Originally from Goleta California, I went through the RKC in 2009 and it served to change my life.
Well before my RKC, I had begun lifting weights in my late teens as a skinny gamer nerd at 6'5" 165lbs. Even before that I was an overweight little kid who drank soda and ate chips on most days. I was never a competitive athlete - my idea of health was a bar in the corner of computer screen, strength was a number under a character portrait. When I began exercising I couldn't do a single pullup.
A number of years and 50+ lbs of muscle later I chose to teach what I love and become a trainer. I went through the RKC and I am in training for the RKC II and the Beast Tamer Challenge. You will find few people like me in the fitness world who have had such a dramatic, 180 degree change of lifestyle that can serve to benefit you. As a result of my experiences, I am empathetic, lighthearted and encouraging in my approach to getting every day people strong, safe, and functional.
I have always had an interest in the big picture in a way that most exercisers will overlook. Ordinary trainers will want to be your drill instructor, accumulate you as a client, and metaphorically give you a fish each day in the form of whatever foolish workout they feel like pitting your body against. That is a short term (and short-sighted) solution to changing body composition and will absolutely lead to stunted view of true fitness and safety. I am the type of man (and trainer) who, from day one of training with you, will be trying to teach you the principles behind everything I do. I hand you the fishing pole and teach you how to use it so that you remain empowered forever. I have no interest in treating you like I'm some kind of tough guy because I enjoy the hobby of exercising (in the scheme of things that I do for my own fitness and health). My chief interest is in your ability to keep doing what you learn and to have it improve your life permanently.
Workouts with me will not be mindless butt-kicking but training sessions that lead to greater improvements in technique, greater challenges in an overarching system of exercises, and greater challenges in strength or conditioning that wax and wane intelligently. I can write you a program for more intricate goals. Fatloss and muscle gain, while both practically inevitable along the way, can be emphasized while you become a more fit person. Beyond all of it there is virtually no end to the way you can keep progressing once you've learned how fitness really works. Why would my goal with your training be anything less? I want you training years from now whether it continues to be under me or not!
Educational Experience:
Santa Barbara City College: Associates Degree in Physical Education with Emphasis in Exercise Science
PE Internship: Co-designed the manual for Santa Barbara City College's weight training course
Study of literally countless training, health, and nutrition related books, articles, podcasts, interviews, and DVD's
History of Training Experience:
Started lifting weights consistently and studying about training in 2004
NSCA - CPT certified January 2008
Spring 2008 to Spring 2009 - Consistent Training under Senior RKC Doug Nepodal (http://www.classicironkettlebells.com/)
Victim: UCLA RKC, Summer 2008
Stretching and Bullet Proof Abs with Pavel, Winter 2008
Victim: San Jose State RKC, Spring 2009
My RKC: San Diego, August 2009 Team Leader Doctor Mark Cheng
Winter 2010 to present - Consistent Training under Master RKC Andrea Du Cane (http://www.kettlebellfitness.com/)
Assistent: Southampton England HKC, June 2010
Assistent: Saint Paul Minnesota HKC, June 2010
Other Comments
I have a varied background in martial arts, yoga, and some non-competitive sports.
Yes, I still play computer games. :)