It is with a warm heart I welcome the fantastic team of fitness professionals and clients of Upward Motion to our family. We have officially united forces and over the next few weeks both organizations will be provided ways in which this will not only enhance your fitness experience but how the now over fifty professionals of both organizations will be at your discretion. These changes will be at no extra cost to you, our members, and only schedule, trainer and facility enhancements are expected over the next couple of months. Again, we welcome you.
I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to address who I am as well to those who don’t know me and a friendly reminder to those that do. This is my why, this is my passion:
I grew up right here in Albuquerque in a love rich family but financially poor. I was sent to an out of district middle school where my hand me down clothes and stinky payless shoes were the brunt of many jokes. Acting out through anger and depression, I used to fight a lot. My mom, the smart woman she is, said if I was going to fight, I was to fight for real. That was the start of my fitness career where my passion for movement was set on fire. After spending 6 months in Beijing training with the Beijing Wu-Shu team I came home to take third place nationally in the UFC precursor rings NASKA and was Champion in the USKA. At 21 my father had a heart attack, and I left my fighting career and my Athletic Training work at UNM for Anderson the Anderson School of Business and later became an Alumni of the Harvard Graduate School of Business in order to learn how to run his construction company.
After an epic family feud over money 8 years into me running the company, my life begins to unravel. Drugs and Alcohol became the norm and I eventually lost everything while also watching my mother and father due the same without being able to help. Suicide was a daily choice at one point but one morning in my truck (my home at the time), my very lonely sober voice spoke to me. Some say it may have been an angel watching over me, I remembered how I used fitness/movement to battle depression and anger before and I decided to get a job cleaning toilets for $5.50 an hour at Midtown Sports and Wellness. This is how my current fitness career restarted and my fire for fitness again sparked.
14 years and many sometimes very public bumps in the road later, I am still at passionately helping those finding themselves in the holes they have built themselves, using fitness, to help them out. See I genuinely believe that fitness is NOT about weight loss, getting into the skinny jeans, building biceps, or trying to get on a stage. Fitness to me is about the journey of finding your true self again and reigniting the fire from within. It’s about finding self-respect, self-pride, and the confidence necessary to live a fulfilling and joyful life. It’s about the ability to manage all the stresses and issues that will come at us with your body, mind, and spirit at the ready.
See when the body begins to move again, the blood begins to flow to areas that have been neglected of for years. The strength returns to areas you only remembered and the good hormones to manage the daily stresses are released once again into your system.
See when you begin to feed your body the nutrients it needs more then the junk your emotions desire, it can repair itself properly and build the muscle necessary to move again. You know longer look like the muffin or donut you just ate anymore. In my case I stopped poising my body with as much alcohol I was drinking.
When you hold yourself accountable or hire a coach, it makes the process easier to manage, not easier to go through though. That coach allows a shoulder to cry on or a hand to high-five. That coach helps you over those insurmountable stumbling blocks that turn into steppingstones.
Adding additional habits one at a time that are sustainable such as water intake, healthy sleep, stress release and meditation to name a few on your journey just makes things better.
The icing on the cake is when you find a like minded community of supportive people suffering from similar issues in life united on a singular goal of self-improvement – you become unstoppable on your journey!
This my friends is what I call the “Phoenix Method.” All parts together represent a rise from the ashes to allow yourself once again to soar. It is a method we have been learning and refining over my twenty plus years in this industry and it is my purpose and my why because it helped and continues to help me every day!
As we unite together and become stronger, these same principles will be enhanced by each other strengths. I am proud to be your leader in this journey now. We have over fifty professionals combined that are here to help you. All you have to do is reach out! We stand ready.
Speaking of our Phoenix Method, nothing exemplifies this more than our 2022 Rise of the Phoenix International Fitness Challenge and Show. On November 27th, 2021, at 10 am MST, both in person and via Zoom, we will be having our first informational session. You do not want to miss this one as this is the only session where there will be some unbelievable “Bonuses” to the program available. For more information and for the links click here: www.evolvstrong.com/riseofthephoenix. And to our Upward Motion team, yes you will have the trainers you love and are used with their own ROP sessions and teams at your location.
On another note, you will be receiving a ton of valuable informational material from us now until the end of the year. Every piece will have a valuable fitness tip along with information on our programming/trainers. So please use these free pieces as tools to help you on your fitness journey.
Your Trainer – C.J. & Teams eVOLV & Upward Motion
cj@evolvstrong.com :: 505-872-3408 My Office
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