Keep Chopping Wood

“KEEP. CHOPPING. WOOD. It’s a lifestyle change, and it sucks. But you have to adjust your mind, suck it up and do it. There is no magic formula. Hard work, discipline, blood, sweat, tears, failures, and successes will all be part of it. But man, when you hit those goals, there is no better high.” — Travis Bell

I am lucky to call Travis a client. But I’m even luckier to call him a friend. Last month I approached Travis and asked if he’d tell us his fitness story. He did that and more. (Read below.) When I first read this, I was motivated; I was excited; I was honored to say that he is a part of my life.

So here is a little about Travis and his fitness journey. Hopefully you can take away all of the great that I did. Salute, Travis. And I appreciate your #dowork mentality.

Q: When did you begin working out? When did you begin to take working out seriously? And can you describe your fitness journey?

A: I began to workout in February of 2012. I was at my heaviest weight ever and remember thinking that I was very unhappy with my habits and that I needed to do something. I found a local Crossfit gym, Crossfit 515, and hit up a morning class after work one morning. I was on the night shift and their schedule just worked better for me. I stuck with it, Bobby and Jamie were awesome coaches, and the crew at the 8am class were all very supportive. I then met Ash Ivers in this class time, and we began to form a friendship over our love of Crossfit. Ash soon opened up a box in Ankeny called Crossfit Ankeny with Travis Parton, and I made the move to there to workout. That is when I became a little more serious about it. Coincidentally, that’s where the man that would soon make Farmer Gym came into my life. I made it all the way down to the 200-205 range and stuck with it for nearly a year or so. Soon, alcohol began to become more of a priority than my fitness, and I quit it altogether to drown my stresses in booze and beer. Sure, I’d get back to it for few months here and there, but it never stuck. I had several different stressors going on in my life. I’d moved several times, was in and out of relationships, lived with my dad for a while, hated my job, you name it. Everyone has been there I’m sure. I hit rock bottom in February 2017 with alcohol and finally figured out I needed some help, but wasn’t exactly sure how to go about getting it. I made a call to a good friend, and he told me to call our boss and to explain what was going on and that I needed help. Soon I found myself riding in a car up to Des Moines, to Lutheran, to get a substance abuse evaluation done in the ER; shortly after that I was checking myself into outpatient rehab in Powell Chemical Dependency Center, inside Lutheran. Now, to say I was all-in on my recovery would be selling myself short. I have no desire to ever drink again, and I truly credit this to fitness and working out. Trading one addiction for another, I guess. I was back up to 240 lbs at this time, but was determine to get back on track. I’d already purchased my garage gym equipment, so I put it to good use and got back at it.

Q: How has Farmer Gym helped you on your fitness journey?

A: Once I had made up my mind that this would be my outlet for stress I got busy. I started following various websites such as Misfit Athletics, SEALFIT, and Crossfit Invictus, but never really saw any results. I knew Coach Harle from the Crossfit Ankeny days, so I decided to pull the trigger on The Farmer Gym Way. Once I reached out to Jason, telling him that I had purchased the book, he was there non-stop for advice and support. Once I ran through the book, he asked me to test an up and coming product of his called Endruastrong, which I fell in love with. I like to punish my body sometimes, and this style of workout will definitely do that. After running through that program, I loved the style of workouts that Jason was able to come up with, so I hired him to write all my programming. This was October 2018. Over a year later, he’s still writing it for me, and will for the foreseeable future. Coach Harle is very responsive to any question and will critique videos you send him. Customer service is beyond anything you would want from a personal trainer, at a fraction of the price. Worth every penny.

Q: What’s your favorite aspect of fitness? For looks? Performance? Other?

A: My absolute favorite aspect is the stress relief. If I’ve had a bad day, I can go to my garage, put my body through a grueling workout, and come out on the other end feeling 100x better than I did before. But I definitely love pushing my performance and seeing how I can beat myself when I perform workouts over again. I ran my first ever half marathon in sub-2 hours, without any training for it, and I plan on running it again this fall to see if I can knock 15 minutes off my time. That’s my second favorite part of fitness.

Q: What advice would you give to someone that is having trouble staying committed to becoming healthy and fit?

A: KEEP. CHOPPING. WOOD. It’s a lifestyle change, and it sucks. But you have to adjust your mind, suck it up and do it. There is no magic formula. Hard work, discipline, blood, sweat, tears, failures, and successes will all be part of it. But man, when you hit those goals, there is no better high. It’s made me a better person. In the last 3 years, I’ve grown spiritually, found an amazing woman to spend the rest of my life with, trying to be the best soon-to-be step-parent I can be to her two kids, got a dog that drives me crazy but puts a smile on my face all at the same time, became a better employee, and couldn’t be happier. None of this happens without fitness keeping me off of alcohol. My favorite quote comes from Mat Fraser, “"I don't care if you're runnin' towards your goal or if you're on your knees f*ckin' crawlin', just stay pointed in that direction, keep chuggin', you'll get there."
Remember your “why”. Coach Harle has said this to me several times. Remember “why” you’ve made the choice to get healthy and get fit. I’ve crawled. I’ve wanted to give up. Gimme all the food. There have been days where I just wasn’t feeling it. But even with those thoughts running through my head, I’ve never given up. I continue to drag myself to the garage, and get it done. If I can do it, anyone can.

Q: Describe what it means to be disciplined.

A: Quite simply, frame of mind. You have to have the mindset that no matter what the excuse, no matter what the reason, you have to get it done, whatever your “it” may be.