by

Have I ever told you guys how fitness gave me my life back and why I decided to get involved in fitness as a career?

In 2004, I was in a pretty terrible car accident.  Some irresponsible, drug-abuser slammed into the back of my car at warp speed a couple of times before I went front bumper first into the concrete wall.  It left me with severe back and neck pain which doctors termed “chronic”.  I did physical therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, corticosteroid injections, and everything else available.  They helped…. temporarily, but I got so tired of having to go to these appointments for a “quick fix”.  It was discouraging, frustrating and I knew I needed something else. I was tried of spending so much time stuck in bed with pain. I was missing out on life! I couldn’t DO ANYTHING!

That’s when Turbo Jam REALLY entered my life.  I had done  Turbo Jam here and there before this but this was a time to get serious and commit. I remembered that Ab Jam was one of the workouts and I also knew that if I had any hope of getting rid of this crippling back pain, I’d need to strengthen my core.  I did the first half of Ab Jam, the standing portion, every day that I possibly could stand to do it. At first, I could only do just a few moves before having to stop. Slowly, very slowly, I was able to add more and eventually do all of the standing portion. After that, it was time to tackle the floor portion. This took longer to ramp up, but I was dedicated. This HAD to work. I was out of options!

Once I tackled Ab Jam in its entirety, I was ready to move on to cardio. Thank goodness for the 20 Minute Workout and modifications! This was when I started to realize- I was slowly having fewer and fewer really bad days with my back and more and more good days. Before I knew it I was getting through the 20 Minute Workout and no longer modifying! Within time, I was able to do Fat Blaster and Cardio Party, but I always included Ab Jam because there was no going back now. I would NOT let my hard work be undone and return to a life of pain.

Almost 7 years later, I am finally in a place where my pain is manageable and at a level so far below where I started that I hardly even think about it any more. Every once in a while, I’ll have a particularly painful day but I’ll take that over having those EVERY day. I’ve now successfully made it through ChaLEAN Extreme, TurboFire and I’m almost done with P90x. Next on my list is Insanity Asylum. These are things I NEVER would have done even just a few years ago. Working out, getting healthy, fitness, and particularly Turbo really gave me my life back. I’m forever grateful for this and this is why I’ve chosen to pay it forward.

I want to give hope to those who think there’s no other way and those who have been told they’re doomed. I want to be an encouragement to everyone that they can do this too- that even if it takes you a few months to get through an entire workout- you can do it! Even if you have to modify for a year- you can do it! I hope to inspire people to live healthier lifestyles because they are going to have a higher quality of life and I hope that others who have experienced this will feel called to pay it forward as well! People need to hear our stories and know that there’s a whole fitness community behind them!