Cellucor Man - Life From a Box

It had been almost two years since the last time I picked up a weight.  I was attending community college with no plan.  It's safe to say that I spent my first two years of college trying to please everybody but myself.  I didn't have many friends and my life defined "going through the motions" - dragging myself to accounting classes every day. At second semester, my friend Donovan from High-School ended up in one of my classes. He was in the same boat; at home trying to save money, attending one of the most depressing colleges in the universe.  Donovan and I were at Cousins Subs when he threw up the idea to start working out again.  He had this "crazy" pre-workout called C4 and told me to give it a try before we started our new lifting program. I figured why not, took a couple scoops and had a pretty killer workout. The feeling of being back in the weight room gave me some sanity and I quickly fell back in love. I took some progress pictures and figured if I stuck with this, they would be cool to go back and look at.  These were taken in December of 2011.

Around Christmas, Cellucor was running a Holiday giveaway.  I loved my C4 so I decided that I was going to win every contest Cellucor posted. For one of the contests, Cellucor wanted us to remix a Holiday jingle and post the lyrics on their page. I decided that not only would I remix Jingle Bells but I would make a music video.  If you know me, you know that I tend to go overboard with just about everything. I put a box on my head, taped some Cellucor lids on it, and made a fool of myself dancing in my bedroom.

Little did I know that putting a box on my head and dancing to Jingle Bells might have been the most important part of my transformation.  Through the dancing and dubbing of the mascot "Cellucor Man" I started talking to a guy named Dan Lourenco.  At the time, Dan ran the social media for Cellucor and was running the Christmas giveaway.  Dan and I became closer as time went on and we actually became good friends.  He helped me with supplements, nutrition, training, and even relationships. He helped me through some pretty hard times in my life. Dan quickly became my mentor.

In the summer of 2012 I started training more seriously with my friends Donovan, Tyler and Szal. In the early summer we were inevitably introduced into the world of drugs.  It seemed so easy. You take this pill and stick this needle in your butt and you lose all your fat and grow insane muscles right? Wrong.  Had it not been for Dan, I probably would have traveled down that road.  Dan gave me tough love and pushed me far away from any kind of drugs. I worked my ass off and started seeing results towards the end of 2012 summer.  Man did I think I looked GOOD.  I thought I was lean, I thought I was big, and I was on top of the world.  My lifestyle however didn't change.  I was still drinking heavily, eating terribly, and not training properly.

Summer was over and it was back to school for me.  I was done at community college so I decided to tackle commercial real estate. Again, I thought this was what I wanted to do with my life.  The money seemed great and I would have the opportunity to work with my Dad.  After a semester of that, I again found myself working to please everybody but myself. In late December of 2012, Dan hooked me up with Hank Walshak.  Hank runs the affiliate program at Cellucor. They signed me up and I was now selling and representing Cellucor.  This was surreal to me because roughly one year prior, I was dancing in my bedroom with a box on my head trying get some free stuff.  Hank was a little harder to crack.  He seemed nice but I was a little intimidated by him.  Whereas Dan was a friend, Hank was my boss. I figured if I worked hard, I would earn some respect.

In late December 2012, my friend from the gym, Ashley Hoffmann approached me with the idea to compete.  I asked her why I should compete, and she said, "Why not?" She was right. If I was training every single day, why not have a reason. I got in contact with Tim Thompson and got the ball rolling. This is where my prep started, January 1st 2013.

Eating correctly did wonders for my body and I felt great.  I was about a month into my prep and things were looking good.  I was on the way to the gym when I totaled my car and jacked up my collar bone that I had previously broken a couple years back.  This was just a minor setback.  I was frustrated because I loved my car.  I switched my focus to legs and took a week or so off all upper body exercises.

16 weeks out

Taking a step back, at the beginning of my prep some friends and myself started a private group on Facebook dubbed CutUpClub.  This group was a place for us to post progress pictures, videos, and ask questions related to nutrition and training.  The group rapidly grew and we decided to make an Instagram account to post fitness inspiration.  Our following grew to just under 2,000 very quickly. People cared about and valued what we had to say.  Our approach wasn't to intimidate people that were new to the industry.  We wanted to be the first fitness group that supported everyone.  As our following grew, I decided to turn CutUpClub into a business.  I bought some screen printing equipment  and started making shirts.  I actually ran the business out of my bedroom.

14 weeks out

12 weeks out

11 weeks out

10 weeks out

Going back to my prep, things were going well.  I was leaning out quickly and felt good about my physique.  My friend Tyler and myself decided that we were going to head to the Arnold Classic in Ohio on March 1st.  An eight hour drive on a contest prep diet probably wasn't the best of ideas but we did it anyway.  We stayed with fellow CutUpClub members Aj Smith and Dan Shaffer.  I was nervous and super excited to finally meet Dan after over a year of communicating.  We got to the expo and on the first day we got to meet Hank and Jen Jewell.  After spending some time talking with Jen and Hank, I started realizing that there was no bad blood in this company. Jen is one of the nicest, most down to earth girls I've ever met.  Hank showed my friends a good time and did an absolutely astonishing job running the Cellucor booth.  He killed it.  We trained that night at a local anytime fitness and got ready for the second day.  On day two I finally got to meet Dan.  It was such a great feeling getting to meet the person who helped me through so much in the year prior.  Catfish avoided!  Dan introduced us to Craig Capurso and again it was proven that this company does things correctly.  Craig is a humble athlete with a crazy journey himself.  We watched fellow CutUpClub member Jackie own some records at the powerlifting meet before heading home.

9 weeks out

7 weeks out

4 weeks out

Things were picking up with CutUpClub and I was busy! I made the decision to quit my job working at a local Printing Company to run CutUpClub full time. With the help from Hank and Cellucor, we were able to run promotions that helped my company grow.  I was shopping at Sports Authority for some shoes when I got a text from Dan.  He told me he wanted me to come to Vegas for a photo-shoot with Cellucor.  I checked my phone a few times before I responded.  He told me that he needed me there the next morning. Panic time! I called his assistant and member of CutUpClub, Kurtis Taylor, and told him I needed to be in Vegas by the next morning.  He laughed, told me to calm down, and got me a flight for 7 AM the next day.  It was about 3 PM and I had roughly 20 tanks to make.  I started cutting water, trained legs, and started molesting rice cakes.  I finished printing my last tank at 4:30 that morning.  I immediately threw some clothes in a bag, got in the car and headed to the airport.  I still didn't really believe what was happening so I just decided to go with it.

3 weeks out

When I got to Vegas I was greeted by Dan, Craig, and the three amigos from LHGFX, Lee, Allen, and Harry.  We gathered our things and headed to the gym to take some shots.  The amount of work that goes into a photo-shoot blew me away.  Not only from the models point of view but from all the working parts that are required to get things done.  I learned so much from Craig, Dan, and all the guys at LHGFX.  A 35lb kettle-bell doesn't seem that heavy until you've lifted it 200 times and paused in the middle of each rep.  I quickly fell in love with this type of work.  After a day of shooting we headed to the LVAC to get a quick session in before dinner.  Craig put us through a quick but intense fire and ice training session.  For being two weeks out from his show, the guy trained like a freak.

We all went back to the hotel and met up with LHGFX, Cellucor strongman Colton Leonard, Now Cellucor Athlete Karina Baymiller, and Fitness Model Charles Flanagan for some dinner.  After dinner we crashed and got ready for day two.  The second day we headed to a gym where I got to meet Rachel Murray and Ana Delia. From there, Ana, Harry, Allen, and myself took off around sunset to get some soccer shots in. Ana was such a trooper for riding along while being sick!  Between a few close calls with some pretty expensive equipment and running out of sunlight, we went back to the hotel. We grilled out as a team, shared stories, and had a great night. My flight home took off at 7 AM the next day.  I found myself sitting on my couch around 1 PM wondering what just happened.  Did I really just go to Vegas with Cellucor?  What I learned on that trip I will never forget. I learned that everybody on that team earned everything they had. I learned that they were all faced with diversity that they overcame in some way.  Most importantly I learned that no matter how good you look on the outside, you have to be a good person on the inside.  Cellucor simply does not associate themselves with bad people, no matter how good they look or how strong they are.  It made me proud to share those few days with them and it took my level of respect for this company to a whole new level.

Transitioning back into my prep, I had a different approach on things.  We had to put my dog down the day after I got home from Vegas.  I was sad, drained, and at the lowest carb state of my diet.  I'll say it, I felt sorry for myself.  It all hit me when I was on the treadmill for the second time that day doing my cardio. I was so tired and simply didn't want to do it.  I started thinking and at that moment I developed my new life motto. "Somebody has it worse"  I found it absolutely unbelievable that I actually felt bad for myself. Why? Because I was tired?  I couldn't eat carbs?  My legs hurt?  I was hungry? We just put my dog down? I no longer had the car I loved?  My brother fought leukemia and almost died when he was five years old.  My best friend Elise lost her mom a couple years ago.  A local families daughter was dealing with rare brain cancer and were traveling the unknown.  Soldiers come back from war with missing limbs and some don't come back at all.  And here I was feeling sorry for myself, dealing with something I signed up for.  I decided from then on out, I would wake up and out loud, tell myself one thing I was thankful for every single day.  I will never forget that day because it changed my life forever.  My first answer to that question was the following morning.  "I am thankful for my legs" Not because they were my strong-suit, or because they were lean and full, but simply because I had them.  Somebody has it worse. No matter how bad you have it, there is somebody, somewhere, dealing with something far worse.  What are you thankful for?  I think we need to answer that question a few more times than on Thanksgiving.

There were only a couple weeks left until show time and I was getting excited. It was time to put the finishing touches on my diet and finish strong.  With my new motivation I was feeling better than ever. With friends like Tyler, Morgan, Brittany, Jake, Kendra, Johnna, Andrea, Connor, Regi, Daniel, Dave, Tom, Weber, Griebl, Lauren, Derek, Andy, John, Berger, Bud, Amanda, Katie, all the members of CutUpClub, and countless others checking in, I was determined to look my absolute best.

2 weeks out

One Day out

Simply put, I would not have started working out again If it weren't for Donovan Dragging me to the gym.  I would not have met Dan if I didn't put a box on my head and dance around my bedroom.  I would not have turned down the drugs and taken the easy way out if it weren't for Dan.  I would never had started selling for Cellucor if it weren't for Dan and Hank.  I wouldn't have started a fitness company if it weren't for all the founding members of CutUpClub wanting a place to call home, all the help from Cellucor, and all the support from my family and friends.  I would never have decided to compete if it weren't for Ashley pushing me to push myself. I wouldn't have learned the proper side of nutrition, training, and competing if it weren't for my coach, Tim.  I wouldn't have pushed myself to be better without all the support from the members of my gym, Jen Jewell, Craig, Colton, Charles, Karina, Rachel, Ana and all the other competitors that told me I would kill it.  Without Tyler texting me and keeping me sane, I probably would have quit. It wouldn't have led to Vegas, and I wouldn't have grown up.  I wouldn't have been able to afford all the supplements if it weren't for Hank and the affiliate program at Cellucor. I wouldn't have gotten through prep if it weren't for my Mom being my number one fan.  I could be 30% body-fat and the lady would still tell me that I look ripped.  Without my teammates Alana, Dawn, and Renae to text me during the last week, we may have all went crazy!  What I'm getting at is what a friend of mine, Dan Shaffer said.  He said the only time you're alone is when you're on stage.  I agreed with him until I was on stage.  Even then I wasn't alone.  I felt as if my cheering section was posing with me. Without every single one of these working parts, I simply wouldn't have accomplished anything.

I ended up placing second in my weight class.  If you know me, you know that I hate losing.  I'm the most competitive person I know and losing didn't sit well with me.  I was initially very frustrated when they called my number for second place.  Then I heard my obnoxious friends and family cheering their hearts out.  I had friends and family travel a long way to support me.  Donovan drove from Ohio to be there. Elise, Leah, Szal, Jackie, Kyle, Max, Mom, Alex, Ashley, Suzy, Joe, Nick, Sam and Jon all drove to come support me.  Standing there on stage, my whole journey flashed quickly in my head.  Standing on stage, in a little green manthong, in front of a thousand people, I couldn't help but smile. How far I had come, all the things I had learned, all the friends I had made, and all the opportunities I was given; I may not have won, but I sure as hell didn't lose.