When I was a kid, my father took me to see the film Rocky.
I knew then and there what I wanted out of life.....Muscles. Big ones.
But the thought of getting up at four a.m. to drink a glass of raw eggs and follow that with a five-mile moonlight run was out of the question. However, that movie did ignite a spark inside me that would determine the course of my life…
Listing all of the wonderful things that fitness has done for me would take all day.
Truly, exercise and fitness have provided a refuge for me as a healthy way to cope with my life’s greatest challenges.
Growing up, weight training provided me with a great escape during stress and tough times - and also proved to be a source of pride and inspiration in good times. I was an awkward, skinny, insecure kid. Life at home was tough. My parents did the best they could, but consistently split up and reunited. I've also had personal demons to contend with - I lost a brother at a very young age, and I numbed the pain with drugs and alcohol. Somehow, I never lost the determination to exercise through it all. It was the one routine I could hold onto, when everything else seemed to be falling apart. It became a lifesaver.
As I matured and grasped the concept of personal responsibility, things began to turn around. As a matter of fact, sometimes I can’t believe just how lucky I am!
The quality of my life has surpassed my wildest dreams. Today I realize that all of those years of darkness were a test - and I passed! God has given me a gift, and for some reason, saw fit to keep me around to share it. Today, I know in my heart that anything is possible, and nothing worth fighting for comes easy.
God will move mountains, but you’d better bring a shovel.
I've been spreading the gospel of fitness for over fifteen years now, and during that time have worked at five different facilities. The first thirty-two years of my life, I lived on the east coast, in Baltimore, Maryland. While there, I began my career in fitness as a floor trainer at a small gym, then moved on to Program Director at the local JCC. My last east-coast job was as Fitness Specialist and Personal Trainer at Maryland Athletic Club and Wellness Center.
I moved to Grapevine five days after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center; I always tell people that I got here as fast as I could. My first job in Texas was as a personal trainer for Larry North Fitness. I worked at Larry North for six years, first as a Personal Trainer, then as Assistant Fitness Director and finally as Fitness Director. It was a great experience for me, but the time was coming to consider moving on. So I contacted an old friend, Dan Sprinkle, who had recently purchased the facility he had been managing - now Integrated Health and Fitness.
Two things helped convinced me the time was right to make a move. First, I had known Dan when he was working at Larry North, and I trusted him. Secondly, we share the same vision. At IHF, we base our training on scientific, biomechanic principles, which - in a nutshell - means that we see the body for what it is designed to do, and we build a program for our clients based on the body’s structural foundation.
It's discouraging how many fitness myths and misconceptions are regarded as fact, just because someone published them in a magazine - or because Arnold says so.
Many of these falsehoods have been handed down for generations by seemingly successful, seemingly healthy (and dare I say even “artificially enhanced”) individuals. Their advice often contradicts scientific principles, based on years of research. Although every individual is unique, most of us do share one common desire - to emulate those whom we admire. Sacrificing logic and reason in order to emulate a picture in a magazine, however, is treading on dangerous ground.
My personal mission as a trainer is to inspire people to be the best they can be! To share with my clients some of the incredible things that prioritizing my health and fitness have done for me. I also realize that with the privilege of being able to share inspiration, comes responsibility. I feel it is my responsibility to use sound, scientific principles when designing a program for your specific needs and limitations.
I view each and every client as an individual with different strengths, weaknesses, and goals. I constantly strive to better myself through continuing education and by keeping an open mind. I try to convey to the best of my ability the passion that has turned a tiny spark into a hearty flame, which I have nurtured over many years.
Thoreau says it best - "I can find no more encouraging fact, than the unquestionable ability of man, to elevate his life through conscience endeavor."
Kevin Mcgann , Personal Trainer