What’s a fit body without a fit mind?
The story..
Hailing from Killeen, Texas this version of my fitness impetus seemed to be in the middle school timeframe. Not my athletic leanings, I’ve been into sports as far back as my memory dates.
Driveway basketball, open lot baseball, open lot football (American). Hours upon hours, day after day. Tackle football as if we had on pads, but we certainly did not have on pads.
Hydrating at the nearest water hose. It was like the Olympics out there, some of y’all remember those days. No cell phone, just out in the world.
Middle school is where what would be considered a sort of bodybuilding (building the body) carbon dates; 6th/7th grade. I wanted clear-cut, defined abdominal muscles.
Needed that six pack, needed it badly. Yearned for it even:
Every kind of crunch my brain could think of
Sit ups
Flutter kicks
Static leg holds
Leg lifts
Various ab gizmos you’d see in infomercials
I saved every dollar of my babysitting/quarter gambling money (we’d play quarters on the bus ride to school).
Funny how dedicated to these core-centric maneuvers I was without the slightest inclination it takes more than training for visible abs. The amount of extra sugar in my Kool-Aid was very much a barrier and my sweet tooth was very much entertained..
Daily.
Still an early moment of abdominal pride I’ll mention was in organized tackle football practice.
My teammates and I were doing what we called “six inches” where you lay on your back with erected legs, six inches above where the fire ants dwell..
Fire ants are relevant here, in that I remember one biting me on the pinky while I laid there motionless because I refused to let “coach” catch me being “soft” 😆.
Agonizing is an accurate description of the exercise though.. probably the bite too.
But while we suffered, coach would soulfully strut row-by-row releasing that pig-skinned oblong object above an unsuspecting player's abdomen.
He enjoyed the emphatic “umph” one would belt out upon impact.
What he didn’t know about me was I’d been working on my core, so this Texan was prepared. It replays in my mental Blu-ray.. one blazing summer. Coach approached my row releasing the Wilson directly above my waistline.
My time to shine.
Me On The Couch Fighting For A Six Pack While My Little Brother Steals The Remote
Story continued..
The ball bounced back at up. Recoiled like my less than 2 year old on the trampoline in the backyard. Coach said, "Young (my last name) is that a rib protector?"
Me: "Aaall abs coach, aaaall abs.”
The team laughed.
Felt like a made man.
Thinking back this discreetly started my love for bodybuilding (along with Dragon Ball), but it was a distant third to football and basketball. Soon I’d take all of that drive to the court after moving to Germany, there was no middle school football team.
Up until freshman year I worked and gained skill, did well all through middle school even scoring 70 points once for my German u-16 basketball squad at 13.
For 9th grade I was back in Killeen, Texas and anxious to get the hoops going, but..
Roadblock.
Had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. My diagnosis came after many standing blackouts during preseason practice, eventually I had to have something done about it. I underwent a moderate-minor heart procedure that forced me to miss my entire freshman season.
The day before high school graduation versus late 2023
My Mentality Was Beneath My Skill
In hindsight even with the surgery setback high school basketball would’ve went a bit differently, if I didn’t let fear get in the way. If I had the right mentality.
Objectively speaking, my skillset was where it needed to be for endless opportunity. I practiced..
Every. Single. Day.
Solo before school, team practice during school, team practice after school, and solo after team practice. Basketball was my life. 100 shots, I had to make 100 shots.
I didn’t speak up though. Quiet as a church mouse, just hoped my moment would fall out of the sky.
You have to go take your opportunity. You can’t sit back with crossed fingers wishing they’d recognize you. Wishing they’d give you the shot.
This is a “go take it” world.
Nevertheless, as high school came to an end I managed to showcase my way onto the radar of a college basketball recruiter. I performed at an invitational tryout and was selected to play junior college basketball and received a small scholarship despite my lack of high school hoops film.
College is where fitness was kicked up another level in the form of muscular training. I knew a bit more than most of my friends in high school about strengthening the body, so I would bring them along for workouts.
Dwight Howard, Adrian Peterson, and Derek Fisher had me trying to figure out how to build bigger shoulders.
But in college my athletic literacy amassed and I conducted legit training sessions with my new teammates.
However..
The college hoops career was short-lived.
My freshman year I worked my way from a nobody, to a person pegged to be the starting shooting guard going into my sophomore year. Earned a full-ride scholarship this time.
Yet..
Before the start of sophomore season I suffered a season ending wrist injury. To this day I don’t have feeling in the center of my palm on the right hand.
While recovering I learned I’d soon be a father and decided to enlist in the Army. Had responsibilities now.
Here I honed my growing discipline while picking up the jewels military enlistment tends to pass out, gained even more fitness know-how, trained fellow soldiers with the aim of improving their fitness training scores, orchestrated various physical training programs for my departments, and heightened all seriousness about weightlifting.
It was all coming together.
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Basic training graduation
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My first born
What Muscle And Mentality Did for ME
Giving up my professional basketball dreams hurt, but I realized my love for the game was more than just the game itself. It’s how it made me feel. Sort of a sanctuary. The ebbs and flows of life settled each time it was me a ball and a net.
Lifting weights gave and still gives me that feeling.
Yes it leads to strength.
Yes it leads to muscle.
But it also leads to solace.
Control.
Peace of mind.
Clarity.
The mentality I mentioned I lacked when it came to high school hoops? I gained that mentality while in the military. While I became serious about training.
The “if I don’t see a way I’ll make a way” mindset.
I credit the soulful peace that allowed me to explore the flaws in my mind and develop the necessary tools to make mental upgrades.. to the gym.
Now back to the story.
So towards the end of my Army career I earned my first official fitness certification, I was off to the races shortly afterward.
At the end of enlistment, I returned to my home state of Texas, set up "shop" in San Antonio, and started on as a fitness trainer with Golds Gym.
There I stacked certifications. Expanding my fitness foundation was two-pronged: personal and professional.
Personally I wanted more muscle. Professionally I had/have to be as well-versed as possible for my clients. The work ethic that had me forcing myself to make 100 shots per day in high school didn’t die, it was transferred.
I quickly reached Golds’ highest coaching level earning the title of: Expert Fitness Trainer.
Muscle ANd Mentality Explained
Smash cut..
After years with Golds I went off on my own, got married, added some more muscle, added some more kids, and started EugeneTheFit.com (not in that order).
Things didn’t progress quickly. One day I’ll type Encyclopedias on the walls I ran into.
Kind of like Tom from Tom and Jerry stepping on back to back rakes. The difference is mine felt like a rake museum 😆.
But it’s part of the game.
Resiliency was and will always be required, a certain sort of belief and dedication.
A mentality right?
Muscle And Mentality are two parallel peas in a pod.
1. You lift weights. The act causes micro-tears in the fibers of targeted muscles.
If you provide adequate recovery time and nutrients?
You’ll turn out stronger and have more muscle to handle a similar force if ever reencountered.
2. You experience a hard time. You go through the stages of pain or grief or sadness or anger or anxiety or stress or regret or insecurity or some combination of the list..
Your recovery route for the mind is also conditional.
Mind recovery is reflection.
If you take what you gather upon reflection and apply it in future events.. you grow.
So as my personal Muscle And Mentality builds, my ability to assist others on the same course continues to build.
I’m intrigued by all aspects of fitness: real world strength, weight room strength, stamina, coordination, speed, agility, balance, sports, health, maintaining a relatively low body fat percentage, and of course the all-precious muscle tissue.
Yes muscle.
Did I mention muscle 😆?
Yet I’d be incomplete in my synopsis if I didn’t overtly state the obvious.. my passion for fitness of the mind runs as deep, if not deeper than my passion for adding new muscle to old muscle.
V.I.P. Coaching
The Muscle And Mentality Journal
The 56 Days To Muscle eBooks
Me endlessly running my mouth on social media
However I can spread the word, I’m grateful for the opportunity.
Everyone has their own daily agenda and although inserting Muscle And Mentality will improve your ability to execute that agenda, our most valuable resource is limited - time is of the essence.
Which is why I tend to say “without sacrificing your schedule”. We all don’t have time to spend hours and hours in the gym. Not even me. I’ve dedicated my life to this and don’t have that kind of time.
I have a wife, 3 kids (15, 4, and 1 1/2 years old), and a business to run. Time is precious.
But you don’t have to dedicate your life to wellness in order to experience wellness. You can do it all.
With all of that said if you’re reading this I thank you because you’re part of the contribution, whether you’re aware or not.
Your absorption of these words helps spread the message even if you hold that message inside.
You may stumble, you may fall, but the only way you’ll ever fail is if you fail to continue on.
Set A standard.
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Wedding Day
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The Three Amigos
