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​​​MY STORY....

My Story.....

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I suppose the path to my fitness career really began when I was only 4 years old, because ultimately, starting sports is what brought me into the field.  But anyway, my Dad bought me this little rinky-dink orange and white basketball hoop.  My vivid memory of this hoop is actually one of my earliest childhood memories.  Once it was cemented in the ground, I could not quit practicing.  My parents would yell at me for Dinner, but I paid no mind; I just kept on practicing.  Rain, snow, or hail, it just didn't matter; I was in love with this beautiful game.

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Years later, that devotion to the sport and several others I played turned into a great reward.  My best friends and I developed an unbreakable bond, amazing team chemistry, along with amazing coaches, and such a supportive community, enabling us to dominate the entire sports scene all throughout my youth and teenage years.  As you can imagine, I was riding high on the glory and success I experienced in those years, which was amazing and formative, but also somewhat misleading.  I'd eventually find out how ignorant I was of how physically unprepared I was for what was to come.

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The next step in my journey was going to be college.  Without sounding pretentious or arrogant, I had been allowed to play any of 3 sports in college.  Looking back, I chose basketball, but if I could do it again, I'd probably play football because there is nothing like it, and I'm a big fan of perpetual adrenaline rushes, come to find out.

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Not quite ready to leave home, I took the leap forward and committed to play basketball at a small school in the Bay Area called Dominican University.  To keep a long story short, when I arrived, I was in for quite the culture shock.  Not that being away from home, or living in a new city, was all that overwhelming for me at the time, but rather the intensity, tempo, and nature of how college basketball was played was definitely a surprise.  To be frank, I went from being elite and dominant in high school for years to being very mediocre in college.  I had some great moments, followed by several stints of failure.  And I bring this up because it helped me become more aware of where I was headed, and simultaneously enlightened me towards a new lifelong passion.

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I immediately recognized the obvious discrepancy in competition levels regarding athletic ability.  Guys were much bigger, faster, and stronger, and at times I discouragingly couldn't keep up.  The silver lining here is that, as this was happening, we had a team trainer tending to our physical care and needs.  Suffice it to say, I became very curious and fascinated by his job role, and it planted a seed in me. 

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Fast forward months later, and I eventually left Dominican and returned to Nevada, where I attended school at UNR for two years.  During my time spent there, I enrolled in the curriculum most closely associated with fitness and performance training, acquired some credits, and ultimately dropped out and finished my field-related degree online years later. 

Because I was terrible at actually training people, not having served an internship or started working with clients yet, I completed my first certification through the ISSA, while I worked at a local engineering lab to cover the bills.  What's ironic is that I'd eventually come full circle and become a continuing educator through the ISSA years down the road and work side by side with the same individual who brought me into the profession, Dr. Fred Hatfield, and Dr. Sal Arria.  Two of the best people I've ever met in the business to this day.

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While I was still working for the engineering company, I got my first job at a 24-hour fitness in Reno.  Although I'm not a fan of corporate models when it comes to fitness, I learned that I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity I had working there for a short stint to help open the door for me and establish some experience in the field. 

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From there, I bounced around a couple of local, privately owned gyms until I found what would be my home at The South Reno Athletic Club.  Over the course of the next 15 years, I went from having 2 clients to over 200 at one point, with a supporting team of 5 trainers who all utilized my evidence-based training system.  I'll just say we helped change the lives of hundreds of people and helped them achieve their goals.  Check out the old facility below.

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But to say that getting to that point of success was easy, couldn't be further from the truth.  I've literally dedicated my life to learning and mastering athletic and fitness training as best as I possibly can and will continue to do so until I leave this world.  During that period, I logged in over 60,000 hours and spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on training and nutrition products and continuing education.  Not to mention countless hours studying and reflecting on material and the outcomes of all those sessions.  It was the best investment I ever made, and it's still paying dividends today, because true and accurate knowledge is power.

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Unfortunately, our athletic training center was no longer supported by management and the owners financially, and I made a pretty seamless and natural transition to online training since I had written various books and articles for years and built a small following.  Since then, I began my next training journey with a former pro fighter of mine, now friend and partner.

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If you've read this far, I sincerely thank you, and I hope that this fitness education platform helps you in some way.  I sincerely wish you the absolute best in all your fitness endeavors.

 

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All the best,

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Travis