In the year 2000, I was awarded a full scholarship to play inside linebacker at Texas A&M University. My first season with the Aggies was filled with nothing but injuries and disappointments, but my dedication to the game never went away. I kept on saying to myself, “I will make it if I keep pushing through.” My college football career tragically ended when I broke my lower back while training for the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

The pain was beyond dreadful. I could not walk for a few days; the slightest movement of my legs would cause cramps so bad that I would scream for hours. I was still trying to go to school at the same time as well, and that did not make it any easier. The weeks passed on and it was time for a decision to be made – either rehab myself back to health and try to live a normal life away from football, or continue playing and take the risk of having multiple back surgeries and not being able to live a full active life. The decision did not come easy for me or my family. I had dreamed of going to the NFL ever since I was in middle school. But I decided to hang up my pads and not take the chance of making myself miserable physically.

Over the next few months, I was told by more than a few doctors that fitness training was going to be very difficult for me. Many of them claimed that my hardcore training days were over. All through my years of playing football, preparing my body into a weapon through weight training and speed, agility, and quickness training was more exciting to me than actually playing the game.

At the same time, I was going through severe depression. I was trying so hard to stay positive so that my family and friends would not worry about me, but inside I was dying. It was like part of me was gone. Rehabilitation was not assigned to me; it was basically me just waiting it out until I was well again.

One morning I woke up and suddenly realized that my life was not over, it was actually just beginning. Training for football was more exciting to me anyway than actually playing, so why was I feeling sorry for myself? I got out of bed, put on my old training clothes, drove to the Aggie Athletic Weight Room Facility, Netum Steed Laboratory, and began training once again in front of the football team for inspiration. It began very simply with cardio training and lots of flexibility work; I also began training on the physioballs for core strength and stability. This style of training went on for about six months. My weight dropped from a whopping 235 pounds of solid muscle to about 200. I was getting a little help from the athletic trainers at Texas A&M, and as soon as they felt like I could start weight training again, my success story began.

I began bodybuilding in Netum Steed. My workouts started off very simple and started getting more and more intense the more educated I got. Strength coaches Mike Clark, now with the Seattle Seahawks, Allen Kinley, Raychelle Ellsworth, and many others took me under their wings and taught me how to weight train. My workouts were getting so intense that many of the athletes for Texas A&M were starting to ask me how to train and what kind of supplements to take. Five days a week, I weight trained twice a day and did cardio for thirty minutes right as I finished my second workout so I could get as ripped as possible. My workouts and my intensity was getting famous all over the city of College Station. I went from 200 pounds to 250 pounds and 6% body fat within a year. People always ask me how I was doing this, and I always say the same thing, “Proper nutrition, lots of rest, consistency, and make the workouts fun and exciting. Never do the same thing twice.” For a guy who was probably never going to train hard ever again, my numbers spoke for themselves during this time:

Bench Press – 450 Pounds
Power Clean – 400 Pounds
Deadlift – 515 Pounds (instead of squats for medical reasons)
Bent Over Barbell Rows – went from sets of 5 with 225 pounds to sets of 10 with 405 pounds
Body Weight – 250 Pounds
Body Fat – 6%

Life for me was getting better and better. It was during this time of my life that I decided to dedicate my life to becoming a strength and conditioning coach.

As time went on, my training changed every six months from bodybuilding to athletic style workouts. My senior year of college, I decided to put my certifications to good use and get some experience as a personal trainer. I was hired at our Student REC Center and began learning how to train both male and female clients one-on-one. Plus, I wanted to be challenged on making different workouts for people who had different goals.

I graduated from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Sport Management. My career with the Aggies started off with a lot of disappointment but turned into the best time of my life. I made a ton of great friends, found out how strong I was not only physically but mentally as well, found out what I wanted to dedicate my life to, and also found my future wife. Finding Erin Chambers was the luckiest thing that happened while I was in college. She is also an unbelievable group fitness instructor for Les Mills and she inspires me everyday to continue living the life I live.

Since I graduated, I became the director at Premier Fitness in Canton, TX, where I was also a very successful personal trainer. Then, Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals & Clinics, based out of Tyler, TX, and SportsCARE USA partnered together to develop a pilot program for strength and conditioning. We honestly had no idea how this program was going to work, but we took a big chance and put it into production. I am currently the director of SportsCARE USA Strength and Conditioning in Tyler, TX. We have worked with the premier high school football coaches in East Texas to help develop the best strength and conditioning programs and have become very successful.

The International Sports Science Association was ground zero for getting me started in my career, and I plan on continuing my education through them. I thank them everyday.