GET RIPPED Bio (1996-2007)
In December of 1996 I saw my future through the camera lens of my then 9 year old daughter. She took pictures of me posing and flexing. When the pictures came back I was horrified. I was FAT! At 5-11 I was pushing 225 lbs, and it wasn't muscle. I actually saw two futures; One future was my 15 year old daughter bringing home an athletic young man 18 or older to meet her 250 lbs father. I saw myself laying down the law to this young man and being laughed at, not taken seriously and not being able to do anything about it and hardly being able to stand at all. The second future I saw involved being a bad-ass daddy and scaring the hell out of any of my daughter's suitors.
Soon after those pictures came back I put both my kids, (also my 4 year old son) into Tang Soo Do classes, and I hit the gym. All I wanted to do was lift my own weight. I gave myself a five year plan. Year 1 was just getting into the gym on a regular basis.
While I was training, I was learning. I read everything i could find and tried most of what I learned, evaluated what worked and what I thought was bullshit. In five years my body had changed completely and guys who were plotting on my daughter had that bad-ass to contend with.
It was time for the second five year plan, which had to do with conditioning so that i could keep up with my then 9 year old son, who was beginning to play league basketball. Since I hate running, I started running. Since leg exercises always made my legs hurt, I started doing legs like I'd been doing chest. Just for the hell of it I did a 3 month routine to get me to a single set of 100 push ups. One year, on New year's Day i ran six miles. (Still a personal best and I still hate running.)
In 2004 I decided I wanted to work for Club Med as a fitness trainer or recreation director. I got a job in a gym as a janitor and saved up enough money to take certification classes. I got my first certification, (Personal Trainer) in the beginning of 2005. By the end of that year I'd gotten a job in a gym on Philadelphia's prestigious Rittenhouse Square. In 2006 I got my primary aerobics certification and in the summer of this year I began teaching group fitness (abs) classes at Temple University. In September of '07 I started leading a kickboxing class in addition to abs, and a one day a week High Energy Athletic Training (HEAT) class.
This year I'm heading into my third five year plan, it's not as well defined as the first two. It doesn't have to be. Fitness has become a lifestyle for me now and it's rubbed off on a lot of my friends, some of whom I am training directly or indirectly by way of encouragement and information. I guess by now I'm comfortable referring to myself as a "Fitness Professional." I don't have the time or the memory to chronicle for everyone every step I've taken on this journey. I've uploaded blogs here and there. The GET RIPPED!!! series on this page was originally inspired by the P90X system and will mark its first anniversary in November of 2007. Along the way most of my habits have changed; eating, activity, partying, lifestyle in general. I still have goals to meet, I'm still gaining muscle, I'm still burning fat and my body is still improving. The best news is, I'm not unique, ANYBODY can do this.
So, let's get it done. Want help? Advice? Resources? Friend me and leave me a comment or send me a message. If you want to remain anonymous, that's fine too, my GET RIPPED blogs are open for everyone to see.
