What is Your Story?
I share a past common to many and a health history uncommon to many. I played sports, went to school, hung out with friends, got passing grades, graduated from college and got a job. As a young professional I was learning a ton about strength and conditioning, looked the best I ever had, strongest I’d ever been and was fully engaged in the grind of my new profession. I coached athletes and people while I continued learning. I was making money, being proactive about my health and enjoying life for the most part. I thought I was doing it right... Work hard, play hard, lift weights and exercise, eat paleo.
My first concussion was at 9 years old. My second at 11, third at 12, fourth at 13, fifth at 14. Overall the count is above 20 mild traumatic brain injuries. What does that look like when layered on to a past that is common to many? I best describe it as unaware and uncontrolled.
I did what was asked: get good grades, be a good kid. My college picked me, I didn’t make the decision, didn’t have a plan and luckily they called and said “come play for us.” My degree practically picked me; I failed the first business class I took in college, and was encouraged to keep pursuing prevention and care of athletic injuries (a class I was not failing). That lead to filling out an application to be in the athletic training program, a profession I thought sounded fine but would later realize was not for me.
I was failing within the program and without thought transitioned to the easiest transferable degree, exercise science. I did not pick my first job out of college. My Father suggested I apply at a local fitness club. I was hired as a trainer and said ‘okay’. Since there were those that worked with athletes, and I was an athlete, it made more sense to work with them than their parents. I had entered the world of Strength and Conditioning.
There was a college coach who worked out at the gym, and she asked me to come and help out with a camp. The next thing I knew, I was also a collegiate goalkeeper coach. After some time I realized that I was not satisfied with my work, and after hearing from a friend who said they were hiring in San Diego I accepted the job offer and headed South. Looking back, there was not a moment where I remember planning and executing.
Things were happening to me. I couldn’t fall asleep, stay asleep or wake up. I’d have chronic low back, shoulder, and elbow pain from injuries I sustained playing college soccer. I’d get blinded with anger when something didn’t agree with me, get caught in hours of negative rants, and have thoughts that went nowhere. I was anxious in social situations, and often found myself completely uncomfortable, ready to leave. This made it so I could not be by myself, so I constantly kept busy. Workout, food prep, cook, nap, work, work, work, hang with the boys. Rinse and repeat. I started every day irritated and anxious and ended every day irritated and upset. I would focus on all the negatives I could find. In the middle, I would grind. I continued this process after moving to San Diego, until something new came up… Something that would truly change my life.
One of the trainers at the gym mentioned to me that they “worked with brains.” ‘So does everyone’, I thought… When I asked more about it, he gave me no answers. So I kept an eye on him. I watched him do things that I didn’t understand, and therefore determined they would not be helpful for someone like me. Then, one day I got an email from him inviting me to Z-Health Performance Solutions new Essentials course. I went and was shown more improvement in my own performance in one afternoon than I had gained in years of working in gyms… I watched a person touch their toes for the first time in years after having a scar on their forearm worked on! I knew it wasn’t magic, yet it seemed to be.
Then and there, I realized how much I didn’t understand about athletes and how we function as humans. My point of view was incomplete. Flawed. So I took the curriculum, and with every course along the way I learned so much more about human development than just getting bigger, stronger muscles and having a low body fat percentage. I also learned about:
Emotion
Pain
Athletic Development and Enhancement
Sensations
Breathing
Vision
Balance and Inner Ear Function
Motor learning
This gave me a new perspective on movement, strength training, and so much more. Every piece of information I learned could help myself or the athletes I worked with improve on their weaknesses. Every course made me better as a person. I was developing a better approach to improving my clients and myself, and I began to think critically for the first time that I could remember. I had thoughts about what I was doing, who I was, and what I wanted to be. My sleep improved, my chronic pain went away, and all of a sudden, I wasn’t so stiff anymore.
I’ve stumbled across a brain-centric point of view that provides the means to create change for any person. As a result, I’ve changed myself for the better, and I can help you change too. I urge you to take inventory of your wants, needs, and perceived limitations as I have and consider opting into a transformative way of improving both your weaknesses and your strengths. The only time we are guaranteed is the time right now. Are you living it at your best?
For more information on how I can help you be your best please get in touch via the contact info on my homepage or through social media.
Best,
Joe