Roughly 35,000,000 Americans suffer from depression, I’m one of those people. It wasn’t until my own severe episode with this disease in 1999 that I began to research ways of combating it, and found out that an exercise regimine is one of the best things you can do to improve mental health, so I joined a gym, worked out at home, and while I did get positive benefits from both, something was always missing, I felt I wasn’t giving all I could, and felt that a push was needed. I kept reading the name Cathe Friedrich whenever I researched advanced workouts, and am I a kickbox fanatic, so I purchased Cathe’s Kick, Punch, and Crunch DVD, and the push I was looking for turned into an all-out shove.
Something clicked from day one, when I was dreched in sweat from head to toe, and happily spent just lying..yes, lying, on my living room rug, with nothing more to give. I decided I simply must research Cathe more, and found out her weight training tapes w ere equally tough..I purchased Muscle Max, did it, and began to wonder where Cathe had been my entire life..didn’t spend too much time wondering, just happily basked in the glow knowing I had found the person to lead my fitness journey. I wanted to hook up with others who felt as I did, and as luck would have it, Cathe hosts as yearly road trip at her gym in my home state of New Jersey, so I signed up for the July 2008 trip, and found what I was looking for. I bonded with over 100 “Catheletes” at this first-rate event, and any doubts I may have had about my decision to hand Cathe the keys to my fitness journey were quickly dissolved. My turning to Cathe to lead my journey has allowed for me to bond with a special group of friends who share the same passion as I do.
My life through exercise has improved to the point where I am more outgoing, have become a better husband to my wife, better friend to my friends, better employee to my employer, and a better person overall. My fi tness journey has never been about my outer body, sacles have no place in my life, it’s about what’s on the inside that counts, and in the 2 years I have spent workoing out with Cathe, my insides have never felt better, I get complements all the time about how I carry myself now, how I just seem more confident on a daily basis. I deserve to feel more confident..as fellow Cathletes know, when you’ve spent an hour a day with Cathe, you can pretty much tackle anything that comes your way. My goal is to help the mentally ill in any way that I can, to reach just one person’s life is what I’m after.
I plan on bringing the same intensity that Cathe’s workouts demand from us to achieving this goal, and I like my chances of doing just that. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my story..now it’s time to work, work!!!!
