Steph Brewer trains David Hartwig who recently went on an extensive hiking trip, including Mt. Kilimanjaro. Steph told me about David’s own fitness journey and what it means for her to have a client do something adventurous and exciting and difficult.

David was looking for a plan, something to physically and mentally prepare him for his climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. He made a goal to do some amazing things, and one of them was to “to enjoy each segment of the climb; see the landscape of a section of Africa; experience the culture near Kilimanjaro; and relate to the people.”

David strictly followed a monthly cardio plan that I wrote for him with details of what he needed to do every day to prepare.  He rarely missed a workout.  He dedicated himself to using the training and the plan to its full potential.  David told me this morning that without the knowledge and diligent practice of his correctives, he wouldn’t have made the trek. He said the biggest thing for him was the breathing (diaphragmatic breathing) and the posture he learned from training. As the elevation grew on his climb, breathing became all the more important. He said that every single day he reminded himself to “take belly breaths” and stay tall, breathe right.

The most memorable part of the trek for David was when they climbed the Barranco Wall.  It was very high and frighteningly steep, but he wasn’t scared.  He has pictures of it on his blog.  He also spent each day living in the moment.  He wasn’t rushed, and was not behind.  He enjoyed each day of his adventure.

To have trained David and help prepare him for this makes me so proud.  None of his newly gained fitness could have been achieved if it weren’t for David’s commitment to succeed. I created a detailed cardio plan for him, including distances, what day to do incline work, when to have his pack on…and so on. He told me he followed it every day and saw great value in the plan I had created. Just that part alone–to know that my hard work went to such a great cause–it so exhilarating.

I will definitely be bragging about David for a long time.