Hello, I’m Stephan.
Before starting my fitness journey, I faced several significant challenges. Growing up, I struggled with negative influences and turned to drugs as a way to escape. By the age of 16, I was addicted to meth, and by 17, I was living on the streets, relying on soup kitchens for food and searching for shelter each night.
Fortunately, I found the courage to ask for help, which was pivotal in transforming my life. Today, I am 15 years sober, a business owner, and I have the freedom to truly enjoy life.
My journey into calisthenics began with a curiosity about the one-arm pushup. I knew I was strong enough to lift my body weight with one arm but lacked the necessary stabilizing muscles. I practiced on elevated surfaces and gradually progressed to lower ones until I could perform the pushup on the floor. This success ignited my passion for calisthenics, leading me to pursue even more challenging movements like the handstand pushup.
As I developed strength through calisthenics and flexibility through yoga, my body felt amazing. I was offered a job at a calisthenics gym, where experienced instructors taught me the "gold standards" of the practice, helping me refine my form. I became a certified calisthenics instructor, teaching three to four classes a day for two years.
My journey has been one of overcoming obstacles and finding strength, both physically and mentally.
During this period, I was introduced to my current yoga teacher, Andrew Dugas. His style of yoga involved challenging movements requiring equal parts flexibility and strength, exactly what I was eager to learn. The difficulty of these classes humbled me, transforming me from one of the strongest practitioners to one of the weakest. This environment was crucial for me to shut out external validation and find my own drive to push myself.
Most recently, I enrolled in a rigorous six-month yoga teacher training program that covers anatomy, movement, and pedagogy. This course has significantly deepened my understanding of the human body and transformed my teaching style. I've learned safe and effective methods to teach practitioners at any level, and how to adjust the difficulty of movements while maintaining safety. My practice and teaching approach have evolved dramatically and will continue to do so as I expand my knowledge of the human body and its incredible capabilities.
Which brings me to you! I am incredibly passionate about bodyweight movement because it helps people develop strength relative to their own body weight. In bodyweight training, "strong" is a relative term. For instance, the weight supported during a plank or push-up varies from person to person. This means that strength cannot be measured linearly and success is entirely personal. It's truly YOU VS YOU.
