01/10/2026
I’m not sure who this post is for, maybe it’s to inspire. Maybe it’s for me. 20 years ago, my high school weightlifting coach made these shirts for our team. Coach Roger Macintosh was the man. He pushed me to personal bests and played a huge role in why I chose a career in fitness. My senior year, I missed qualifying for the Florida State weightlifting competition by 15 pounds on my clean and jerk. I remember feeling like a failure and taking a lot of time to process it. I joked later to Coach Mac that if I had taken “something,” I probably would’ve made it. He didn’t laugh. He stared me down like I told him I just crashed his truck and he replied “Don’t ever put that s**t in your body.”
He told me he was proud of our team because, unlike a lot of other schools, we refused shortcuts — no steroids, no diet pills to make weight, no enhancements. What he gave us wasn’t something you could buy and the fitness industry can’t sell it. He gave us pride and to this day, that lesson stuck.
So when clients ask me about steroids or GLP-1 drugs, part of me wants to give them the Coach Mac eyes. Not from judgment but from care. I get it. I was out of shape in middle school. I gained weight and lost my routine after a brain injury.
I tore my rotator cuff in 2025 and had my training limited for nearly the whole year. Admittedly to this day, I still go back to that final clean and jerk thinking “if I was only stronger”. So please believe that I know what it’s like to want the fast fix. But this industry survives by making you feel like something is wrong with you — like you’re behind, not enough, or broken unless you buy the next solution or follow the next trend. Bigger arms. Faster weight loss. A different body. That’s NOT how I coach. Will you lose 80 pounds in four weeks with me? No. Will you look like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson after a year? Probably not. But you will get stronger. You will become more resilient. And most importantly, you’ll gain confidence in the body you have, not the one social media tells you need.
Make healthy choices, my friends.
I’m here to guide you, not judge you — every step of the way. Happy new year, let’s f****n go.
#2026
