I am the youngest of seven children. It seemed everyone in my family was gifted with athletic ability except for me. My Freshman year in High School my brother was the team captain of the National championship football team, and I weighed 95 lbs and was 4'11"I looked more like my brothers son than his brother. I gained height but not a lot of weight. By the time I graduated I was 6' tall but only weighed 120 lbs. It was then my brother the football player introduced me to weight training. Although awkward at first because I could not bench the bar and he was so strong, he was incredibly patient with me and eventually I gained some weight and got stronger. I also gained confidence. He and I also grew very close. At the age of 19 I served a church mission in Argentina. A diet of pasta and beef was tough on the waistline. When I returned 2 years later I went back to the gym with my brother. I continued my education and got in excellent shape again (Which isn't hard for a 21 yr old). At the age of 24 I married and graduated in Chemical Engineering. I committed myself to my job and company. I put on weight and my physique suffered. When I was 27 my mother passed away from Cancer. My mother had fought obesity her entire life. I saw how it complicated the cancer and how she suffered. After she passed away I re-committed to fitness. Starting slowly but committed. When I was 31 my brother, who had such a huge impact on my fitness lifestyle, passed away, only causing me to re-commit to living a healthy lifestyle. My wife and I have enjoyed fitness together and it has been an excellent hobby and release from the day-to-day pressures. I am constantly learning how to live, eat and work out better. The most important thing I have learned is to be committed to change. It seems like an oxy-moron. However, the moment you become comfortable with your workout, you stop making gains. I have learned to give up exercises I traditionally enjoy for exercises that I would not dream of doing and being pleasantly surprised with the results. I read about and try a lot of different routines and they are all good. The important thing is to keep changing and keep your body guessing. I change routines about every 6 weeks. So every six weeks it is like going to the gym for the first time. Sometimes I focus on strength building, other times I may focus on getting lean. Diet has a larger impact physique than any other facet of fitness. I broke through a major plateau once I really started dieting. Like the work out routines, most diets will get you where you want to be. The trick is dedicating yourself to the diet and bucking the trend of our culture to eat fast food and to "super size". You should eat no portion larger than the volume of your hands cupped together. Ass you can tell by reading this the word commitment is the most commonly written word. To have success in anything requires commitment. Career, family and fitness all require high levels of commitment. Fitness although requiring commitment, allows for release from the pressure associated to committing yourself on a daily basis. No one can maintain such high levels of commitment with support and understanding from those who surround them. An excellent support system is critical to a healthy lifestyle. I have been lucky enough to have a beautiful supportive wife that has stood by me in all my trials and tribulations, successes and failures. John Mitchell was kind enough to commit his entire Labor Day weekend to my shoot. He worked very hard to insure that I arrived safely and all of the details had been taken care of. John had the experience I was looking for in adding the fitness aspect to my portfolio. He had shot with many body builder/fitness type people so he knew exactly what to do. I appreciated john's focus and work ethic. He did not waste time and was professional in all of his dealings. He spent the time and gave me the attention I needed to get the best shots possible. He was very flexible and easy to work with which made this shoot a very positive experience. He is known and respected in the fitness modeling industry so shots by John Mitchell add credibility to your portfolio. I would highly recommend John to anybody considering doing fitness/bodybuilding shots. View Photo Portfolio Site Created & Hosted by MetroHost.Com
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