Since the first time I kicked a soccer ball at four years old, I was hooked on athletic competition.
Fitness and sports have been a big part of who I am ever since.
Through fitness - an intense sand volleyball match, attempting a PR on a deadlift, or running as hard as I can - my mind gets into “flow,” a state where I feel like I am truly living.
It may sound crazy, but I feel most fully alive when running an all-out sprint. I love the feeling of my heart pumping out of my chest, my lungs burning, legs screaming that they want to quit.
I know there is a chemical release of endorphins and dopamine, but this high feels supernatural.
I believe it’s God’s gift to us - that we can push ourselves to limits we never thought possible. We can aim for targets that scare us but also drive us. We can become creators of our reality, builders of our dreams.
To me, achieving physical feats is a perfect metaphor for life; we can accomplish wonderful and exhilarating things with the right training, courage, and determination.
Physical fitness can be a vehicle for life change.
When I was younger, I focused on pursuing athletic accomplishments, mainly in soccer. My dream was to become an All-American and to win a National Championship. I loved practice and training, the friendships I made with my teammates, loved the competition.
I worked hard for years, honing my skills to become the best I could be, only to have my hard work come up short when I got to college. A stress fracture in my femur put me on crutches for six weeks. I was defeated, discouraged, and depressed.
I finally decided I would do the only thing I could – crutch myself half-a-mile up to the rec center on campus and do anything I was cleared to do, mainly upper body strength training. I had lifted weights a little bit but didn’t take it too seriously. Now that it was my only option, I went all in. I was in the gym most days of the week, doing anything I could do to keep me moving forward.
I can still vividly remember the first day I was cleared to jog. I stepped onto the track and started trotting along at a snail’s pace - probably the slowest I’d ever run. But it brought me so much happiness, relief, and pure joy. I was back, finally able to get back to doing what I loved most. I continued to rehab and lift weights, and by the end of the Spring semester, I had recovered fully.
I decided I needed a fresh start and would transfer to a school that didn’t have an NCAA team, officially ending my dream of being a college soccer champion. At the University of Minnesota, I tried out for Club Soccer. I made the team and had some of the best soccer experiences of my life. Go Gophers!
Giving up on my dream of becoming a college champion was hard, but I learned some valuable lessons in the wake of my disappointments.
Lesson 1: Always believe that a better future is possible.
Even when I was down and discouraged, I never gave up hope. Many days it felt hopeless, but thanks to my faith and my family and friends, I had encouragement when I needed it most. I trusted that the best was yet to come and believed that God still had big plans for my future.
Lesson 2: Failure is not final, and there will always be more dreams to pursue.
Even though my dream was gone, I was excited to create a new life in a new place and finish my college years with improved focus.
Lesson 3: Fitness empowers you to do things you’ve never done before.
I always loved competition, sports, and running, but now I was passionate about strength training and fitness.
I loved the way I could push myself to grow. I loved how it felt to be strong. I could lift weights heavier than my own bodyweight. I noticed changes in my body composition. I grew in self-confidence; I loved how I looked and felt.
I had a new outlook on life and realized I could purposely take on discomfort and struggle and come out better on the other side. I began to believe that I could achieve more than I thought possible.
Training unlocked a level of ability I didn’t even know I had, and I felt an almost unlimited potential to improve and grow. I didn’t know it then, but these lessons would shape my life for years to come.
With my newfound passion for fitness, I became a Certified Personal Trainer in 2010. It was mainly a backup plan while I figured out how I wanted to use my Journalism degree.
I got a job at the YMCA, where I grew and developed under some great mentors. I turned a part-time job into full-time and realized this might actually be what I was made to do all along.
After four years, I was restless and needed a change. I had the opportunity to join Southern Sculpt Fitness as the Head Trainer, and so I packed up everything I had and moved to Nashville.
It was an exciting time, and everything was new. I had never even been to Nashville. I was starting a new career with a little bit of savings and a whole lot of hope.
After eight years building a successful in-home training business, we decided to pivot into an online educational platform focused on bringing the lens of fitness into the healthcare arena.
This new transition has opened the door for me to create my own business, where I can continue the work I have been doing and start to expand in some new and exciting ways.
My goal is to help others use physical fitness as a vehicle for life change and a way to discover their true potential. To inspire belief, encourage commitment, and build momentum - exactly what fitness helped me to do.
I’ve been where many people are; I’ve felt discouraged, overcome challenges, shifted my mindset and adjusted my behaviors. I love sharing my experiences and expertise that developed out of my struggles.
My journey has taught me that with the right approach to your training, you can have the energy, focus, and confidence to sustain a lifelong pursuit of fitness.
You can feel successful and accomplished every day while taking on challenges that lead to your growth.
I’m passionate about living each day with purpose and intention so that I can find a full life and help others find it too.
You can have life to the fullest – but only if you’re willing to go after it.
- Coach Tim
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