How this all began…

During my early teenage years, I noticed that other boys my age were beginning to grow muscle while my thin frame remained the same. As I entered sophomore year of high school, I was noticeably underdeveloped in muscle growth and I was soon diagnosed with scoliosis. I wore a back brace 16 hours every day but I chose to rise above this adversity and play basketball, while my peers were unaware of the brace under jersey and the extreme discomfort. 

Flashforward to my senior year, I was rushed to the ER after a basketball game due to shortness of breath, dizziness and tunnel vision. After a few months of similar episodes, I was sent to Boston Children’s Hospital for a cardiac ablation to resolve what was assumed to be Atrial Flutter. Unfortunately, after the surgery, the doctors determined that I had Atrial Fibrillation. Despite this additional diagnosis, I finished my senior year strong, and attended Springfield College in the fall of 2010.

I remained active in college but by sophomore year, I still only weighed 135lbs. With help from a friend who was an avid weightlifter with a muscular physique, I learned the fundamentals of working out, promoting muscle and strength. I was hooked and my body finally began to grow, graduating college at 167lbs! While appearance was a motivational factor when I began, fitness became so much more. 

I married my wife Julie in June 2018 and life would throw another curveball. I pulled a muscle I had routinely remedied in the past but this time, I wasn’t recovering. My instincts suggested there was an underlying issue. After various tests and many different doctors, I was diagnosed with Myotonic Dystrophy (DM1). With all the adversity I had already faced and working so hard to build my body, the reality of living with a muscular disease was devastating. Neurologists, however, credit my healthy lifestyle and fitness regimen for my muscle mass and mild symptoms. 

My passion for fitness, coupled with muscular dystrophy, inspired me to motivate and educate others living with their own challenges through YouTube. As a personal trainer, a large number of my clients have their own physical struggles, and together, we grow in strength!

Fitness saved my life. I will always do whatever it takes to keep moving forward and to do the best I can with the life⁠—and body⁠—I’ve been given.