The Story...So Far!

We all have that friend (let's be real, friends) that hop on an exercise regime and post on social media every time they work out. Then, after losing some weight, they are light enough to jump up on a soap box and tell everyone how to train.

"Message me for training plans even though I’m not certified and have no experience outside my own : )"

It gets a bit cringey after a while, am I right?

I'll be honest, in 2015, I was a bit reluctant to start a blog because I did not want to be that guy or girl. Instagram fitness accounts were becoming a big thing, and it was clearly going to be easy to become another face in the crowd. But I felt like I had something unique to offer. So I got a personal training certification and started studying towards getting my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

Anyone can get you shredded with chicken, broccoli, and rice. Anyone can throw a ton of work at you and make you sore. Anyone could take a popular program template and rebrand it into their own. But I had a God-inspired idea to help people achieve fitness goals in a way that could still be glorying to God.

How? Well, for starters, by giving God the glory for all your achievements. For many folks very passionate about fitness, this starts in the gym. If they can give God credit for their fitness instead of falling for the #selfmade scam, then hopefully this will carry over into their real life. Everything we have, decide, and achieve is only because the grace of God. This goes for everything in life, much less fitness.

Second, I felt like we could bring glory to God in how we train by being in the gym less. That allows us to be present in our lives more. Family time, staying on top of work better, chores, serving in the church, or whatever needs attention in your life deserves your best. Don’t get me wrong, in today’s inactive yet stressful jobs, I believe God wants us in the gym. You could argue not working out isn’t being the best steward of your body and mind. However, I feel like your average person should not be in the gym 10 hours a week working on their body. So telling people to workout more efficiently seemed like a great point of emphasis for my brand.

Finally, I had seen great results in the gym between 2013 and 2015. I went from taking a high volume, gunslinger approach (think Branch Warren doing 4 sets of 12 on everything lol) to focusing on adding weight to the bar to compound exercises. We're talking slow, steady progress using a lot of 5x5 training. Then once I added weight, I would then take time to add volume with that load (not very different from the silver era of bodybuilding). The great part was, I spent only about 4 hours a week in the gym. Previously I had been in the gym over ten hours a week with inferior results.

More isn’t better. Better is better.

In a culture where people become obsessive with fitness, my goal is to help people achieve their fitness goals sensibly. God and his will for your life comes first, then your family, then your job. Fitness is on down the last from there. Actions speak louder than words. I hope my writing can help influence your decisions towards choosing a path to your fitness goals.

In His Name,

Doug