Why I Do What I Do

Why I Do What I Do

by Doug Jackson, M.Ed., CSCS

(Quick note 3/28/06: I am now accepting personal training clients in Weston, Florida. Limited spots available. Fill out the online consultation request to apply.)

4/1/04

Today, I'm going to share my "story" with you. I'm going to let you in on what fuels me. I debated whether this would be appropriate content to share with newsletter readers but was inclined to release it after discussing the topic with Debbie Hickey, a fellow fitness professional.

According to Debbie, "Consumers usually perceive fitness professionals as being 'born' with the body, desire, willpower, whatever they perceive, which makes them successful in that field. And for some that's true...it’s been a lifelong habit. For others, like yourself, it's taken some life-altering experience, the right set of circumstances or influence from mentors...or a combination of these factors…that lead them to this profession."

Well, I agreed with Debbie. So here’s my story... I guess I'd start off saying that I wasn't always "Mr. Fit". I was in the hospital and close to death several times during my first year of life. I was born premature and had many of the problems that occur with that. Luckily, I don't remember any of it- my parents weren't so fortunate! When I was growing up, I always appreciated fitness-but was never quite the athletic type. Thus, my heart was in it, but that was about all.

When I was young, my family lived next to a park in West Virginia. I remember getting up at 6:00 AM or so on the weekends and picking one of the Rocky movies to watch - back then it was usually Rocky III. I'd then go out to the park and run and do pushups, etc. At some point, the other kids began showing more athletic ability than I did and I lost confidence in my physical abilities. As my confidence in sports went down, my exercise decreased as well.

Through my middle school years in Columbus, I was very unfit. I was skinny, weak, and still managed to eat enough junk food to have a protruding belly. My best friend, Ryan, started wrestling in seventh grade. Deep down I wished I was doing the same.

For whatever the reason, when I started high school, I knew I needed a change. I decided to wrestle for one of the toughest wrestling high schools in the state. I went home and told my parents of the decision and they thought I was nuts (I've learned that people thinking I'm nuts usually means on I'm the right track). I guess the lack of success I had felt had spurred me to take action and join this sport that I was not prepared for.

During preparation for wrestling season my freshman year, I began strength training. It wasn't love at first site, but I was intrigued. During my first year of strength training, I tried to get serious with it but had not developed a champion's mindset. My coach, Mark Marinelli, who had been a collegiate All-American wrestler at OSU one time referred to me as "Missing-in-Action Jackson". During my second year of strength training, I got hooked after being supported by some peers that I respected. I finally started seeing results. I started getting stronger and my muscles became enlarged. My wrestling performance, while not great, was much improved. It was also during this second year that I developed a lower-back problem through improper weight lifting that I still deal with today. In exercise, like many parts of life, ambition and motivation without knowledge is dangerous.

Due to my lower-back injury, I decided to stop wrestling. However, the same injury started to increase my interest in scientific exercise programs that would help me avoid future injuries. This injury is part of what initially made me interested in an exercise career where I could help others maximize their own exercise progress and minimize the chances of injury.

During my junior and senior years of high school, I was quite obsessed with my strength training program. My friends still tease me about how I would sit in class and write out exercise programs instead of paying attention to the teacher (no wonder my grades weren't the greatest!). During that time period, when my family would sit down to dinner, my parents still remind me that the only thing I ever talked about was how my workouts had been going. No wonder I didn’t get that many dates back then.

I started getting into the sport of powerlifting. During my senior year, I had won my weight class in a local powerlifting meet that I had trained all year for. For many, this may have been a small accomplishment, but for me it was a pinnacle experience. It made me realize that I could accomplish almost anything if I set my mind to it.

By the time I graduated from high school, I was a changed person, physically and mentally, from when I entered. Who I had turned into by my senior year is predominantly the traits that I am known for today (although hopefully I’m a little more balanced now). During this transition period, I went from someone who was struggling to find himself to having that "winners" mindset that charaterizes all winners in life. Much of this transition occured after reading self-help books, most notably, "On Becoming World Class", an out of print book by powerlifting champion, Judd Biasiotto, PhD.

Another fueling experience was a letter that my dad wrote to me in which he stated that he believed that God had special things in store for me- that I would have never survived when I was little unless that were the case. I don't know if he wrote that just to motivate me or if he really meant it, but I took it to heart.

My experiences during those several pivotal years helped me change my perspective on life and found me becoming very focused on a mission to help people through the benefits of exercise. If physical fitness empowered me, I knew it could do the same for others.Thus, the name of my newsletter-Fitness Empowerment.

I think that concludes that most interesting parts of my story. Since then I've earned a bachelors degree as an exercise specialist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, attended several regional and national fitness conferences, and met many great fitness professionals who also have similar missions in life.

During my junior year at the university, I proposed a re-vamped personal training program to my mentor at the time, BGSU Fitness Director, Cathy Swick. She backed the idea and supported me during its start up. The program exceeded expectations and I was invited back to develop the program on a masters degree assistantship.

During this period, the work of one of the great fitness pros, Phil Kaplan (www.philkaplan.com), caught my attention. His written work, industry leadership, personal support and belief in me have fueled many of my successes over the last several years. More recently, Kelli Calabrese (www.kellicalabrese.com) and several other industry leaders have continued to provide mentorship and friendship to which I am indebted.

I left the university position last summer to begin my own personal training company. Right now, I'm currently working hard on my last four weeks in my masters degree program exercise psychology, am busy working with my personal training clients, excited for the release of The Power of Champions, and looking forward to a rewarding and meaningful future.

Thanks to all of you who have been loyal readers to my newsletter and those of you who have decided to invest in the services I provide. I truly enjoy the people of Bowling Green and plan to continue being here for years to come. Hopefully, for those of you who were interested, this commentary sheds some light on why I do what I do.

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