Personal Trainer Munich
From officer to personal trainer and product developer
I'll tell you how I went from the Armed Forces to my personal training studio, and why my training tools can be found in leading gyms and successful therapy facilities around the world.
Soldier and student
The decision of my life
I started weight training in my early teens. My goal was to become physically stronger and better support my sport. I distinctly remember that the dumbbells came with a small manual with 20 exercises. That was all I had, and I consistently performed those exercises in my room.
When I was finally allowed to go to the gym at the age of 16, I stayed true to my workout routine. Soon I clearly felt that not only my strength but also my muscles increased noticeably. The mirror image became a symbol of power and strength for me.
In a painful way, I had to realize that a muscular appearance has nothing to do with actual physical strength. The loads during my training were too much for my body, and due to a spinal diagnosis I had to go to the hospital. I had ignored the pain for too long and had not specifically addressed it in training.
The usual therapeutic measures such as rest, sparing, medication, massages, fango, current therapy and physiotherapy were unsuccessful. The cause of the pain could not be addressed.
I was faced with a difficult decision.
Do I give up or do I find a way to heal myself?
Should I give up and end my career? Or should I find a way to heal myself?
Until now, I had considered my body as an object, as a machine. It had to be beautiful and function. Each individual element should be strong in itself.
But I had never understood the body as a complex system in which all parts should function harmoniously with each other. This became clear to me because neither medicine nor therapy looked at the body in this holistic way. Only the spine was ever considered in isolation, without looking inward and understanding the body as a holistic subject.
Determined, I changed my training. I recognized the connections and came up with new, more meaningful exercises where I developed a better and better feeling for my body and movement instead of focusing only on training the muscles. Although the looks in the training rooms often expressed incomprehension, I persisted in my efforts to incorporate movement into my training.
I was able to learn even more through my studies, especially in the field of sports science. The methods and models were helpful, but they also raised many questions.
For this reason, I decided to go back into practice more and got involved as a fitness trainer on the side.
personal trainer
The realization of my life
I invested a lot of time and effort in my continuing education on a national level and ended up working as a personal trainer. To further improve my skills in this challenging profession, I sought out a mentor. I wanted to experience for myself what it was like to be trained by one of the best personal trainers.
I did have tremendous success, especially in terms of my muscles and my reflection. However, I paid a high price for it. I suffered from joint pain and lost my body coordination and mobility.
The number of seats in a gym is not less than in the office!
As a personal trainer, I realized that not only the type of workout, but also the daily load had a decisive influence on the loss of body tension, posture and flexibility. I was amazed why so many gym-goers who worked out regularly had problems. These problems even frequently worsened despite muscle building.
Then I noticed something: The number of seats in the studio was at least as many as in the office. And the training equipment was in the way, no one could move around freely. Much worse: the training area allowed no room for movement.
I then asked myself the question: What influence does sitting have on the body? The logical consequence was to experience it for myself. I took a classic office job. A desk, a chair, a screen.
I was shocked: How could a sedentary job that obviously had little to do with exercise still exhaust me so much? Why was the office job more exhausting than being a soldier? It may sound strange, but the alienation from one's body that results from too little or no movement is much worse than physical exertion. The moment you don't engage with your body, you begin to lose it. Every minute of absence must be compensated by an intervention.
With these experiences, I realized that there has to be more than just fitness and muscle training.
Expert and developer
The task of my life
I was the first German to complete a top-level education in the U.S., with a depth not found here. I studied functional science, and that was the turning point for me.
In this study, I learned that in functional training, the body is the most important tool. Faced with this realization, I took a short time out to reflect. I sat on the beach in Los Angeles and thought about how I could manage to train the miracle of the body as easily and efficiently as possible with all my experience and knowledge. What are the minimal tools to keep the body healthy and flexible anywhere in the world - and completely without a gym? Also because in old age it becomes more and more important to support the body accordingly whenever it needs it.
Healthy training goes with 3 helpers always and everywhere!
Back in Germany, I immediately started developing prototypes - but no longer in a gym. I had realized that I needed an appropriate environment for individual personal training, and a classic studio certainly didn't meet these requirements.
Over the next few years, I refined my training aids to the point where they offered everything I needed for functional training. The highlight was that performing the exercises was immediately possible for any office athlete, and completely location-independent.
Today I think: If I had already had these three tools back then in the German Armed Forces, I would have been spared the hospital stay. And if I had given up then, buried my head in the sand and ended my career, I would probably be sick and weak today. My body would still be a great unknown to me.
My mission is to deliver this message to every person in the world: You have the power to achieve the maximum for your health, with the minimum means and the greatest benefits.
No matter who you are, where you come from, or what resources are available to you, you have the ability to make positive changes in your life. It doesn't matter if you have access to a state-of-the-art gym or if you live in a small apartment - you can get the most out of your body.
It's not about following the latest fitness trend or owning expensive equipment. It's about raising awareness of your body, connecting with it and responding to its needs. You can learn to incorporate functional movements into your everyday life, whether it's working at the office, shopping, or playing with your kids.
You are ready. You have the power. You can achieve the maximum for your health. I will help you!
When you train muscles, you forget about movement. When you train movement, you don't forget a single muscle.