Personal Info
How I Started
My passion and love for physical activity began at a very young age, when I was 7 years old, especially through my exposure to and involvement in sports. As a freshman in high school, I was first introduced to the basics of resistance training and strength and conditioning. In high school-based, foundational resistance training classes, I began mastering resistance exercise techniques, building my muscular/functional performance base of training, and learning and internalizing that my hard work and my consistently high-level effort in the training room unquestionably transferred over to my ability to perform and excel in football and baseball, as well as to my capacity to develop into a high-performance student-athlete who excelled in the classroom. With this being said, I am very grateful that I had the incredible opportunity to establish a solid training foundation and attain a true understanding of the fundamentals of athletic performance-based strength and conditioning; I largely attribute this to the guidance from and interaction with great sport coaches/educators at a very young (chronological and training) age. Further, my appreciation and humble recognition of my "roots" were main drivers for me to pursue my career and education in the sport/exercise science fields/profession!
When I was finished playing competitive sports, after high school, my passion and love for training was enhanced and became my primary athletic competition outlet and performance-based platform! I was an All-American Varsity Football Athlete and Valedictorian in high school, and I headed into my undergraduate studies at California State University, Fresno, with a full-ride academic scholarship and as a student in the Smittcamp Family Honors Program; yet, I still trained and prepared, physically and mentally, like a True Athlete and Champion, with emphases on training for muscle size, strength, power, strength-endurance, power-endurance, and overall aerobic endurance/capacity. As I progress and grow as an Athlete, I'm always striving to harness my enthusiasm and drive to push my physical body with a "No Limits Mindset", to always challenge and push past my current thresholds and limits, both physically and mentally, and to maximize my human potential in all arenas and aspects of my Life!
Why I Love it
The bottom line, for me: I will always live an active and healthy lifestyle, to the absolute best of my ability. Some of the greatest and most important lessons in my Life are ones that I have taken from my training and education and work experiences in the exercise science fields/profession ... further, these "Life lessons" tend to center around the undeniable fact that any individual's core values, motivation, focus, drive, determination, dedication, overall work ethic, and perseverance in Life are what truly separate him/her from the "ordinary," from "normality," and allow him/her to self-generate and independently create a mindset, physique, performance capacity, and Life/lifestyle that are all, simultaneously, truly extraordinary!
Hand-in-hand with my true passion and love for training, the athletic performance/fitness industry, and trying to always be the most credible, "practice what I preach"-type professional/fitness model I can possibly be, I chose to pursue my 11-year education, which took me all the way to the attainment of my Ph.D. (Biokinesiology/Exercise Physiology), as well as my career in the fields of exercise science, strength and conditioning, and healthy aging, because I want to help educate, motivate, and inspire others, as much as possible and on a World-wide scale, in their personal journeys to maximizing their fitness, health, wellness, and quality of Life. I want to inspire and motivate you to attain the highest quality of life imaginable, and I want, above all, for you to know and feel that I am approachable and here for you! Knowledge is power ... together, let's continue to discover greater self-confidence, independence, and empowerment, through learning, self-discovery, and personal growth!
The primary reasons why I began fitness modeling are to fully immerse myself in our industry, to motivate, to inspire, and to help others "see" and find their true passion and love for exercise and fitness! Empower yourself, through hard work, sacrifice, perseverance, education, and an ever-growing confidence and belief in yourself that will allow you to maximize your true potential ... together, we can overcome and achieve anything, in the gym and in Life!
Working out and training help us to more fully understand Life and the merit-based systems in which we often operate throughout our daily lives and across our lifespans ... First, we absolutely need to determine what we truly WANT and DESIRE (e.g., in the weight room, in athletics, in the classroom, in a career, in a relationship, etc.) ... Second, we must seek, discover, and harness the fire inside of ourselves, in order to self-generate our success, to take control of our lives, and to always strive to push past our current limits and transform ... Third, we will always remember that we are not entitled to anything, in the gym or in Life, and that we must WORK, FIGHT, SWEAT, and PERSEVERE for what we really want/desire, and EARN IT! Today, tomorrow, every day, accept nothing less than an approach to every arena and aspect of your Life that has you: MENTALLY strong and PHYSICALLY unstoppable! Have the courage to follow your Heart and Intuition, and NEVER SETTLE!