Ever since I can remember – movement, sports and fitness had a big role in my life!
When I turned towards the fitness scene I guess I can call myself lucky that this was at a time when „functional training“ just arrived in european gyms and in that way provided me an opportunity to workout without actually jacking up and being all about them „gainz“…
Who knows what would have happened if my change of profession would have been 20 years earlier… me ending up running after more gainz in the gym on a daily base, being hardly able to move in more then one direction at a time and in pain half the time because my joints can´t handle it… please not!
Even though this might sound like a general statement contra a classic gym set up and classic exercise/fitness regim, its not. I just found what works and feels best for me (which is different for everyone), and in my case moving around with a little portion of „classic sets“ and some iron has the biggest „time investemt to feel good ratio“. But again, just like nutrition, or your sleeping cycles, every each individual ticks differently, and I believe that the true quality in a good coach lies in finding out what suits each client best.
Having found tools such as the TRX Suspension Trainer, and programs such as Animal Flow has opened so many doors to a variety of movement apporoaches and opportunities to workout in a sustainable and creative way, I couldnt have asked for more! I am truely thankful for the creative minds behind the modalities and programs that drive me and allow me to feel the way I feel these days!
I got 38 years under my belt with two and a half decades of thrashing my body during my time as a skateboarder.
But still I am feeling physicaly better right now then I have ever before – which I attribute to the versatility of training and movement programs I have learned to love over the last years.
Here are two examples of what drives me these days in terms of fitness and movement. This first clip is just me moving around within movement patterns of the Animal Flow program without a plan in mind, this was completely freestyle while going along to the feeling of the song:
This second clip is myself and Mike Fitch who just recently spent a few days in Amsterdam with me after teaching an Animal Flow Level 2 workshop at my gym MT Fitness. We were both kind of just doing our own thing and started of with some hand balancing practice – later then I got stuck in trying one specific combo which I had tried few times before but never nailed it:
This scene with Mike very much reminded me of being in the US (Encinitas) back in 1998 for my first Skateboarding trip to the famous San Diego area, so here is a little throwback.
Up until that trip I was already very dedicated to skate vert and become as good as possible. But it was that trip, when I surrounded myself with many of my childhood skateboard-heros going to the same ramps as they were on a daily base, that really changed the way I looked at skateboarding back then and the amount of effort I was able and wanted to put into something I wanted to achieve! It were scenes like Tony Hawk trying the 900 over and over again, same with Tas Pappas, Danny Way and Colin McCay doing their thing, Matthias Ringström being the absolut tech wizzard, Bucky Lasek, Rune Glifberg my absolut style hero, Bob Burnquist … Seeing them on a daliy base, pushing a sport, pushing beyond their limits, these were scenes that inspired me and activated my drive to this day to achieve whatever I set my mind to. And if you dont get to achieve the actual goal, well then there were at least 10 things you learned along the way which were a useful extension of my skill repertoire.
This very much translates into life in general and you will always gain from going after your goals in some way. So either way, you reach your goal or not, its a winning scenario.
So for me to workout / train / move with Mike in this case, its inspiring and certainly an extra motivation to go after something – thanx Mike and I hope to have you back in Amsterdam soon!