I’m Mike G, a skilled certified personal trainer and sports performance coach in San Diego, California. With over 12 years of experience, I have gained vast knowledge working with a wide-ranging variety of clientele. I am also a father to a very energetic 4-year-old daughter, a husband, and an entrepreneur. I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York and grew up participating in sports my whole life. From baseball, basketball, handball, and football I learned about the importance of teamsmanship but also developed a competitive nature. However, in the community where I grew up, not many were educated about the importance of health and nutrition. A major challenge I faced growing up was a fluctuation of losing and gaining weight. From my early to mid 20’s I became very overweight and developed high blood pressure. After I learned of the diagnoses from my doctor, I became stressed and experienced low self-esteem. I remember looking in the mirror and talking down on myself. From the outside looking in I presented myself to others as a happy & positive guy. But inside, I was the total opposite. This kind of negative self-talk would bring anyone down since as a society, we are typically our own worst critics. One day I realized if I were to continue down this path it would lead me to complete mental and physical self-destruction. This is the moment I decided to make a change and I joined a gym. I admit that at first it was a very intimidating place. I would look around at the people who were in such good shape an say to myself “damn I am never going to get there.” But a voice in my head told me “If you don’t do anything about changing your ways then nothing is going to happen and that’s guaranteed!”. Consequently, I changed my attitude, pushed through, and made working out a regular routine. After a few years I was in a better place mentally, physically, and emotionally. I decided to turn my passion into a career. I left the job I had, collected unemployment, and invested my money into the American Academy of Personal Training. This turned out to be one of the best investments that I made in my life. I spent the summer of 2010 learning the curriculum to be a qualified personal trainer. After graduating I immediately landed a job at one of the busiest Equinox Fitness Clubs in midtown Manhattan. Equinox is considered one of the best gyms not just in New York City but across the country with its uber luxury and unrivaled fitness culture. For me, it was like the Harvard of the health & fitness industry, and I learned significantly about the business while working there. They provided an on-boarding program called the Equinox Fitness Institute which tested your knowledge. For a newbie like me, it was challenging but helped me tremendously on how to be a successful personal trainer to the Equinox gold standard. During my time there, I worked my way up to from a Tier 1 to a Tier 3, which at the time was considered the highest level of personal trainer at Equinox. It was there that I discovered a deep passion for the art of boxing, and strength & conditioning. I developed my skillset and training to a much higher level of discipline. I also met so many talented trainers, amazing clients, and the future love of my life Benicia. From there I was scouted by New York Sports Club and spent some time there before relocating to San Diego. |
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