AARON BAZZ

 I started lifting weights during my freshman year of high school baseball. I was a tiny kid with something to prove and was obsessed with how much I could bench press. Guys in the weight room were twice my size and could lift way heavier than me which made me look up to them. Every time I went to the gym I bench pressed so I could get stronger and fit in. Fast forward 20 years, I’ve spent thousands of hours in the gym and tried just about every type of workout program, diet regimen, and supplement you can imagine. At this point, I can confidently say that while I don’t know everything, I know what works and what doesn’t.

Like most people who get into weightlifting, I had no clue what I was doing when I started out. I turned to fitness magazines for help, which told me to spend a couple of hours in the gym every day and hundreds of dollars on pills and powders every month. This went on forever, I jumped from diet to diet, workout program to workout program, and supplement to supplement, only to make mediocre progress and eventually find myself burnt out and frustrated.

I finally decided that something had to change, and I knew that I needed to start with learning the actual physiology of the human body. So I threw the magazines away, got off the internet forums, then pursued an education in exercise science and started racking up personal training certifications. I used myself as a test subject and strictly followed everything I learned to see how it affected my body composition, strength, and performance in the gym. Friends became my first clients and I would write workouts for them for free to practice designing training programs. After years of trial and error, both experimenting on myself with science-based training and nutrition protocols and helping friends, it finally became obvious why I wasn’t making progress when I first started out. I also realized that I was good at helping others achieve success in the gym because all my homies were getting jacked from my training plans!

I began working as a Personal Trainer in 2008, while in school, and have never looked back. I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of clients, some who have become my closest friends, and continue to learn from the best strength and conditioning, mobility, bodybuilding, and nutrition experts in the world - making it a priority to keep increasing my knowledge in the field. I’ve worked as an independent trainer, been a Master Trainer and Fitness Manager in big box gyms, and currently run my online training business while building a new venture, Better With Age, providing in-person wellness services to seniors living in retirement communities.

In 2014, I was in decent shape and wanted to push my physique to the next level. To accomplish that, I competed in Men’s Physique bodybuilding competitions getting as far as a top 10 placing on the national stage. Competing in Men’s Physique taught me the true meaning of discipline. In order to do well in that sport, you must be extremely consistent - you can’t ever miss a workout, cardio, or meal - and you must do so month-over-month without any breaks. I did this for five years straight. During this time is where things came full circle and I became a master of my craft. In retrospect, this made me a better coach because I can highly relate to the struggle my clients experience while trying to stick to a challenging training and nutrition program. It also made me realize the importance of sustainability because I pretty much sacrificed my entire lifestyle in order to do well. I regularly draw from this experience to provide solutions for clients who are juggling the balance between maintaining a lifestyle and accomplishing their health and fitness goals.

As a result of what I have learned, I’ve completely changed my approach to health and fitness, both personally and professionally. The beauty and beast in our quest for better looks, health, or performance is that you will never actually arrive at a final destination. Although you will always be working toward a goal, once you get there, you’ll set a new goal and start the process all over again. Health and fitness are ever-evolving no matter how good looking you are or what kind of shape you’re in. This is why it’s important to focus on the present and enjoy the process no matter where you’re at on your fitness journey! American culture teaches us to go big or go home. We have learned to swing for the fences otherwise we feel inferior to our peers. When it comes to health and fitness hard work is relative to your ability. What is hard work for you may not look like hard work for someone else - and visa versa. But who cares! Hard work is hard work. Everyone who’s serious about improving their health and fitness has got to go through the process. There are no shortcuts or ways around it. This takes time! Don’t compare yourself to others and just keep your head down and do the work. Be patient and proud of where you’re at. Don’t be fooled by and waste your money on methods that speed up the process and offer instant gratification. They don’t work! Small incremental changes add up to big changes. Consistency over time is what yields results! That is also how you STAY in shape! Accept it. The moment you do you’ll look and feel a hell of a lot better. Identify what your ability is RIGHT NOW then build from there. It’s as simple as that!