about another culture up- close, I decided to accept the offer. A few weeks later, I was on a plane to Honolulu to meet Mr. Hatch himself and begin my training. I spent three weeks in Honolulu for orientation and taking in the sites until the Shanghai Hilton was confirmed as my destination.

Following a brief trip through Hong Kong as part of my Visa processing, I arrived in Shanghai. I will never forget my first trip from the airport to the hotel, as it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. A sea of people, mostly on bicycles, moved about in a steady, unending stream. It is one thing to hear about 15 million people living in a city, yet another to experience it. Over the course of the next few years, I learned about Chinese people and their long held understanding of the importance of health. One indication was held within a greeting used for many years. The word for body’s health is “shen ti” and there was a time when it was customary to greet a person with: “shen ti hao ma?” (How’s your body’s health?) This greeting is not so common today; in fact, just like in other developed countries many people within China’s larger cities are sacrificing their health in the quest to make more money. Although you still can find a large number of people throughout the city practicing tai chi, jogging, dancing or performing some other form of movement, the numbers are dwindling. In addition, the majority of people you see committed to these activities are senior citizens. Although it is great to see the older generation staying active, it is sad to see the rest of the population going the way of the “modern world.”Young people within China today have taken to junk food and computer games, and their parents have focused their energy on creating more of everything, except wellness that is. And while nobody can argue the importance of making money, no matter how much money you make, it is of little value if you are not physically able to enjoy it.

A New Chapter Begins One day while searching online for fitness information I discovered a man named Matt Furey. As a lifetime student I am forever seeking new information, and in this case my search proved particularly useful. There is a great deal of information about health and fitness online, some of which is questionable at best. Matt, however, is the real deal. While reading his story, I became truly inspired as I identified with many of Matt’s experiences and share much of his fitness philosophy.

Matt is an advocate of body weight exercises; a form of which I have always felt deserved more attention. Consider that, pound for pound, the strongest, most powerful, yet incredibly flexible athletes on this earth are ones that condition themselves through body weight exercises. Gymnasts, wrestlers, dancers, and martial artists all leave little doubt this type of exercise works. Although I had incorporated calisthenics into both my client’s routines, and mine they were never the foundation of the program. Until discovering Matt’s program, I had used body weight exercises as an alternative to weight training when weights were inaccessible, or for a change of pace in my workouts.

I remember one particular occasion, working out in a club that I also worked as a Personal Trainer. The facility was well equipped with both strength training and cardiovascular machines valued at well over $100,000. Yet here I was, down on the floor doing push-ups. Mike, one of our regular members looked over at me like I was crazy and asked, “Why are doing push-ups when you could be benching?” My answer at the time was, “just for some variety.” Looking back, I believe intuitively I knew that push-ups provided a better overall workout than the bench press. Possibly, the only reason I lifted weights all those years was due to influence from outside sources telling me lifting weights was the only or best way to improve my strength.

Although I still believe in lifting weights, I no longer believe it is the best way to condition our muscles. Since altering my workouts to include a variety of body weight exercises as the foundation of my program, I still perform a few weight lifting exercises which are included in this program, my overall condition has never been better. I am strong, flexible, and have excellent endurance. I can participate in virtually any activity I choose, without undue fatigue. Now, with a renewed enthusiasm for the power of goal setting, together with a more balanced approach to fitness, I feel it is time to share my experiences with a larger audience. During my career I have written various articles on Health and Fitness, published primarily in newsletters and regional magazines. I have considered writing a book several times. I just never set a goal to do so. Like most dreams the idea was just floating around in my mind with no real impetus to “get it together.” Now, after years of formal education and valuable, real-life experience, I am ready to share my methods with you. It is my sincere desire that the information contained within this program will change your life. I know it continues to change mine each day.