My name is Brad Gibala and I started this site in late 2007 as a way to keep track of my progress with the P90X workout. My story is a little bit different than most P90X success stories you might read as I did not lose any weight at all during my first round of P90X and have not lost any since.
Health and fitness has always been apart of my life. Sure, I had my times when I did not workout but I have been active over the years so I’ve never really had a weight problem. One of my biggest problems was getting and staying in shape. When I was not playing a sport I would make it a point to go to the gym and do what I thought was working out. Much of it consisted of running on the treadmill for 20 minutes then making my way over to the bench press and finishing off with some machines and curls. I never really saw any changes but I knew I was staying in shape. I kept this routine up during and after college by going to the gym at least 4 times a week.
I moved away from my home state of Michigan after graduating from Central Michigan University. I spent almost a year in Colorado spending almost every weekend up in the mountains. I still worked out but most of what I did was run because it took me awhile to get used to the altitude. Then I came across a ski instructor / rental desk job in Germany and decided to go do that for 4 months. Again, most of what I did to stay in shape was run and ski.
After completing my time abroad I came back to Michigan and started my life in the “real world.” Found a job working for Quicken Loans as a mortgage banker. It was definitely a wake up call. I can remember spending many 12+ hour days working the phones over the 2+ years I worked there. One thing I never wavered on was my health and fitness. They had a term called the “Quicken 15″ where you would put on 15 pounds in your first month of working there because you did not have time to workout or prepare meals. Fast food and Pizza were every where. No time to leave the phones as this was near the end of the refi boom. I worked out in the mornings and was able to do an 8-6 shift with a 2 hour break to go to the gym and then come back from 8-10 pm at night to work the west coast calls on Mondays and Wednesdays. No “Quicken 15″ for me.
During those crazy hours I was able to train for my first marathon. It was on my list of things to do before I died and since I had been running so much over the past 3 years I already had a good base. It took me about 3 months of training to get to where I needed to be. Then in late 2005 I ran the Detroit Marathon in 4:25:01. Not too bad for a first timer. Still pissed that a 72 year old man ran it 5 minutes faster than me.
A year goes by and I’m not running as much anymore but still doing the same routines. A friend of mine who really wanted to go into the Marines at age 27 calls me up and tells me he just started this crazy P90X workout thing and that I’ve got to come over and do a workout with him. That first day of doing P90X Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X would change not only my health and fitness life but what’s turning out to be a calling in life. I could not believe how sore I was the next day as I thought I was already in great shape. I did 2 total pull ups and 90 push ups while having to take breaks during Ab Ripper X. Plyometrics the next day was an eye opener too. How could my legs be hurting this bad as I was used to running 5-8 miles no problem?
Fast forward 90 days and I ended up putting on 10 pounds of muscle and was in the best shape I’ve ever seen myself in. After completing my first round of P90X I was hooked. I really enjoyed the structure of it all. No more guessing what I’m going to do when I get to the gym. All I did was open up the P90X workout guide book and grabbed the dvd I was supposed to do that day. The last time I did P90X Chest and Back during my first round I could do 62 total pull ups and 325 push ups while breezing through Ab Ripper X. Everything that I did improved. I put 30 yards on my golf drive and went from hitting 260 ft pop ups in my softball league to hitting the 300 ft fence a couple times. Skiing and snowboarding were much more fun now as I was in better shape from head to toe.
I enjoyed the P90X workout so much that I ended up doing 2 more rounds of it. It wasn’t until Dec. 2008 that I found out about the Beachbody Coach opportunity. I was not really interested in the business part of it at the time but more about the 25% discounts on similar products that I was already buying from GNC. I did the math and I would save about $10 a month on things I was already buying and it was enough for me as I found myself being unemployed during all of 2008. When the real estate market crashed I became a casualty of it and lost my mortgage job. I spent most of 2008 looking for work. No luck here in Michigan but I was determined to learn how to build a online business as I watched my old company build 95% of its billion dollar business through the internet. The owner was LeBron James’ boss.
While learning as much as I could about building websites and marketing I kept writing to WorkoutJourney.com about my daily activities with P90X and now their newest Insanity workout. It all started happening. People contacted me with questions about the workouts and what supplements I was using almost daily. I became online friends with a couple and talked about the workouts. This is when I started mixing in the Beachbody Coach business. I did not intend to do this as my focus was on other ideas. But I could not get away from it. So many people saw my experience and were reaching out for help or advice that I was spending a good amount of time doing it. I was becoming a Beachbody Coach without even knowing it.
Fast forward 9 months and I’m still unemployed. Still using the workouts almost daily. Still trying to make my way as there are no job prospects. Then one day I received my weekly paycheck from Beachbody and I ended up earning more per hour doing Beachbody then I was for the jobs I was applying for. I decided to go for it and am glad I did. As of Sept 2009 I am now earning a living as a full time Beachbody Coach (Still going strong as of March 2011). Along the way I have won Top Coach, Elite Coach, and other awards all because I help people reach their fitness goals. While the business is going great what really motivates me now is to see other people succeed with the programs and business. Its not about me anymore. Yes, I’m still addicted to the workouts. If anything, my addiction has grown and I try even harder so I can be a good example for the people I coach.
I’m not a nutrition or fitness expert. Most of the stuff I’ve learned has come from doing the workouts and following the nutrition plans Beachbody comes out with. Turns out that people like Tony Horton, Shaun T, and people who have nutrition degrees know what their talking about. I’ve learned that its better to listen to the experts then to try and make stuff up as you go.
So there you go. That’s my story. I gave P90X a chance back in 2007 thinking it could not do that much for somebody who was already in shape and found out I could get in even better shape. Found a company that lets me promote the products that changed my life and earn a living doing it. None of this was easy. The business part is just like the workouts. You are only going to get out of it what you put into it.
Hope you enjoyed my story. If you want to talk about being a Beachbody Coach or the products then sign up for a Free Beachbody Account. Otherwise feel free to contact me.
