The Mighty Oak
It was the fall of 1992.
Golf season had just wrapped, and I had a few empty weeks before winter swim started. One afternoon, with nothing better to do, I wandered into the weight room at Fenwick High School.
That's where I met Ray Moland — a fellow freshman who also happened to be the starting fullback on the football team. The guy was built like a tank, and he became my introduction to the world of strength training.
Ray showed me the ropes. He walked me through the basics, then handed me a bench press set I'll never forget: seven reps halfway down, seven halfway up, then seven all the way through. It was brutal. I'd never done anything like it.
For the next two days my chest hurt so badly I had to sit out gym class on the bleachers. But underneath all that soreness was something I didn't expect — pride. I'd found a challenge I actually loved.
Because here's what clicked for me: I could shape my own body. The work I put in showed up in real results I could see and feel.
I was hooked.
Up to that point I was a pretty average kid — a little nerdy, not very confident, more interested in second helpings than exercise. Strength training changed that. Rep by rep, I turned into someone who believed in himself and wasn't afraid to chase what he wanted.
And the change wasn't just physical. Strength training rewired how I saw myself, and how I saw my place in the world. Realizing I had the power to change my own life was, honestly, life-changing.
I owe a lot of that to Ray and one grueling first workout. Today I get to be that guy for other people — coaching kids at Mighty Oak Athletic the same way Ray once coached me.
