I was not always in great shape. Like so many people I competed in sports from the moment I was old enough to receive a participation medal. I was an active kid, but I never felt like I looked or performed like a "fit" kid. I can remember playing youth soccer and for the first time I realized that running was hard. Really hard. At that time, I decided I did not like running. I would do my best but inevitably my conditioning was not what it needed to be to meet the demands I was putting on my body even then. I remember I used to get a cramp on my right side, a "stitch" some call it, I just called it time to stop running. I felt embarrassed, I was a big kid, slightly overweight and somehow managed to always seem to end up on good teams where I was usually one of the biggest, and definitely among the slowest. My conditioning, or lack thereof became a point over which I missed a lot of opportunities in sports. It would become many years later that I would change my mind about the whole running thing. Today I can run for miles without needing to stop. I no longer get cramps, and I even dance while I am doing it. I would like to explain a little bit of what it took to get to the point where running became more than just a way to get in shape and hopefully help you discover your love of movement- and in particular running.
I hope that you love to move and run as much as I do because I want you to be the best version of yourself possible. Whether you are able to run a mile or simply raise your arm or wiggle your fingers doesn't matter. What matters to me in my fitness journey, and hopefully to you and yours is that you love to move, you move with intention, and you move because it makes you happy.
I would consider myself out of shape and overweight until I was in my mid to late 20's. When I made the decision to finally start taking my fitness seriously, I started studying fitness magazines and books like Men's Health, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Body Building, Muscle and Fitness, Muscular Development, Muscle Mag and anything I could find on body building. It was those readings from cover to cover as well as my lifelong involvement in many different sports that I developed a deep understanding for fitness. I would put what I read into practice and through hours of training discovered what worked for my body and also began incorporating H.I.I.T for my cardio. H.I.I.T short for High Intensity Interval Training is exceptional at reducing body fat without needing to spend hours and hours running on a treadmill. It's not easy, and I definitely would exercise caution for anyone wanting to attempt incorporating H.I.I.T. into their cardio routine to be certain their body is capable and prepared to exert maximum effort while running in short bursts for short distances. Definitely determine your level of fitness with yourself and possibly your doctor or trainer before you start using H.I.I.T. For me, at that time I still did not like distance running, and I wanted to drop body fat as quickly as possible so when I found a workout that was simple and didn't involve long distances, I gave it a try.
My first experience doing H.I.I.T. cardio training was as follows. You run ten 40-yard sprints and in between each sprint you walk back to the starting point, taking off at a full sprint immediately upon reaching the start. That was it. And for me it worked incredibly well. Along with a reduction in calories I was able to drop a lot of body fat without cannibalizing a ton of muscle mass while on a restrictive diet. I would run the sprints every other day and within a couple of months my body had really changed. I began to achieve the results I was looking for. H.I.I.T. and sprints are effective, and I still use H.I.I.T. principles in every single work out that I do. However, it was not H.I.I.T. cardio that I would say I fell in love with, and for several years when I needed to control my weight, I would do some sprints, drop the weight and go back to basically zero cardio.
When I was in my early 30's I had the opportunity to become a Wild Land Firefighter in the Mountains of North Carolina. I am from coastal North Carolina which is as flat as flat can be in that regard. When I went on my first hike as a firefighter, I quickly discovered that my bulk was not going to help me carry my gear, let alone do any productive work to save lives, forests, or property when I got there. It was then that I began integrating longer duration intervals for my cardio daily. The caveat with that being those intervals became my rest periods in between compound lifts to better mimic my work loads of cardiovascular exertion followed by periods of heavy lifting, chainsaw operating, digging, or more hiking. That would be the first time I had strayed from my straight set bodybuilding style of fitness, and I began to fall in love with the ability to find myself no longer becoming out of breath. I would continue to train this way even after stepping away from firefighting because I found that training using that method allowed me to achieve my desired results of being aesthetically pleasing (in my opinion) as well as functionally strong to perform my job whatever it was at the time. I found that for me by training in this way I would remain injury free for many years and continue to do so to this day. I will admit that I at present I could not tell you how much I bench (I don't flat bench press) or what any of my 1 Rep Max are because I don't train that way. I am aware that I cannot pick up or push as much as I used to, but I am much happier with my appearance and my fitness level today than when I was trying to be the biggest and strongest me possible. Today my goal is to be the best version of me, and for me the best version of me is a combination of strength, confidence, and consistency from lack of injury and I couldn't be happier with the results- none of those goals factor into 1 Rep Max training. I have nothing against power lifting, and it is great when you are trying to find motivation to push yourself harder in fitness. I can only say that for me I adopted more the mindset of "what is the most I can move 8-15 times after sprinting for 45 seconds to a minute". For me that became my 1 rep, it just has a lot of moving parts.
2025 Would mark the year I discovered that I really like to run- and to dance. While I cannot say I am great at either, I love to move. Whether I am on a treadmill or I am running outside I am just so happy to be able to do it. For a lot of reasons. The primary reason I fell in love with moving is because I know from my own experience with injury as well as having to care for a loved one who became permanently disabled requiring a lot of personal care from family and nurses for a prolonged period of time- they couldn't move. They couldn't get out there and run, they couldn't stand up when they wanted. I love to move because I had a family member who suffered a heart failure requiring massive surgery that I could not be there for the way I felt like I should have. I was not there to go on walks with that person and help them take care of themselves, to help them recover. So, when I run it is not out of guilt, but because I am inspired by the fact that they like so many other people cannot move the way they want anymore. For those reasons and so many more I cannot over state how much I love to run outside, to look foolish on a treadmill, and bounce up and down to the music that no one else can hear and surely makes me look like a fool. What is most important is that by falling in love with running, in the monotony became an outlet for my creativity. I have always loved every facet of music, from playing instruments to singing, but I lacked the confidence to dance. Through falling in love with running I began open up myself to the freedom to move how I felt.
Incorporating dance into my workouts just developed naturally. I would never say that I am a good dancer, nor am I free from being self conscious about how I look when I am doing it. What began as me doing some foot work drills to get warmed up I realized the similarities in what I was doing to what athletes do. When I started doing those drills to the music it developed into a dance. So much more than just running you begin to understand what the body wants to do, and when you put it to music it becomes fun. More than just walking, running, stepping on the stair climber, I found myself more easily letting go of my inhibitions about how I looked and adopted the mindset that what I am doing really works. I know what I am doing because I have spent years developing myself as a fitness enthusiast. I have the knowledge, the training, and the experience from a diverse background of sports and trainers. And by finally gaining that confidence in my movements I began to understand that what I have achieved and accomplished in terms of my fitness goals and fitness level is something worth sharing with others. That my accomplishments are commendable and that others may be inspired through my own journey and in that mindset came freedom, gratitude and appreciation for movement and fitness in general. When I say I love to move today I mean it. And I truly hope that no matter what fitness level you are, no matter what your reasons for wanting to move are you begin to find the peace and joy that comes from understanding that every single movement we make can be done so intentionally and with that intention can come enjoyment and purpose.
I am in no position to tell you how much to run, how long to run, when to run, or when not to. I can tell you all those things about me though, or more likely I can just get out there like I do every day and show you.
That is why I love running and I hope you find a reason to fall in love with moving too.