Where I Find Inspiration

 The story of Linda is ongoing and inspiring! Years ago, she found me wanting to lose weight. We started training at a nearby park no shade and no restroom. If a restroom was needed, she and anyone else would drive up the hill to my house. Humble new beginnings for me, a guy who had just left a District Vice President position with the largest (non-franchise) gym in the United States.
Within a year Linda had lost 12 inches around her waist. But she wasn’t satisfied.
She wasn’t satisfied with just looking better, she wanted to feel better and perform better !
You see, once a goal is achieved, another must be set to not lose momentum. Linda and I began with simple goals like, just being able to run, being able to jump rope, to run longer, step up on something challenging, to run faster, to jump rope better, to jump higher and of course, to lose more weight and tighten up. We set our goals and achieved them one by one. Linda met all of those goals.
After several years of beating goals together, she set her sights on a monster goal. She wanted to free climb a 32-foot rope to the tippy top and ring the bell. She was sore every week, and the training never seemed easy. So, we had a good talk in which I explained that staying in shape is hard but, being out of shape is harder. You’re either going to hurt from neglect or from making improving. Another way to put it, “Losing weight is hard, but being fat is hard, so pick your hard.”
We took her fears and frustrations and turned them into goals. Linda and I decided to do that she was going to do learn to beat pull ups. We worked with a giant rubber band for weeks, then moved to a smaller band, weeks later we dropped to yet a smaller band. We worked on other ways to work the muscles involved in pull-ups (including exercises for hand strength).
We salute you Linda for being a persistent in your efforts and tough when you feel week.
Jim Johnson is a motivational speaker, owner/operator Ignition Fitness(IF), personal and group trainer as well as 2010 Heavyweight California MMA Champion. For help on your goals, contact Jim at 661-714-8149 or email: jimjohnsonfitness@gmail.com or www.ignitionfitnessgym.com. You can also follow IF on Facebook: Ignition Fitness and Instagram: ignitionfit, as well as subscribe to the youtube channel: openjim.