A little over two years ago I stumbled across a Facebook post from a guy named Ben House. He was a “nutrition guy” who operated in this weird world of trainer friends of mine that I call “respiration based s&c”. His posts were both refreshingly inspiring and yet bathed in realism.
I dove into everything I could find in terms of his writing. From Facebook posts to blogs. It was challenging a lot of my biases and yet I still wanted more. I knew that the guy punch to my ego meant that I had identified a blind spot.
Not long after Ben came to NYC to do a seminar with some radically influential (if unorthodox) members of the S&C community including Derek Hansen, Michael Mullins, and Pat Davidson. Pat was already a huge influence on how I approached training and his methodology of classification was informing my thought process. When Ben spoke, though, he spoke pretty directly to me. He said, “the only things I really care about (in terms of training) are nutrition and getting jacked.” Preach.
Today I have returned to NYC from the jungles of Costa Rica and a week filled with education and communing with people who share those same values. I spent 8 weeks researching and preparing for a presentation in front of the best of the best. I can never overstate the profound effect this week had on my professional development.
So thank you Ben for your mentorship. I am a different man than I was 8 weeks ago and even though I have some years under my belt and some decent experience, these 8 weeks have transformed me and I can now begin my next phase. I can confidently stand up there with anyone.
The best part is that this is just the beginning. This was just the framework to get to the starting line. Now the real work begins. Now I have a rudimentary understanding of research. Now I don’t have the protection of ignorance. And while that can be frightening, it can also be freeing. Pura vida.
