Author: Charlie Guthrie (Page 1 of 5)

My dad took me to Yankees Stadium all the time growing up and we always sat field level on the third base side. He always made sure I was there early for batting practice and it’s something I still do today.

It was always a show for me watching these guys effortlessly hit home runs and it looked automatic to them. I felt like they could do it on command. My dad would always buy me a ball at the team store and I would go down to the first row around 6:30 to get some autographs. I didn’t care who the player was, I just wanted the autograph. My autographs range from David Ortiz (when he was on the Twins in 1998) to the Orioles bullpen catcher. He even told me he was just the bullpen catcher and I said I didn’t care.

What always amazed me was how big these guys were. I felt like they towered over me and they all had broad shoulders and huge forearms. There would be guys off to the side throwing and I couldn’t believe how loud the pop of the glove was even when they weren’t throwing hard. I’m not even talking about the sluggers. I remember seeing Quinton McCracken of the Devil Rays and Tim Raines of the Yankees and how big they were. Of course, Raines had a great career and is a Hall of Famer, but is known more for stealing bases than hitting 30 homers.

This was the 90s and it was all about the home run. All of the Yankees biggest competition during the time came from teams with powerful lineups with the Mariners, Indians, Rangers, Red Sox and Orioles. Oh, and by the way, in the National League you had Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa battling for the home run record in 1998.

There were always a couple of guys with 50-plus homers and I remembered they’d always put the chase for 61 in the paper with the guys totals and how many homers they were projected to hit. As a huge Tino Martinez fan, I followed 1997 closely because it was the year he hit a career-high 44 homers and won the Home Run Derby.

Seeing all of these big ball players put it into my head that I needed to be big and strong if I was going to play baseball. It’s funny looking back because I was watching baseball during the height of the Steroid Era, but that news didn’t come out until years later.

At the time, I just wanted to figure out a way to put on some muscle.

THE REALIZATION I NEED TO TRAIN

I have a late birthday, so I was always the youngest player on my team. I was also one of the smallest, if not the smallest. This meant I played little league until seventh grade and had one year on the 60-90 field at Verrazano Babe Ruth before jumping into high school ball.

Most kids got to play two years on the big field before high school. Things were different back then. There was no reclassification and there was no transition year on a 50-70 field to make the jump more manageable.

I was essentially a slap hitter in little league. I never hit a home run and only hit two balls in my whole career off of the fence. I can only confirm the second one. On the first one, I put my head down and ran right after hitting it and my dad told me it hit the fence. I just know it went to left-center.

With that in mind, you can imagine the jump to the regulation field was huge. Pitching wasn’t too bad, but the infield looked enormous went I stepped up to the plate. A line drive single was the best you were getting out of me. Doubles were unheard of unless I hit it in the right spot.

I played outfield my whole life, but, since I was a lefty, I also decided to try out for first base my freshman year just to give myself better odds of making the team. I didn’t even have a first baseman’s glove. I didn’t know they existed until the coach told me.

I wound up having to buy a first base mitt because that’s the position I made the team as. During infield/outfield, they always had us make the throw to third base and it felt like such a far throw. I’d also have to take a couple of steps before making the throw. I hoped I’d never have to make that throw in a game.

It was a big adjustment physically and mentally. I really wasn’t ready for that level yet and it really made me think about training. I had to do something to get stronger because the JV and Varsity players just looked so much bigger than me. I couldn’t believe they were only a couple of years older.

DON’T TRY THIS ON YOUR OWN

I knew I had to do something to get stronger, but I didn’t know what. I remembered that a few of my friends in seventh and eighth grade had weight sets in their bedroom and they were pretty strong, so I figured the same thing would work for me.

I didn’t know better and neither did my mom. I told her I need a weight set and she took me to Sports Authority over the summer to pick one up. I believe it was a Joe Weider weight set. It came with a barbell, dumbbell handles, weight plates from 2.5 pounds to 25 pounds, an adjustable bench with a leg extension/leg curl attachment and a barbell stand. To keep the weights on it came with a red clip that had a screw you had to tighten and adjust — it was a real pain.

I did a couple of workouts with the new equipment, but wasn’t enjoying it much. I didn’t know what I was doing and it was aggravating loading and unloading the plates because of the red clips. I decided I needed to get a workout plan.

I only used the internet for fantasy sports, checking scored and chatting with friends. I never thought to find any programs on there. I decided the best thing to do was go to CVS and get a workout magazine that had an athlete on the cover. I got one with wide receiver David Boston on the cover. For those that don’t know, he was an absolute monster that was built like a Madden create-a-player.

In the magazine there was a chest workout from a pro body builder in there. The guy was huge in all pictures so I figured I should try it. This is the equivalent of the parents that tell me their untrained 10-year old needs the speed and agility workout they saw a pro do on Instagram.

I decided to do this workout the day before I had to pitch in a Babe Ruth playoff game. I wound up doing I believe 3-to-5 sets of 10-to-12 reps of barbell bench press, barbell incline bench press, dumbbell incline bench and dumbbell flat bench. Obviously, I wasn’t using a lot of weight, but that’s a lot of reps for someone who is trained, let alone a sophomore with zero experience.

This led to me waking up the next day with the worst soreness I’ve ever experience in my life. My shoulders were drawn in and I could not move them without being in agonizing pain. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to pitch that day. I couldn’t move my arms.

This was also before lacrosse balls and foam rollers became known, so I had no idea how to relieve this pain.

I lucked out, though.

The sunny skies turned dark and gray around 3 o’clock and the rain and thunder came with it. I was never so thankful for a rain out.

It wound up being the day that would change my baseball career.

My mom said no more home workouts for me. She said I’ll have to find you a trainer because you don’t know what the hell you are doing, and I don’t know how else to help you.

Father time is undefeated, but I’d like to take him into overtime.

I bring this up because my birthday is around the corner.

Personally, I never cared much about my birthday. I always viewed it as just another day and never got upset if anyone forgot it. Honestly, social media is the only way I remember them.

But, I need to get this content train rolling, so let’s start things off by telling you what I do think about on my birthday.

I haven’t gotten into many personal stories online, but I figured if I got into more detail about why I train it would help paint a clearer picture of why I do what I do.

On November 10, I’ll be 39. My age is my age, but I never really thought of myself as getting that much older. If I get too ahead myself, I do have the kids to put in my place by pointing out my gray hairs and telling me I reached “Unc” status.

I can’t deny my age, but I’ve always believed age is just a number and a mindset. If you want to be old — and I’m around many that love to say it — then you’ll be old. You can think whatever you want, I don’t really care.

For me, why I train boils down to two things: I want to keep playing ball and it helps me be a better coach.

I’m not going to lie to you, out of those two things, playing ball is number one. Even when people tell me I’m too old to do it. It’s annoying to hear, but I always remember that you usually hear those things from people that don’t have similar interests or goals as you.

I’ve played ball my whole life. It’s always been my outlet. It’s what I now do for fun. I grew up with baseball and then transitioned into softball. I want to play for as long as I can. I know the day is going to come when I’ll no longer be able to play. I want to delay it for as long as I can.

I always look at all the pros who had really long careers. Julio Franco played until he was 48. Tom Brady played quarterback until he was 45. Jaromir Jagr is 53 and he’s still playing hockey. There’s plenty of other examples, but those just came to mind. What those guys had to go through to keep playing is far more grueling than anything I’ll see on a softball field and I’m also some years away from even being their age.

My thoughts on life are that you get one life to live and you should live it how you want. Take care of your family, job and bills, and the rest is up to you. My interest in playing is only going up as I’ve been exposed to better competition the past couple of years. I’ve been a part of three championships and won an MVP last year while playing the best on the Island, great competition in New Jersey and competitive teams from all over the tri-state in tournaments.

Next year there’s plans on traveling to tournaments over the summer. This is what I do for fun. I enjoy the competition, being around the guys and playing the sport I’ve played and watched my whole life. I love this. I’m doing this for Charlie from 10 years ago who was dying to play multiple times per week over the summer.

This is where the age comes in. In order to keep on playing, I have to take care of myself. This is why I train and do things the way I do. Everybody thinks I workout to look good for the pool parties in Vegas (and it’s certainly a nice benefit), but two weekends per year just isn’t enough incentive to train year round.

I have to train like an athlete. The qualities I’ve built in the gym and running on the turf have led me to these opportunities with softball. It would be nice to just be able to lay on the couch, wake up and get a couple of hits off of a sling pitcher, but, unfortunately, I’m not good enough. It’s been the same story since I was a kid, if I want to play, I have to put in the work in the gym.

What makes this great for me is it also allows me to be a better coach. I’m not saying that you need to be currently training and in great shape to be a coach. Some of the best coaches I’ve met don’t work out and I could only hope to be a fraction of as good as they are. I have to do it because my background isn’t in coaching. For those that don’t know, I went to school to get into sports media and worked in radio and newspapers for six years. I didn’t get into training until 2014. I don’t have the experience that others had coming out of college.

One of the ways I learn is by doing what I learned on myself. I take all of the things I learn from coaches, the books I read and seminars and apply it on myself. Since I still have a personal stake in training, it makes me pay close attention to what I’m learning because, I too, want to get better. Through trial and error, it helps me coach the exercises better, learn better cues, figure out what works and what doesn’t and deliver to my athletes.

At 39, I only feel like I’m getting better. My birthday let’s me know that I’m getting older, but I train the way I do so I can continue to do what I love.

I take training very seriously.

I’ve spent years traveling around the country to different seminars, conferences and gyms to learn from the best coaches in the world. When my work week was done, I started my weekend either in my car or on a plane going to an event to get better.

People told me I was wasting my time. I did it with the intention of one day working with those who were truly dedicated to be their best.

Training is not my only source of income. I don’t rely on it to put food on my table or pay my bills. This means I don’t just take on clients for the sake of filling up my schedule.

I’m not a salesman. When you come to me inquiring about training, I’m interviewing you as much as you are interviewing me. I put a lot into this. I only want to work with people that want to get better and will do what it takes.

When athletes come to me saying they want to be trained, I tell them that there are three non-negotiables that they need to agree to before we start. They have to be coachable, willing to bring the intensity and be consistent.

1. COACHABILITY

This is where it all starts.

You have to be willing to be coached. It does not matter how good you are at your sport, if you have no formal training experience your training age is zero. This means you have to be willing to start with the beginning progressions and be ready to hear that you are not doing something correctly.

One-on-one and even two-on-one training is a lot different than large group training. The focus is solely on you. You have to be able to accept and apply constructive criticism. Anyone that has worked with me will tell you that I’m not a rah-rah yeller or a dictator. But, if you’re going to work with me, I want things done the right way because I have your best interests in mind. My business is only successful if you are successful.

You also have to remember that you hired me for coaching, I didn’t hire you. I am open to suggestions and listen to my clients when they tell me something hurts or doesn’t feel right. But, I am not doing a workout that you found on TikTok or doing an exercise you saw a pro athlete do online when you can’t do the basics right yet.

The best athletes I’ve had get it. They all came in right away and were coachable. Coincidentally, they also came from teams where they had coaches who were hard on them and said I was much easier in comparison. The best want to be told what they are doing wrong and how to fix it. They know the end goal is to get better and put their egos to the side.

Also, most of my experience the past 11 years comes from working with youth athletes. When a parent tells me their kid is interested in training, the first question I ask is: are they mature enough for it? Maturity is the differentiator with youth athletes and will determine whether the program will be successful or not. I’ve worked with 7 year old’s that did great because they came ready to listen and I’ve had other kids that didn’t take it seriously and turned it into a glorified baby sitting service.

I don’t care how good you are at your sport. I care that you come in wanting to get better and then it is my job to help get you there.

2. INTENT

People will knock some of the big guys in the gym saying that they don’t know what they are doing. I’ve talked to a few and there’s some that really don’t know much besides what body part they are doing. But, they’re huge so they must be doing something right. You hear them grunting and slamming weights because they attack every set with intensity.

You can have the perfect program, but if you are not locked in during each rep and each set then you are not going to see the results. This matters no matter what your goal is — gaining muscle, losing weight, getting faster, more powerful, etc. Like Coach Kav says, “Intent Matters”.

Speed and power exercises are built on intent. The exercises themselves don’t have any special powers, it’s all about how you execute them. These are sprints, jumps, throws and quick movements that rely on you executing them with speed and force in order for them to be successful.

It’s not just about how hard you go, it’s also about how focused you are. This goes for kids learning the most basic bodyweight movements. For kids, training must be treated like a skill in the beginning because you are programming your body to move the right way. Don’t just go through the motions. When you’re doing your technique work make sure you are locked in and following the proper tempos. and make sure you’re doing everything right so you can reap the benefits and move through the progressions quicker.

You have to take every exercise seriously, from the warm-up all the way through the main movements. This will ensure you are getting everything out of the program that is specifically built for you.

3. CONSISTENCY

Training is not like other services. You can’t come in one session and have all of your problems solved. Training takes time to see all of the benefits.

In order to see those benefits, you have to consistently come to work every week. Listen, I understand that life gets in the way and people need to take a day off here or there. I get that.

I’m talking about the people that are constantly missing sessions or missing full weeks. If that’s you, then training isn’t for you. You’re just wasting both of our time.

Success in training and reaching your goals comes from constantly showing up and getting after it. We are trying to build off what you did in the last session and that can only happen if you have great attendance.

Here’s another thing — not every session is going to be a record breaker. There’s going to be days where you are tired or a bit run down. That’s OK, we will adjust and plan accordingly.

I know you’re not always going to be 100% ready to work. There’s going to be days where you had a lot going on. Just give me what you got that day and I’ll help fill in the rest. Training progress isn’t a straight line upward. There are peaks and valleys. But, if you are always showing up, the line will go up and the dips will be small. If you are inconsistent, we will get stuck and not able to push the wheel forward.

I can’t be your main source of motivation. When parents say they need me to get their kids motivated, then it’s not going to work out. The drive has to come from you. I will always give that push on those last couple of hard reps or help you through on those days when you’re sluggish. But, I can’t be the one that wants you goals more than you do. I can’t be the one to get you off the couch. You have to be the one that wants it and are the one who is motivated to crush their goals.

I just got back from Justin Kavanaugh’s Mastermind on Sunday night and there’s something he said at the beginning of the event that stuck with me.

“Environment always wins.”

This quote stuck with me and I thought about it during the four-hour ride back home. It’s a simple quote, but it’s powerful and there’s so much truth behind it.

I could write another post on all the things I’ve learned, but, instead, I wanted to take that simple quote and show how it applies to the athletes I work with.

You see, every time I leave one of these events, it’s like I leave a different person than the one I came in as. I always leave more motivated, ready to better myself as a coach and work even harder.

The things I’ve learned certainly help, but it’s the people and conversations I’m surrounded by. I’m surrounded by successful coaches and practitioners and just being in the same room as them makes me a better coach. On top of that, they are also great people.

A lesson I learned early on in life is that not everybody wants you to win. You see it all the time, you lay out your goals to someone who isn’t a part of your world or isn’t really motivated by much, and they are ready to shut you down and tell you why it’s not possible. It’s almost like they get satisfaction telling you that you can’t do it.

What you have to understand is, when I’m in these rooms, I’m surrounded by people that are far more successful and well-known than I am. I’m surrounded by practitioners that know way more than I do and professional bodybuilders and powerlifters that are great coaches and are way more jacked and strong than I am. If anybody could swat my goals down like a fly, it’s them.

But, they don’t. Successful and driven people don’t do that. I tell them my goals and aspirations and they listen. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t just tell me dream it and it will come true. But, they give me action steps on what I need to do if I truly want to get to where I say I want to. And then they hold me accountable. When you’re around quality people that are great at what they do, it’s a combination that can’t be beat.

Now, for where this comes into play for my athletes. If you compete that means you have goals. You might have goals that seem out of the ordinary. It might be to make a certain team, reach certain accolades or metrics or play at the college level and beyond. Not only do you need to work hard every day, but you need to put yourself in the right environment that’s going to help facilitate that growth.

Being in the right environment reminds me of a conversation I had with Josh Diaz while we were training at Owl Hollow Park. I was telling him a story about a game I saw and he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’s played with high-level ball players for so long that he doesn’t even understand that there’s a world where not every pitcher throws in the mid 80s and that not every hitter can rip a ball 300-plus feet in the opposite-field gap. I joked that he’s been playing high-level baseball for so long that he doesn’t even know what average looks like.

But that’s why he’s one of the best players in the state for his age group and works like an animal every session. He’s constantly in an environment where he’s coached hard and surrounded by the best ball players in the country.

You’re going to hear that your goal is unrealistic and not achievable. If you let that get into your head and not work hard, then it will become true. Put yourself in environments where you’re around players that are disciplined, on the same track and even around those that are better than you. It will push you to become the best version of yourself.

Average is the enemy of great. Put in the work and surround yourself with people that want to do the same and you’ll get to where you want to be.

I’ve been working with Ben Mayfield-Smith since the end of February on optimizing my nutrition and lifestyle so I can be in the best shape of my life by the end of the summer.

Ben is a competitive bodybuilder and the founder of Matter Athletica. Ben’s service is all-inclusive and covers training, nutrition and lifestyle coaching, among other things. He works with people in all walks of life, including competitive bodybuilders. Coaching people to perform on stage requires incredible precision and Ben is someone who is able to combine book smarts with actual “in the trenches” experience.

In addition to being a sender of great memes, he’s been a valuable asset to me. In a few months I will get into all of the things I’ve learned from Ben, but first I have to address a question I’ve been asked a few times:

“Why did you hire a coach?”

It usually comes with the follow-up question of “Aren’t you a coach?” It’s a fair question to be asked from somebody outside of the field, so I figured I would take the time to give a thoughtful answer.

To become a complete coach, there’s all of these buckets you need to fill. There’s a lot of them, but, for the sake of simplicity, let’s narrow it down to three: training, nutrition, rehab. In the past 11 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel all over and get the opportunity to meet and listen to the best coaches and practitioners in the world speak.

When you hear the best people speak on their respective area, you realize each bucket is deep and it only gets deeper the further you go down the rabbit hole. I’ve love to be a master of all, but it’s just not possible at the moment with two jobs. Because of my clientele being mostly youth and high school athletes, I’ve spent most of my continuing education on the training end of things.

Nutrition has always intrigued me. It started in 2015 when I met “The Guru” Tom Bilella and worked with him the next year where he took my bloodwork and taught me about food sensitivities. It continued with Justin Kavanaugh working on my own training program and giving me the 11-day diet plan that helped me shed and keep off 13 pounds. I learned the importance of proper supplementation from Jason Dhir of Ultra Human and Scott Mendelson of Infinity Fitness. Then, along the way, I watched Dr. Ken Kinakin show how food sensitivities altered muscle testing, Justin Harris break down carb-cycling and been blown away by all of Dr. Eric Serrano’s talks. They showed me how being truly powerful your nutrition and diet could be.

I was very fortunate to connect with Ben last year and have that lead to him coaching me this year. Let me break down why I wanted to be coached through my own transformation.

1-I ONLY WANT TO WORK WITH THE BEST

Most people will tell you that I am very cheap. I rarely buy myself new clothes or sneakers and keep my spending to the necessities and bills. The one area where I pull no punches is when it comes to my body or training. When it comes to my gym, I want the best equipment. For food and supplements, I’m always spending top dollar on what is the best on the market. For rehab and massage therapy, I only go to one guy who I know will have me fixed as quickly as possible. When you’ve been around the best, you’ll settle for nothing less. I’m a snob when it comes to that stuff.

Ben coaches everybody, but I highlight the fact that he works with competitive bodybuilders because that’s an art that requires everything to be precise. Every decision he makes needs to be perfect to make sure his clients show up on stage in the best condition possible. He’s also in the game himself so he utilizes everything that he preaches. He has a high standard for what he expects out of his clients because he also holds himself to the same standard.

Not only is he a great coach and competitor, he’s also a continuing student. He’s always taking some course or looking for ways to continue to get better. All of the smart practitioners I’ve been around and know are always looking to learn more and never settle. You hear it in the weekly recaps that he sends me where they are never the same and he’s always dropping some new nuggets of information.

Plus, I connected with him through The Coaches Room Mastermind. You can’t last in there as a charlatan. The BS detectors are on high alert there and you’ll be called out immediately. You also have to be a high-character person for Kav to let you in and Ben certainly checks off that box.

2-LEARN BY DOING

I’ve always heard that if you are new and want to learn how to train, ask the biggest guy in the gym. I don’t completely agree with that. I tweaked it a little bit. A saying that I believe in is if you want to learn about diet and nutrition, ask a bodybuilder. It’s worth double if you can find someone as smart as Ben. Bodybuilders know all of the diet hacks. They know what you need to do to put on size and they know what’s necessary to get super lean.

I’ve always wanted to learn more about nutrition and Ben is giving me the best of both worlds: I get to learn while getting into the best shape of my life. Every week Ben checks in with me and gives me my weekly podcast where he breaks down my week and what my next steps are. Every week he drops a new nugget of information that I didn’t know and answers every single question that I ask in detail.

I’m going to get into more detail on all of the things I’ve learned from this experience down the road. But, just to give you an idea, he gave me a whole stack of vitamins to take to help me with my seasonal allergies. Allergies crush me in the spring and I feel like a zombie. I’m constantly tired and my whole body is tight, no matter how much stretching or rolling I do. It’s enough to keep me out of the gym on certain days. His stack kept me moving.

All of this is making me a better coach. Nutrition wise, I knew what worked for me and was solid with the basics. I could give some guidance to my clients because they’re mostly kids and teenagers where just teaching them the basics works wonders for them. What’s helped with Ben is he’s given me the why behind a lot of what he does with me and it’s already helped me with consulting with my high school and college clients.

3-ACCOUNTABILITY

When I say accountability, it’s not that I need someone watching over my every move to make sure I’m doing the right thing. Anybody that knows me knows that I go hard whenever I’m trying to reach a goal, especially over the summer when I have a little more free time.

Without Ben, I know I could get into solid shape by the end of the summer. Most people don’t workout so when the average person sees me they’ll be pretty impressed. With that in mind, though, I could always slack off that tiny bit and have that extra cheat meal because I know, at the end of the day, nobody would be able to tell. I could even turn it into a cheat weekend. Even if I told them, they’d still say that it’s OK and it won’t make a difference. The average person will just see the before and after picture and be impressed.

With Ben, the goal has been raised higher. The goal isn’t just to be in good shape at the end. The goal is to be in the best shape I’ve ever been in. In order to do that, I have to be on-point with everything and keep my slip-ups to a minimum. Ben is an easy-going guy and he lets you know in a very nice way that you need to stay consistent. He knows how to make grilled chicken taste enjoyable for months, so he won’t except you saying that you need to go off the plan for a few days. He says it nicely, but you can read between the lines that you are expected to stick with the plan.

Also, this isn’t just about getting into great shape for me. I’ve told people that I’m working with Ben and it’s been posted and shared online that he’s working with me. I now represent what he does as a coach. I know that feeling as a coach where your athletes are a billboard for your standards. I want to make sure my results display all the work he’s put into me.

My 10-Year Training Anniversary was officially on February 7, 2024. I’m posting this as I’m about to complete my 11th year coaching. It’s not because I miscounted the years.

My original plan was to come out with a post where I was going to write about my 10 years in training on February 7. The problem is that as I was starting to write it, all these different ideas and memories kept popping into my mind. I didn’t want to gloss over anything, so I decided to space it out and make multiple posts. Multiple posts turned into four, then seven before finally giving you the eight posts below. I wanted to take my time with this, hence the late arrival.

For those who don’t know me that well, this will give you a pretty good idea of what I’ve done training wise the past 10 years. This takes you from when I first made the decision to decide to get into coaching all the way up to where I am now.

The idea was to give you my story, but I also wanted to make sure to shoutout all of the coaches that helped me and all of my clients who got me to this point. I had a lot of doubt early on about how long I’d be able to do this, but the coaches and clients I met along the way kept me in the game and got me to the point I’m at now.

PART 1 – How did I get Here?

PART 2 – 2014 – Trying to Figure Things Out

PART 3 – 2015 – High School Training Starts, SB911 and SWIS

PART 4 – 2016-2019 – Experiencing a Whole New World

PART 5 – 2016-2019 – Training Starts to Take Off; The Core is Formed

PART 6 – 2020 – A New Chapter Begins

PART 7 – 2021-2022 – Starting to Branch Out

PART 8 – 2023-Present – More Quality Referrals; The Storm of Group Training

2020 was a year we would all like to forget. There was a period of a few months where I had to figure out where the money was going to come from. My teaching position got cut and it didn’t look like I would be training anyone in the near future, or ever again. It was just so sudden to think that after all these years of training and traveling that it was all just going to end.

Right before the pandemic, I ordered an elitefts power rack so I could do the big three lifts (squat, bench press and deadlift) at home. (Have to give a shoutout to Matt Goodwin for all the help setting up my gym. He told me back in 2017 that he would guide me on equipment whenever I was ready and he certainly came through.) The powerlifting craze was underway and every kid with their gummy bears and candy needed the rack or platform for more than hour. Then, when the pandemic started, we didn’t know when gyms would open up, so me and my brother, James, started designing a full gym where we could lift together with all of the necessary equipment. It kept us sane during that unusual year. Here’s what I wrote about the gym back in 2020.

The gym was designed for me and my brother, there was never any intention of training anyone else down there. For us, it gave us a chance to lift to together while watching sports. We would never miss another game because we were at the gym. But, around February of 2020, Mr. Palumbo kept putting the idea of training his daughter, Olivia, in my basement. She had a couple of paid sessions left over from the gym, so, after a couple of months, she started coming over that summer. She would train in my basement for the entirety of her college career and a lot of core gym memories happened during that time. She’s the second longest tenured athlete I’ve trained and the first athlete to train with me from middle school throughout college. I always believed in developing a system of taking athletes from the youth level and building them up gradually to prepare them for high school and college and she gave me the opportunity to see it through. The training was fun because it was really the first time we had access to everything without having to worry about other people using the equipment we needed. She worked so hard and always brought a positive attitude to every session. It was great watching her develop into a multiple time all-conference selection and a member of the 100-hit club. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she got the ball rolling on this next chapter of my training career.

Shortly after, Juliana Carrara reached out and she’s the one that gave me the idea to do speed and agility work at nearby Owl Hollow Park. Just like with Olivia, she had a few paid sessions left over from the gym, so I wanted to give her the opportunity to use them. At that time, I figured we would just do a few sessions and then she would be back at college. I didn’t realize she would come back during breaks and the summer and would become the first college athlete I’d train until they graduated. She brought that same never give up attitude that she showed in the gym and also I got to see the pointing when we trained outside. Then you had our indoor sessions, which were actually a break for her since she got to work out in the air conditioning and were sandwiched between individual work in the morning and evening team practices. Getting the chance to train Juliana again also meant I’d still get my occasional texts from Mare Bear.

It meant a lot that both girls reached out to train with me again. I’ve always wanted to show my athletes that I do truly care about them and the advice and support extends outside of the sessions. I was a little taken aback when I found out someone tried to take them from me, even after it was established that they were both working with me, but I appreciated that they told me right away who it was and never gave the offer a thought.

Positive momentum was building and it continued over the summer when parents of kids I trained started reaching out and asking if I was going to do any training. James Johnson’s mom, Melanie, was the first parent of my youth group to reach out. Olivia was the only one I was training indoors at the time and I wasn’t too sure about having kids train in the basement because the equipment wasn’t all there. The stuff I had could really only be used with my older athletes. Based on the idea that came from Juliana, I offered up outdoor training and she said that was no problem. My solo sessions with James turned into group sessions because she was helping spread the word and would bring James’ friends from hockey to join. One of his friends Jordan, would join James when we eventually moved indoors and would do solo sessions, as well.

It was the first time I was getting cash for sessions and it really opened my eyes. I was just taking things day-by-day during this time because I didn’t know when it was going to end. But, ideas started floating in my head and this made the idea of training on my own more real because I saw that I could run the business the way I wanted to. Since I was getting 100% of the profits from my sessions, I could keep it where I trained a small group of athletes over the course of a week and give them the full attention needed to truly learn them and help them develop.

While I was training James, Gabe Pimenta reached out and I started working with his son, Gabe, again, as well as his younger daughter, Juliette. This was around the time little Gabe was becoming big Gabe, but, unfortunately, they moved two years later. Like I said in the last post, Gabe was just an awesome person to have in my corner because he always supported what I did. Right before he left, he played a role in helping my client base extend outside of people I trained at the gym. I’ll always be thankful for him.

The training would extend over the Outerbridge and into New Jersey with Derek and Ava. Again, this whole training business was done on the fly and I didn’t have anything to offer them on Staten Island because I wasn’t working with kids indoors yet and I wasn’t going to back them drive down here to use the park. The Fernandez family couldn’t have been more accommodating. The reached out right before the school year was starting and they had the perfect backyard to train in and actually had more equipment than I had. Both kids were making progress and I can’t say enough about how good that family was to me. They made the trip to New Jersey well worth it.

Now, I tried to do this post in the order that everyone returned. So, the only reason it took this long to get to Mike Deats is because he came back right around the winter time. I can’t tell the story of my training career without mentioning the Deats family. In addition to being the longest tenured athlete I’ve trained, his family with Samantha and Alex have been ultra supportive of me and his dad, Dennis, helped me build my gym out. These are people that have truly been with me since the start. I’m forever grateful for that and it’s always a pleasure seeing the whole family at the Pavilion for Mike’s Farrell games. During my time at Intoxx Fitness, Dennis always told me that if I ventured out on my own he would help me build anything I needed. I wound up reaching out during the spring of 2020, not realizing the gym he was helping me build would be the new home of Guthrie Training.

I hadn’t seen Mike for a few months after Dennis helped me out and when I finally did, I thought he had an older brother that he never told me about. One thing Mike did during 2020 was grow. Mike transformed from a kid I trained to a man I had to get ready for high school. He had that focus and buy-in that you see from the best and he was, and still is, determined to be the best hockey player he can be. Watching him grow from a youth player at the youngest level into a city champion and two-time varsity starter at Monsignor Farrell High School has been a pleasure. I’ve had those moments watching him play where I say to myself in my head, “this is why you got into training.” If I ever say anything that sounds smart in regards to hockey, it’s because Mike taught me about it during a session. He loves learning about the history of hockey and he’s known to drop these hockey gems of information about teams, players and equipment from almost 50 years ago in-between sets of pull-ups and deadlifts.

It was great having all of my athletes from my time at Intoxx Fitness reach out to me to continue their training with me. I try my best to give everybody my all and show them that I care about their successes inside and outside the weight room and for them to think of me when it came to their training, meant a hell of a lot. Intoxx wasn’t done giving me clients because Mike Giliotti, once again, came through and delivered me a stud in Alex Diaz. Mike does not play around when it comes to training, so for him to reach out and give me a potential client that inquired with him because he thought I was the best choice for them is something I still think about to this day.

All I knew was Alex was a baseball player interested in training. I had no idea I was getting a family that lived and breathed baseball and a kid that was willing to do whatever it took to get better. Out of everyone I trained, Alex made the quickest transformation I’ve ever seen. His dad, Carlos, in addition to being a great person was a former body builder, but there’s something in that Diaz blood that makes them different. I just remember Alex laying on the floor after the first workout, joking that the session was tough. I was shocked because I never plan to make any session grueling, especially the first one. What took place over the next five months was something I couldn’t even predict. I will preface this by saying Alex came to me three times per week because he was home since his school was still doing remote learning. After that first session, he absolutely took off by bringing this intense focus that very few have and making great strength and speed gains along the way. He never missed a session.

Our sessions were long and he would still ask if there was more when we were done. My favorite story we got hit with a big snow storm my block was a private neighborhood so we were really snowed in. I had to cancel training because I had to help my neighbors shovel and I thought it was a pretty easy choice to make. I had to spend an hour through text convincing Alex not to come. He told he would walk through the snow to make it, but I really couldn’t do the session because I had shovel out a bunch of my neighbors. I knew he was determined, but that conversation is one I’ll never forget. Right there I was getting a lesson about what separates the great from the average.

So much happened from March to December and I appreciate everyone that came back to me from the gym for what they did for me. They turned a hectic year where we saw things we never saw before, into a turning point in my life. I went from thinking training was done to we’ll see how long this can last to I think we got a business here. The next post, which will be the final one, will show how the reach of my training expanded to outside of the circle people I knew from Intoxx.

One thing I always believe to this day is that if you are involved in something, no matter how small that role is, you have a chance to do what you want to do. To win the game, you need to be in the game. With training, even when things weren’t looking great for me, I felt that I always had a chance to do what I wanted to do if I could put myself in the right situations.

I didn’t know what was going to happen when I made my first trip to Virginia. But, by making the trip, I met some great people and it opened me up to a whole world that I didn’t even know existed. Plus, when you’re around positive people who are good at what they do, you leave with a completely different mindset and it has a compounding effect.

Two months after that trip, I went from having no clients that were athletes to getting my first group of youth athletes. This group led to three kids sticking with me and, along the way, I’d pick up momentum and get clients during this four-year stretch that stuck with me for the next six-to-eight years.

John Errichello offered me the opportunity to train a youth hockey team called the Bayonne Rangers that were coached by Mike Smith. It was a group of seven and eight year olds that included Mike Deats, James Johnson and Smith’s son, Christian. It started off as a group of about six-to-seven kids per week, but, with any group of young kids trying a training program, the numbers dwindled down after a couple of months. It was definitely a learning experience training a group of kids that young, but it led to me keeping Mike, James and Christian as long-term clients. Throughout my 10 years, Mike Deats is actually the client that’s been with me the longest. I’ll have more on him in the next post.

Mike Smith was helpful as I was getting started because he was a parent that saw the importance of strength training and would spread the word that parents should send their kids to me, which was huge. James’ parents, Melanie and James, were also very helpful and would send me some of James’ friends to come and tag along. All of a sudden, every time you saw me in the gym, I was with a group of kids and was getting known as someone who offers youth training.

As I was working with them, I started my work with the Palumbo family. Robert Palumbo, who was my assistant principal, sent his son Christian, a hockey and baseball player at St. Joseph by the Sea, to me. Christian worked hard and could make the lighter sessions look intense because of how much he sweat. He was great because he was always the first session I’d have right after school. I’m already tired from school and session will dictate the rest of my day and he made the time fly by. He wouldn’t be the only family member I trained as his younger sister, Olivia, signed up a year later. She’s been with me for seven years, which makes her the second longest tenured athlete I’ve trained. Olivia and Christian were just two athletes that were all go for the entire session. I had to force them to take breaks. She was another determined athlete who would come to sessions in full uniform right after games to get her work in. The only thing that I’ve seen stop her in seven years was a polish sandwich. I’ll have more on her in my next post because she was one of the main reasons behind the training at the home gym getting started.

Another valuable member of the team who would join Olivia for some of my best group sessions and soon became the first college athlete I trained was Juliana Carrara. Three things I always think about with her are her finger pointing, dry sense of humor and mental toughness. The story I still think about to this day is the one I posted on Instagram a little more than a month ago. She had a two-hour plus drive back and forth to set up for college, but was feeling very sick. She self-diagnosed herself with the “plague” and texted me at 3 p.m. that she would be unable to make the session. She never cancels, so it was never a problem, but then, about 90 minutes later, I got a text that she would be there for the session. When you’re dealing with kids like that the training part is easy.

The high school training would continue to pick up with the additions of Ethan Bloom and Mike Stumpf. The one of the highest compliments I could give anyone I trained is they made the job fun and that was the case with Ethan, the baby goat. He was a lacrosse player at Tottenville and kept me up to date on all the lingo the kids were using. Training wise, I’m most proud of how he took things to the next level in college. He set a goal for himself and just got after it hard on his own and you can’t teach that. He came back for some training over the summer when he was in college, but the job was easy because he was doing so much on his own. Mike was another one who just brought the intensity every session. He was getting ready to go to Navy and already had a long day because he went to school at Xavier in the city and was on the swim team. We had to train later at night and you would never know how long his day was because of the way he attacked every session. Mike was a guy that made the most of every minute of every session. We had a goal to reach and a short amount of time to do it and we got it done because of the intensity and consistency he brought.

Towards the end of this stretch, the youth training picked up a nice boost from some good people at the gym. Gabe Pimenta sent over his son “Little Gabe”, who’s definitely not little anymore. It took a while to get Little Gabe to talk to me, but he came to work, just like his dad did every day in the gym. Big Gabe was always an advocate for my training and it really meant a lot to me when he trusted me to train his son.

I got another confidence boost when the owner of Intoxx Fitness, Mike Giliotti, referred his niece and nephew, Ava and Derek Fernandez, to me. I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but Mike, like John, is someone I’ve known at the gym since I started training there in high school in 2002. It was always good talking to Mike about the new gym equipment he was getting and talking about the seminars I went to. He always made me feel valuable. If you’ve ever seen him, you’d know he’s someone who takes training seriously, so it was an honor that he sent family to me. Ava and Derek came from New Jersey to train with me and you couldn’t ask for two better kids to work with. There was none of that brother-sister bickering and they were nothing but respectful and hard working.

Looking back at the end of 2019, it was unbelievable how far things had come for me in the youth/high school training department. It went from a pipe dream to it becoming something I was starting to get known for.

ADULT TRAINING WAS STILL GOING

Even though youth and high school training was my focus, I did enjoy training adults. Working in schools, I’m around kids all day, so it is nice to talk to people my age every once in a while.

I wasn’t a big fan of training people late at night, but one guy who made it worthwhile over the summer was Joe Ursini. I was working at a camp during the day and was usually pretty tired by night time, but Joe made it worth it. Joe was a pretty laid back dude, but he didn’t mess around during his sessions. I only had him for the summer and some time over the winter, but he made every session count. He worked in the city during the day and couldn’t get to the gym until late at night, so you’d think the sessions would be pretty easy going and not trying to do too much. The effort he put in and the progress he made left me with another problem, it was hard falling asleep at night because I would be amped up at 10 p.m. He was the first person I got to bench press 225 pounds, which if you knew what I was benching during that time, you’d know it was a big deal to me. He’d come in to the session saying we should take it easy, then the weights would start flying.

Just as I was finishing with Joe, Brian MacIver, a friend of John, came along. Brian, who had a nickname we aren’t allowed to say here, was the first person to give me cash for sessions. That right there put him at the top of the list. But, in addition to being a good person, he was willing to do whatever I had planned. He would deadlift, push the sled, use the ropes or whatever other thing I had in mind. If I learned something new and needed someone to try it out, he would do it for me. Whenever I went to a seminar, he would joke and ask me when we were going to be doing that.

Then, a friend from school, Stephanie Tritto, now Micciulla, signed up for training to get ready for her wedding with the great Andrew. Stephanie helped get me through graduate school, so it was only right that I do something in return. Stephanie would jokingly break my chops, but she was another one who would do whatever I asked. She would push the prowler in all directions, trap bar deadlift and any other exercise that works, but you wouldn’t associate with leaning down for a wedding. She was always accommodating and would come right after school or later at night, if it worked better for me. I could do longer sessions with her because Andrew loved working out and the longer I was with her, the more work he could get done. The last adult client I’d have during my time was Cheryl Lafer, who signed up because of the recommendation from Camille Faccio. Like Camille, she made great progress, losing 40 pounds in six months.

PERSONAL GROWTH

During this time, I accomplished some big personal goals of mine. I’ve written about them on here previously, so I’ll just add the links so I don’t have to rehash it again. I know coaches have their thoughts on certifications, but one certification I always wanted to have was the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the NSCA. This was one that I saw that a lot of the coaches I followed had and one necessary if you ever wanted to work with pro or collegiate teams. I couldn’t take it when I started training because you were required to have a degree in an exercise related field. When I saw that they switched the requirement to just needing a bachelor’s degree, I jumped on the opportunity and passed the test in 2017.

For a couple of years, Justin Kavanaugh offered to write a training program for me to follow. He always told me he would, but I felt bad asking him to do it. Finally, in 2017, I reached the point where I needed something new and wanted to see what his programming would do for me. It was a game-changer. It got me into the best shape I’ve ever been in, taught me a lot about programming and made me the strongest I’d ever been. The trend of me taking my training up a notch started because of this program. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of my time on his program.

I didn’t realize it at the end of 2019, but Ava and Derek were going to be a part of a core group of youth, high school and even collegiate athletes that took my training to the next level. They joined Mike Deats, James Johnson, Olivia, Juliana and Gabe in taking a career that I thought was finished to the next level.