ByStaff
Why is fitness important to you?
Hello world! My name is dexy, creator of “dexy_world” and I am a content creator, fitness expert, lifestyle model, and currently pursing fit bodybuilding. I love working out and everything about the fitness world and because of it, it has led me down a long and painful but rewarding and heart-felt journey that I’ve enjoyed and wouldn’t change for the world. This journey was process and this process has shaped my world and it has made me into the fitness-expert I am today and I love it.
Fitness is important to me because frankly it has been my whole life ever since I was a young kid. I would like to think I was born curling dumbbells in my mother’s womb. Ever since I was able to walk as a baby I was always doing something active, mostly getting in trouble for running in the streets or banging my body up from falling from high and scary places. I’ve always been a daredevil. As I grew older, I became involved in sports at any early age which started my interest in the fitness world. I was both lucky and fortunate enough to be one of the only young kids in school that majored in “four letter” sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. My dream was to eventually play professional sports and everyday since I made that commitment, I would work on my tradecraft preparing myself for the big leagues.
I eventually received some offers to play football in college. During my college years, it was a battle, more like a war. Every day was a grueling and painful experience. If I wasn’t in class, I was training on the gridiron or in the weight room Everyday was different from the last and no day was ever the same. I was constantly receiving treatment from the athletic training staff, taking ice baths, and getting therapeutic massages. My body was going through a struggle but I understood It was just the process of playing the sports at this high of a level,; however it toughen me up in the truest sense possible teaching my body what physically and mentally toughness was. The scars, the lessons, and the experiences I learned will be forever carried in my heart
During my junior year of college, while playing in a game, I suffered a career ending injury which took me away from the one thing I loved most. My whole existence in life seemed to go up in smoke. Doctors told me I would never be able perform at the competitive level again. I eventually underwent two operations to repair ligament damage to my legs. I was scared, defeated, and depressed by my current state. By the time I graduated, my injury were just healing and I felt like I no purpose in life. I was lost without the one thing I was use to doing everyday, competing. I had completely given up on any and all fitness aspirations.
One day, I caught a commercial on TV about military service. I was inspired, motivated, and obsessed with something I felt I could attain. My war animal started to tingle inside me again and that fire, passion, and focused all came back to life. From then on, I would be in the gym, in therapy and in the books learning about body physiology and biomechanics. After months of relearning how to do the things I was once use to doing, I eventually able to walk, run, and then spirit. I learned how to rebuild my body. The process was not easy but a necessary evil to reclaim my competitive-self. Eventually my body became rock-solid and I started to realize the power of the metal toughness, consistency, and knowledge. My body became my canvas and I realize I had the ability and knowledge to shape it in any form I wanted.
My story ends with from that day on, I never look at my body the same ever again. The ability to taking nothing and reshape it into something better and greater than ever before was so amazing.
I can confidently say, I may be broken and scared up on the inside, but the outside is a well oiled machine that can do everything and anything I put my mind too. Today I can and do compete with men and women of all ages and all any fitness levels not only without any issues but more importantly often finishing in the 90% percentile in my competitive classes. Not only do I have a passion of continuing my greatness toward fitness stardom, I also absolutely love helping others reshape their lives too. I hope my story inspires and provides other people with the opportunity to to rethink and reimagine themselves in a way they would never thought possible.
The reason why I love fitness so much is not because of the physical aspect of it at all. Fitness is a process and teaches people so much about life you can’t even imagine unless you try it out. Without fitness, my life would be in broken and unrecognizable. Fitness is a forever changing process that isn’t smooth or well-paved by any stretching of the imagination, but the ups and downs, the pain vs rewarded, the gains and losses, the mental toughness and the mental breaks, is all relatable to the same struggles life brings your way. To conquer life, you must understand conquer yourself first and pushing yourself through physical and mental stress is a phenomenal experience. I love fitness because it has allowed me to understand who I am an what I can I am capable of.
What kind of experience should someone expect when having you as their trainer?
When it comes to training others I have a very slow and steady systematic approach because I want others to experience the greatness that fitness and becoming a fit individual has to offer. Most people for starters are very self-conscious, nervous, intimidated, and just outright unmotivated all of which are issues that can be workout with patience and having a great rapport with clients. Some of the most exciting parts of fitness training that I love so much is getting to know new clients , their story, and their dream level of physical fitness they wish to attain. It is an absolute thrill for me to discover new people no matter what gender, ethnicity, or cultural differences because each individual has their own unique story which to themselves may not be of importance, but to others it can absolutely become impactful and inspirational on it’s on merit.
Most people think being trainer is a one way relationship when in fact it is not. Being a trainer, at least being a great trainer in my own terms is so pivotal because even though I’m helping someone achieve a specific goal; by the same token, that individual is also teaching me so much more than they know just by merely exposing me to their life story wether that be in the form of their goals, dreams, successes, smiles, struggles, failures, or frustration. Peer support through good and the bad times is an amazing tool we often overlook. I look at fitness training as more than teaching someone how to workout, in fact a multidimensional relationship where the trainer and client are relaying on each other to be positive, inspirational, motivational, accountable, and most importantly supportive.
I myself have experience the good, the bad, and the ugly when I comes to coaching and instructional lessons and based off my life experiences, teachings, and training I know what kind of trainer I want to become and the kind I don’t want to become. Fortunately for myself, I have had a lot of great and amazing mentors and educators through my life who has supported me through my successes and failures and I am very grateful to have had these opportunities, otherwise I don’t think I would be standing as strong as I am today. I went to carry this positive action forward, backwards, and across all platforms so that I may help build others up the same way other have built me up. Life is dark, hard and cold. I want to build a community around me with individuals who can relate and wish to forever improve their lives. “Progress not perfection ” is my number one goal.
Tell us about your balance with working out and the food you consume.
A lot of people I come across in life simply have the wrong idea about the relationship with food and fitness. Based on my opinion as a subject matter expert I want to dispel a common myth that a lot people have right now. There is no magic pill that you can eat, swallow, smell, or inject that will automatically give you the results you want, its a fantasy that a lot people have in their mind due to a lot of misinformation that are marketed towards the general public. I do not dispute the fact that there are things that you can take to help with performance. However, the simple fact remains that food consumption and fitness have a direct symbiotic relationship with one another.
One key principal that has helped with my own journey was being honest with myself and understanding what my true fitness goals were. Once I was able to analyze what I truly wanted, developed a plan of action, and held myself accountable, the discipline of ‘proportional food intake’ aka “dieting” became much easier. Why would this play a role you ask? Simply because I became invested in my own success. I no longer looked at food as food. Food for me was my body’s fuel and everything and anything that went into my body had to be functional and purposeful or else I couldn’t consciously consume it. Once I became serious about my physical goals that I wanted to achieve, I become a student of nutrition, supplements, and herbal science. During my journey, I learned so much about body biomechanics and gastrointestinal health, food packaging and processing science, and medicinal biohacking, it was easy for me to make a conscious decision about what I would or wouldn’t eat.
I am a great proponent of having a healthy and proportional diet even including indulging in one’s favorite treats, which mines happens to be all things sweet. The great turning point for me along with several other individuals I have collaborated with has been the moment when you realize your awesome execution of a well thought of plan has significantly impact the way your body looks both inside and out. This kind of euphoria is a high unlike any other and eventually it becomes a obsession always striving to achieve bigger and bigger gains. The mental toughness, discipline, and sacrifice it takes to abstain yourself from ingesting poor quality food becomes secondary in nature because those great gains of seeing your body morph becomes incredibly satisfying.
At this stage in my life, there is no doubt when I step into any gym, there is no question in my mind what my sole purpose for the next hour is and knowing that I have properly prepared and nurtured my body with the right kinds of food gives me the confidence I need to put the kind of pressure I demand from my body. As it has been said many times over by others before me, the only easy day in the fitness world is always yesterday because yesterday is already over. Each new day requires a conscious decisions, effort, mental toughness to survive and stay on mission and surrounding yourself with a community of fellow gym warriors makes it that much easier.
What is the most difficult aspect of being an Entrepreneur?
I can say without a shadow of a doubt the most difficult aspect of being a entrepreneur is that very beginning. Like many hustlers and grinders alike there is a fine line between creating a hobby or creating a business. Once you know you have something that people want, enjoy, and see value in then taking that next plunge is the scariest thing in world. Not only is that plunge scary, unpredictable, and mental exhausting, but the amount of self-doubt and pressure you place on yourself to get things moving in what you think is the right direction can be very paralyzing. All new things in life are challenges, and I spent my whole life knocking down challenges. As a fighter, motivator, and competitor I continually push on everyday to make my business aspirations a reality. This is something I am presently working on and just like anything else nothing ever happens overnight. My entrepreneur spirit burns flaming hot inside me, because I know I can make a difference and an impact so I choose to push on for those who could benefit from my work. This is ultimately my why that keeps me driving hard.
How do you manage the competitiveness in the fitness world?
Competition comes in all different shapes, sizes, genders, and events. Not everybody and not every event is going to favor everyone. Usually in the fitness world and also in the civilian world as well, each individual has their sweet spot or what I like to call their, “ Super-power”. As a competitor whose been involved in competitive play for nearly my entire life, I have come to appreciate the talents of many different individuals. By appreciating individuals talents, I also come to the understanding that being able to analyze your opponents strengths and weakness is of even greater importance. All to often competitors get caught up in the moment of pride and ego, that they dismiss the importance of observing and calculating your competition. In a world of where getting an edge on your competition can mean the difference between first place or no place, it can be advantageous to take notes. All competitors have rituals, routines, and techniques used to help become game-ready, reduce stress, and get dallied in while unintentionally giving away indicators of what their superpower might be similar to how football teams study game tapes. Yes competition does have a lot of strategy involved at a very high level, however at the basic level nothing replaces good old fashion sweat equity and preparation.
Preparation is what I like to call the devil playground because it is in this stage is where an individual will go bang or bust. It is in this stage where it is just you, your thoughts, and your body and everyday you are executing your plan to perfection day in day out. The mind is a dangerous thing I come to realize if you doing have. A focus and don’t have. Why to what your doing. Your mind can tell you a lot of things and I have herd them all because either I have experience it myself and then also I herd the same things from what other people tell me. This is what is called, mental toughness. The ability to grind every day and put your body through so much stress, pressure, pain, and sweat is an incredible feat and not everybody can do this exact same routine for extended periods of time, especially by themselves. It a learning process and I spent almost three decades learning this, developing this, and perfecting this that to me its not even a thought in my mind. This is how I manage and stay competitive in the fitness world because I know my mental toughness is greater than average. There are absolutely no calculators that can calculate how much stress and pain management my body can take, but in my mind I know that calculation is more than any other person I will be competing against and I use this to drive my success. On my daily grind behind the stage, I know if I stick to my plan and accomplish all my goals each and everyday that prep work will put me ahead of my competition. The early days, late nights, extra gym sessions, the pain, the crying, the self-doubt, the frustration, and the urge to quit is all revenant to anybody at any time; however the management of these emotions is what makes a average athlete into an elite athlete. This is how I can do what I do. I am that one who can best management my emotions, stay on task, and complete the mission. As we say in the Army, im always “Charlie Mic.”
What does success look like for you?
When it comes to success there is no easy way to define it. Success can come in my different forms, shapes, and sizes. At the micro level, I would first define success as executing on my own planned expectations. I cannot and will not hold others accountable for their own fitness dreams, if I intern cannot accomplish my own. I believe one of my best character traits is being a leader of action rather than a leader of words. Being being this type of leader I believe it creates an opportunity to not only lead by example by accomplishing my own fitness goals, moreover develops important skillsets that I can use to deliver for my clients which gives me the ability to pass on valuable insights, experiences, and emotional support. There old saying that I like to relate which is, “ Those who have walked close to death best understand how to avoid dying”. I too have walked in those shoes of an average Joe as a skinny do-nothing kid. Through my own experiences, training, education I was able to rise up from the ashes and become a the person I stands before you today. While some others wouldn’t necessary be proud of their humble beginnings, I in fact am very proud of my beginning, middle, and hopefully ending because the maturation my mind, body, and spirit had to go through was amazing. I am by no stretching of the imagination perfect nor will I ever have a perfect body; however, success on this front means I appreciate the little changes that do happen and to me that’s a victory in itself.
Another measure of success that I would like call attention to as being very pivotal is how th people I come to work with appreciate my value. There nothing more complimentary than having your peers appreciate your work and even more see the value in the work and teaching you provide, its simply a intoxicating. Now I don’t want this to be misconstrued in terms of caring what other people think. Nonetheless, I view myself as being in the social business where people opinion do hold some weight. I want to instill a supportive, positive, and energetic experience to any individual I come across. My values on how I was raised taught me as such and if people that I work with can appreciate my guidance and eventually use that guidance to change any part of their life in a positive and impactful way, then I would absolutely would call this more of a personal victory. I have always been taught to not only provide value to myself, but also, if possible, create and inspire value in others. This is the essence of a true successful leader. The fitness industry is at times very overbearing and judgmental place, but it doesn’t have to be. My ultimately goal in doing what I do is serve as a force multiplier meaning I would absolutely love to help inspire, motivate, and call to action as many people as possible to change their life through fitness. Fitness is a way to not only look good and feel good, but more importantly its a gateway to seek balance in the other areas of a person’s life. Fitness has been so successful in changing my life and I would be remiss of I didn’t try to encourage others to do the same. To be able to impact someone else’s fitness journey or transformation in a positive way would be the great accomplishment I could hope for.
Where would you like for your fitness business to be in the next five years?
The fitness business is a difficult and crowded beast to tame. There are so many great people in the space with amazing products and content to offer. I would both love opportunity and would would also love to be one of the those creators that has a huge tribe of people who are interested in the value I am putting out into the world. I think social media at this time is such a powerhouse as far as being to put out content and have it reach millions around the world that others I can never meet. I love the personable nature of my job because one of the aspects of fitness I enjoy is the social interactions of being able to talk to people, bounce ideas of people, and also to challenge people so together we can transcend the way people live, love, smile, and eat. To accomplish this goal and influence people on a mass scale would be a dream come true because I’m passionate about creating a safe place allowing people to come together and provide inspiration, motivation, and positive content that we all can learn and utilize in our daily lives. Social media has become the new way of learning and I would love to be able to better utilize these tools to enhance body positivity, mental health, and nutrition for all. My passion for helping others comes from those who have helped me along the way and I would just like to pay my experiences forward to the next and make positive impacts wherever I can.
Social Media
IG- dexy_world
tiktok- tiktok.com/@dexy_world
email- dexyworldworld@gmail.com
