Everyone has their own spin on fitness. There are so many opinions out there it’s easy to get confused, frustrated and discouraged. I’ve always said I’m not here to be your guru or unmerciful, authoritarian ruler. I’m a fitness coach, guide and traveling companion. Every day we are either moving closer or further away from our goals. My job is to keep you on the path that leads to discovery, true knowledge and improvement.
I started off in “fitness” as a way to deal with the challenges and anxieties of high school. I may seem like I have it together now but when I was a teenager I didn’t have a clue. No one does really at that age but because I switched schools in middle school I found myself on the outside looking in rather than being part of the in crowd. As a refuge I took to my skateboard and lacrosse stick. The first as an act of rebellion and the latter as a way to fit in. Training became my default mode of operation. I would skate until my legs were jello and practice lacrosse until I had blisters on my hands. The result was landing more tricks and scoring more goals, both of which boosted my confidence.
I’m mathematically minded. As a direct result, I went off to college to study Industrial Engineering as it seemed to be the best fit. Again, what can we possibly know about what we want to do for the rest of our lives at the age of 18? The workload of engineering made me pull back from playing competitive lacrosse and to fill the void I went and tried a martial arts class. I was hooked instantly. From that day on I made a commitment to never stop training. My unbroken streak of training lead me to New York to pursue more martial arts training.
The best, most closely related job I could find was personal training. As a trainer I’m both engineer and martial artist. From the engineering perspective, I always want to see and know the science behind why a certain type of training works. Similarly the martial arts informs the need for economy in how we spend our time. There are thousand upon thousands of different exercises. Why spend time doing an exercise or technique that won’t work as well or as fast as another? This is why I’m successful. I’ve spent the time to investigate what works and why and it’s this information I wish to share with you.
Adam Shuty
