Hi! I'm Brandon from Frederick Maryland. I'm a Personal Trainer working out of my hometown for a local health club, The Frederick Athletic Club. I began training in early 2008 and have loved every minute of it. I love my gym and the people there. The gym is very family oriented, which I really admire, and we get a very diverse crowd all looking for different things. I work with all types of people, looking to attain all different types of goals. If you want it, I am the man to help you get it. Given my own passion for the job, I treat every client as if they were myself, investing the same time, knowledge, and attributes as I would for myself. My passion comes out in my work and I feel that all of my clients benefit because of it. I make it my mission to get results because I feel if I fail my client, I fail myself.
My entire life has been focused around fitness and sports one way or another. From the time I could walk I was always involved in some type of physical activity. It was not until I began playing football in middle school, however, that I was introduced to lifting weights. I was an "all-season" athlete in high school. I was involved in football in the fall, indoor track in the winter, track and field in the spring, 7 on 7 leagues for offseason football, and was at the school gym 4 days a week all summer long on top of endless camps. When normal families were on vacation relaxing, I was training, I was preparing, and I was getting better. I always felt at home in the gym, it was like some sort of hidden relationship I had suddenly found. I knew my time in the gym could directly influence my performance in sports and so I lived there.
By my junior year of high school, I thought I was flying high. At the Maryland Jr. Combine for football I registered a 4.33 second 40 yard dash, 20 reps of 185lbs on the bench press, a 34 inch vertical jump, a 4.2s shuttle, and measured a mere 5'9 and only 170 pounds (on a good day). It was evident my time in the gym was paying off, so I started to push it even harder. I always pushed myself to my body's breaking point, and enjoyed doing so. I guess it paid off for it got me a college scholarship for football to a nearby college (Shepherd College Rams), where they wanted me to play defensive back. Well, I guess I just was not ready for that because only one week into camp I decided to leave Shepherd. I came back home, enrolled in a Community College, and started working 35 hours a week at a local grocery store. This went on for an entire year but it just did not seem right, so I started working out with my younger brother at my old high school again and a small school recruiter saw me and gave me a second chance at football. Bridgewater College, in Va; I went for offense, played 3 years of varsity, made numerous friends and relationships I will forever remember, and will consider it the best time of my life.
Football was my life, it always had been, but at some point I began loving my time in the weight room almost as much, if not more than, my time on the field. I started bulking up a little more, got more interested in lifting heavier weight, performing better, and learning what I was really doing and not just taking my coaches' words for it. For that reason, I graduated with a degree in Allied Health Sciences, with a minor in Nutrition & Wellness. No longer did I go to the gym not knowing what I was really doing, following some pull-out workout from a magazine or from my days in high school. I now knew the science behind working out and used that to my advantage to get a leg up on the competition. I consider myself lucky for this because I have a 4-year degree in a field that directly helps me with my job where as many other people in my profession only have a certification from a weekend class, or few hours of classroom time. Not me, I had the degree which lets me feel like that puts me ahead of the person only having a weekend's worth of knowledge.
Fast forward to today. I'm 5'-9 on a good day, hovering usually between 190 to 195 pounds. I have posted personal bests in lifts such as a 380lb bench press or 225 for 30 reps, squatted 465 15 times and hit 510 in college, power cleaned 310, deadlifted 600lbs; I've had 20 inch arms, abs, and can still run. I eat the same things most days of the week usually paying pretty strict attention to what I put in my mouth, and how it is going to affect my progress in the gym. My only downfall is that my fiancé’s family owns an ice cream shop (Marble Slab Creamery), which I help do catering work for, and I come from an ice cream loving family. I try and limit my intake though, and watch most everything else that I eat. I finally decided to try this fitness modeling thing because I figured I live my life based on working out as is, so I might as well try and use it for something a bit more productive. I have had my share of obstacles to overcome, Spondylolysis, which is a fracture in my L4 vertebra in my back, a torn labrum surgically repaired in my left shoulder, 6 or 7 concussions from sports, and 2 bad ankles to name a few. I feel that if it weren't for exercise, I would probably be much worse off right now than I am. It is now 2010. I am currently engaged, (sorry ladies), and plan on being married next spring in Florida. My fiancé is a beautiful person and I am now trying to get her more involved in the fitness society as well. I plan on pushing my body to its breaking points, and then some, and hopefully will make something of this modeling thing.
With the help of John here at BBpics I know my chances of success are now increased. From our very first phone conversation I could tell John were a great guy, one to be respected and one who knew what he was talking about. Upon meeting him for my very first shoot, we both hit it off. He was impressed with my knowledge of my own body and how I could control it, and I was dually impressed with his knowledge on how to get the right shots, with the right looks, and those little tricks I consider special from a great professional. Anyone who is weary of working with the man should set their fears aside and rest assured that he will have your best interests in mind. He truly is professional and a great person, aside from eating in front of me as I'm standing there starving from days and days of dieting. I am definitely looking forward to progressing and moving forward with John and pursuing all career opportunities that come my way. I want to make something of this opportunity and show the world what healthy living can do for them and be an inspiring figure for those generations in front of and behind me.
After completing my second shoot with John here at BBpics I must say I was even more impressed the second time than the first. This time around I decided to skip the hotel and take John up on his offer of hospitality. I was not let down! John showed great hospitality while allowing me in his home, and if it was not for his refrigerated water I might not have made it home, haha. John was a great sport and helped make my second shoot a memorable one. He put up with my constant joking, as always, and was always professional while at the same time having a good time with my personality. He toughed it out with me in the 102 degree heat for eight hours straight and the only time he made me mad was eating that delicious looking food in front of me before we shot. The shots turned out great, and now I have even more credentials to add to my port folio. John has been a true friend, and professional individual and I appreciate all the time he has put into helping me get where I am going.
New Lifts Updated: (Sep 23, 2010) Benched 395 and squatted 405 15 times. Bigger and BETTER! :)
Lets keep it going man! Anyone interested in contacting me may feel free to contact me at byrd02champion@aol.com and just be sure to send my millions of dollars in the mail ;)
