Online Coaching With Alex Chris Martin

Growing up, I was always the fat kid. When I was in the seventh grade I was finally fed up with all of the bullying and teasing. I signed up to play football, thinking, “Maybe this could change my path.”

To say it kicked my ass would be an understatement. Every practice made me feel as if I wouldn’t make it out alive. I hated it. Knowing that football practice was after school filled me with anxiety and distraught every single day. I could literally feel my heart racing as the final bell of school would ring. 

After two years of conditioning, weight-lifting, and practicing, I looked and felt the exact same. I was frustrated, so I quit. Still the fat kid. No change.

Lucky for me, my mom was gracious enough to buy me a gym membership. I started to build a habit of getting to the gym as often as I could. Even if it was just bench press and curls, it made me feel like I was getting somewhere. I started to shuffle my diet, and for once, I saw the tiniest bit of change.

As time went on, I stuck with it. I had found it much easier to stay committed when I saw results. I had lost 20 lbs! I was down to 140lbs with abs for the first time in my life. It felt great, knowing I had the power to change my body. I wanted to push for more muscle and even less fat, so I dove into the bodybuilding world. Fast forward a few years and I got the terrible advice of, “Eat everything you see and cut the fat back later.” I was serious about progressing, so I listened.

Growing up as the fat kid, I had one hell of an appetite. That, combined with the ego I had developed, led me down a dark path. On January 1st of 2015, I found myself standing at 5'6" and 200 lbs at 30% body fat. Looking and feeling worse than ever. 

Classified as clinically obese, two things had gotten me to that point; a lack of knowledge and a lack of discipline. As someone who had been “bodybuilding” for two years at that point in time, I was beyond frustrated with myself. After I had come to terms with what I had become, I knew I had to make a change. 

This lit a fire under me, and I made the decision to transform. Immediately, I signed up to compete in a bodybuilding competition. This quick decision changed my life forever, as I forced myself to change. Through this whole preparation, still led by ego, I was convinced I would win. I would win and I would prove to everyone I wasn’t that fat kid anymore.

While I thought I had 10 or 15 lbs to lose, I quickly discovered I didn’t have nearly as much muscle as I believed I did. After losing 50 lbs, a fourth of my total body weight, seven months later I competed standing at 150 lbs and 6% body fat.

I placed last. Sixth out of six. They even pronounced my name, Alexis Martinez (Google the 2015 NPC Independence Day Classic, you’ll find it).

Crushed, I rebounded hard. Back up to a soft, round 185 lbs. Nothing was working for the long run. It seemed like no matter what I did, I kept ending up at a place of  frustration, confusion, and now an added feeling of hopelessness. I knew I had the power to change my body, but I just didn’t understand how to keep that change.

I dove deep into research, spending hours every night reading, listening, and absorbing all of the credible information on resistance training and body transformations that I could. I found out everything I had been doing all these years was wrong. My approach was off. Form was shit. Diet was poor. Four hours of sleep a night. Being driven by negative emotion and ego had taken me nowhere. 

I had to approach this health and wellness journey from a place of positive emotion. I wanted to continue to learn the right ways to integrate fitness into my life. The ways that would provide me the most benefit for my time and allow me to live my life the way I see fit, without spending 3 hours a day in the gym.

As I applied these practices and knowledge that I’d acquired, I was making exponential amounts of progress in minimal amounts of time. 

It felt so good to know that going into the gym now, I was making changes that would be long lasting and adding to the quality of my life. 

I decided to compete again. As a measure of progress, for me. Not to prove anything to anyone else. I looked, felt, and performed better than ever, all due to the fact that I approached my training from a place of self-love and betterment, rather than ego and resentment.

I won first in my class (and they pronounced my name, Alex Martin)! To this day, training now means more than it ever has. It’s an anchor of discipline. It’s taught me to steer my life in the direction I want to go. 

While I’ve obviously been through ups and downs on my own fitness journey, I’m very proud of the place I’ve come from. It’s served me, as it has enabled me to relate to those struggling with their own weight and health. I want to eat a cheeseburger and skip the gym as much as the next guy sometimes, we’re all human. But, this process is about changing habits to change your life. Fitness has changed my life forever, and I would love to guide you on your own path to health and wellness!

Growing up, I was always the fat kid. When I was in the seventh grade I was finally fed up with all of the bullying and teasing. I signed up to play football, thinking, “Maybe this could change my path.”

To say it kicked my ass would be an understatement. Every practice made me feel as if I wouldn’t make it out alive. I hated it. Knowing that football practice was after school filled me with anxiety and distraught every single day. I could literally feel my heart racing as the final bell of school would ring. 

After two years of conditioning, weight-lifting, and practicing, I looked and felt the exact same. I was frustrated, so I quit. Still the fat kid. No change.

Lucky for me, my mom was gracious enough to buy me a gym membership. I started to build a habit of getting to the gym as often as I could. Even if it was just bench press and curls, it made me feel like I was getting somewhere. I started to shuffle my diet, and for once, I saw the tiniest bit of change.

As time went on, I stuck with it. I had found it much easier to stay committed when I saw results. I had lost 20 lbs! I was down to 140lbs with abs for the first time in my life. It felt great, knowing I had the power to change my body. I wanted to push for more muscle and even less fat, so I dove into the bodybuilding world. Fast forward a few years and I got the terrible advice of, “Eat everything you see and cut the fat back later.” I was serious about progressing, so I listened.

Growing up as the fat kid, I had one hell of an appetite. That, combined with the ego I had developed, led me down a dark path. On January 1st of 2015, I found myself standing at 5'6" and 200 lbs at 30% body fat. Looking and feeling worse than ever. 

Classified as clinically obese, two things had gotten me to that point; a lack of knowledge and a lack of discipline. As someone who had been “bodybuilding” for two years at that point in time, I was beyond frustrated with myself. After I had come to terms with what I had become, I knew I had to make a change. 

This lit a fire under me, and I made the decision to transform. Immediately, I signed up to compete in a bodybuilding competition. This quick decision changed my life forever, as I forced myself to change. Through this whole preparation, still led by ego, I was convinced I would win. I would win and I would prove to everyone I wasn’t that fat kid anymore.

While I thought I had 10 or 15 lbs to lose, I quickly discovered I didn’t have nearly as much muscle as I believed I did. After losing 50 lbs, a fourth of my total body weight, seven months later I competed standing at 150 lbs and 6% body fat.

I placed last. Sixth out of six. They even pronounced my name, Alexis Martinez (Google the 2015 NPC Independence Day Classic, you’ll find it).

Crushed, I rebounded hard. Back up to a soft, round 185 lbs. Nothing was working for the long run. It seemed like no matter what I did, I kept ending up at a place of  frustration, confusion, and now an added feeling of hopelessness. I knew I had the power to change my body, but I just didn’t understand how to keep that change.

I dove deep into research, spending hours every night reading, listening, and absorbing all of the credible information on resistance training and body transformations that I could. I found out everything I had been doing all these years was wrong. My approach was off. Form was shit. Diet was poor. Four hours of sleep a night. Being driven by negative emotion and ego had taken me nowhere. 

I had to approach this health and wellness journey from a place of positive emotion. I wanted to continue to learn the right ways to integrate fitness into my life. The ways that would provide me the most benefit for my time and allow me to live my life the way I see fit, without spending 3 hours a day in the gym.

As I applied these practices and knowledge that I’d acquired, I was making exponential amounts of progress in minimal amounts of time. 

It felt so good to know that going into the gym now, I was making changes that would be long lasting and adding to the quality of my life. 

I decided to compete again. As a measure of progress, for me. Not to prove anything to anyone else. I looked, felt, and performed better than ever, all due to the fact that I approached my training from a place of self-love and betterment, rather than ego and resentment.

I won first in my class (and they pronounced my name, Alex Martin)! To this day, training now means more than it ever has. It’s an anchor of discipline. It’s taught me to steer my life in the direction I want to go. 

While I’ve obviously been through ups and downs on my own fitness journey, I’m very proud of the place I’ve come from. It’s served me, as it has enabled me to relate to those struggling with their own weight and health. I want to eat a cheeseburger and skip the gym as much as the next guy sometimes, we’re all human. But, this process is about changing habits to change your life. Fitness has changed my life forever, and I would love to guide you on your own path to health and wellness!