*The title of this post was taken from the Dionne Warwick song of the same name*
There are a small handful of clients who have been with me nearly since the beginning. Some have started, left for a time, and returned but I have a few who have been with me with hardly a break at all.
One such client would be Mike.
When Mike started with me, he had some weight to lose (approximately 30lbs) and a good amount of motivation to get started (a medical diagnosis he wanted to see if he could reverse through diet and exercise.)
Fortunately for Mike, he lost the weight he needed to within a handful of months. We experimented with a diet plan that I had suggested to him at the time and it worked like a charm.
Mike kept getting stronger and sure enough, he was able to reverse the conditions that had led him to my door initially.
Looking back over the nearly 7 years that we’ve been working together, Mike and I have seen each other through a lot. He was there for me when I lost my father and there for Marissa and I when we got married. When Mike’s own father passed away, I was there for him too. Like so many of my clients, Mike is as good as family to me.
As far as his training regimen, Mike has run the gamut. He has focused mostly on full body workouts throughout his time with me. Many times there was a set program to follow and, more recently, programming at random depending on how he’s feeling. Over the years, his passion for long distance cycling has increased and he’s become more and more of a fan of getting his mileage and endurance work in that way.
We even went through a cycle of powerlifting where Mike got to focus on pushing his numbers up in the squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press. When he hit the peak of where he wanted those numbers to go, we scaled it back and transitioned over to the full-body workouts again.
Recently, Mike decided he wanted to re-engineer his diet as well. So, after some studies on his own, he made the choice to go plant-based with his diet. While that was never a focus of mine, part of any client’s journey is discovering what is the best food plan for their own life in the most sustainable way possible.
Mike is the type of person you really want in your business: kind, motivated, personable, and supportive to others. He may not know this but I’ve learned my fair share about being a father, being a son and being a husband just through watching his actions and throughout our conversations.
I guess the other thing about having Mike with me for as long as he’s been here is that he has watched me try (and sometimes fail) to keep this business evolving. He’s patient, understanding and always knows the right way and the right time to give some advice along the way. Mike, to his credit, is also a small business owner. He’s the guy we turn to when we have computer issues: viruses, bad hard drives, etc. There isn’t any one else I would trust with that kind of work so I tell everyone I can about him.
So, to Mike directly: I love you, buddy. Thanks for sticking with me for all these years and trusting me to take care of you too. It has been an honor and I look forward to many years of health, friendship and continued strength together.
Maybe even a piece of chicken…(sorry, I had to.) 🙂
