- Owner of Why To Fitness
- IFBB Mens Physique Pro
- Certified personal trainer
- Published writer for Natural Muscle Magazine and Muscle & Strength
I was born in Hoffman Estates, Illinois and moved to Hubertus, Wisconsin shortly after. I have two older sisters, a half-brother, and a half-sister. Being raised in Wisconsin limited me to who I hung out with so I ended up spending most of my time either alone or hanging out with my sisters. My mother is my best friend and my biggest fan, without her, my life would have been completely different. My dad took every opportunity to give, coach, and urge me to become a professional baseball player, but deep down I didn’t like playing. The effort my dad took to put me through baseball paid off though, because this is where I gained my competitive edge and got introduced to the weight room.
I started working out when I was 13 years old, but it wasn’t till I was 17 when I really started to become interested in my body image. I was always a big kid but this was more due to my height and not the size of my body. Throughout the next couple of years my goals in the gym would fluctuate, either I would want to get huge, cut up, or maintain. With the three main fitness goals being incorporated at different times in my life, I have learned a vast array of knowledge that I have applied to get me to where I am.
In 2010, the Muscle and Fitness Male Model search changed my life. I found out about the competition and had 7½ weeks to diet down for a photo shoot to attempt to make it to Olympia. Needless to say I didn’t win the competition to go to Olympia but the rewards where much greater than I could imagine. This was the first time that I have ever took my knowledge and dieted down like I was about to compete. The transformation that took place in those weeks amazed me, seeing the results from my hard work and dedication created and fueled a fire.
Unfortunately, after the photo shoot, I started to bulk up to put on some muscle and I hurt my shoulder. This injury took me out of the gym completely for 6 months. This six months was the worst six months of my life. I was away from my second home (the gym) and wasn’t able to do the one thing I love, work out. This injury and time away from the gym taught me a lot about myself and created a fire to become the best I could be.
Finally after six months I was back in the gym, going harder than ever. Muscle memory was taking over and I was seeing results left and right. A few weeks back into training I learned about Men’s Physique and thought it was my birthday. I finally could compete in competitions and have the opportunity to advance and turn pro.
I looked up all of the NPC competitions and found my first show that I wanted to train for, The NPC Junior USA Bodybuilding Championships. I immediately started training and dieting extremely hard for the show. All I wanted was to do my best and gain necessary knowledge about competing and see the competition. I was overwhelmed with joy when I placed 5th. I knew this was the beginning of my dreams/ goals coming true.
My job, lifestyle, and competing on the national and professional level has brought me much joy and has taught me much. The people I meet and help, the knowledge I obtain and the feelings I get living this lifestyle are incomparable to anything in this world. My business Whytofitness.com and I are dedicated to help out everyone we possible can by creating the fitness standard, connecting all of those that know their why and live it daily.
- Website: http://whytofitness.com/
- Facebook: WhyToFitness
- Twitter: WhyToFitness
- Instagram: WhyToFitness
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