Soooo.... what REALLY goes down at The Underground Strength Gym? I am often asked....
I am a lucky guy, I won't deny it.
I LOVE what I do and love it even more when I'm sweating bullets and my hands are covered in rust from old plates and dirt from 450 & 600 lb tractor tires.
As they say though, successful people make their own luck, but what is often forgotten is how they learned what they now know.....
If you've been following me for close to a decade, you know I started training ONLY wrestlers, initially, out of my parents home, the backyard, the garage and the local playgrounds.
Check the video below, shot with a digital camera from my garage and the playground down the street.
But who REALLY helped me get me to where I am today.....
Alwyn Cosgrove was fighting Stage IV cancer (which he NEVER told anyone) and took me under his wing like a little brother while fighting for his life, yet he committed to helping me LIVE my life.
I spent many hours on the phone with him, exchanging e mails and exchanging messages via old school AOL instant messenger! I still have our conversations printed out and saved in a 3 ring binder, ha ha, they are EPIC!
I was buying any business course Ryan Lee would release and joined his Mastermind group, called the Elite Inner Circle or Trainer's Alliance... ha ha, something like that.....
I would call Louie Simmons once a week during my prep or lunch time break while teaching to talk about training MMA fighters, wrestlers and combat athletes.
I would scour Joe DeFranco's web site day and night to read his "Ask Joe" monthly updates, if you look back a good 6 years or so you'll see my questions posted 🙂
I would catch Jason Ferruggia during his lunch time breaks on AOL AIM while I went home for my lunch breaks as a teacher. I would grill him on how he trained his athletes, where he got his equipment and more.....
I would exchange frequent e mails with Jim Wendler and sent them training articles on a regular basis, often times 3 - 4 articles a month!
Without a gym I cranked training seminars in hotels, other people's gyms and outdoors, often times with my partner in crime and Kettlebell BEAST, Jason C. Brown.
I spent mornings and afternoons on the phone with my homeboy, Pauly Reddick, dissecting business information and plans of attack to get me away from working from 6 or 7 am until 1 am every night.
I had MANY ups and downs, I almost used my money saved up for a Diamond Ring and guess what I ALMOST did....
I invested $3,000 for 1 hr of someone's business knowledge and sat inside a Taco Bell with him where the law was laid down as to what it will take to TRULY live my passion.
I NEVER forget where I came from or how hard I had to work to get here, but sometimes I need to step back and see what came about from a passion turned into a life once upon a time dreamed of. The BIGGEST reason I got to where I am today is because of my purpose.
Without purpose, you will have NO passion and there will be NO movement. I am a die hard when it comes to improving our training methods at The Underground Strength Gym because my most important goal, the most deep rooted reason this gym exists is because I understand athletes have a small and short window of opportunity to live their dreams of becoming champion athletes.
You MUST LIVE for what you do, you can't just LOVE it, ya gotta breathe AND bleed it 24/7/365....
I KNOW the pain like no other man of what it means to lose over and over again, miss out on golden opportunity and have a life of pain.
I will fight tooth and nail to improve these training methods because the MAIN reason why The Underground exists is because of my athletes and because of YOU, those who follow The Underground movement and "live the code".
You can't REALLY know what goes on at The Underground from my videos. That just ain't the answer or the truth, it's only bits & pieces of the passion and the power that runs through this small warehouse in Edison, NJ.
For the many Coaches & Friends who have stuck by me and helped make this dream a reality, I am grateful. Most of all, to my athletes and their supportive parents, you guys are what REALLY make The Underground tick. If I didn't own this gym and have the opportunity to work with YOU, I would likely be dying a slow death on the inside.
I will ALWAYS give my best to Undergrounders here and around the world.
BIG things are coming and I am working like a MadMan to bring them to life, in a very short time period those "BIG things" will be announced and ready to unveil, so stay with us. Undergrounders gotta keep reppin' and livin' the code.
Peace!
--Z--
PS: My mentor, my homeboy, Uncle AC has released his personal blue print for his success as a gym owner (Uncle AC's gym is the most profitable gym per square foot in the country), it's available for 1 more day, check it HERE.
PPS: The USC Cert is hittin' Edison for probably the last cert of 2011. The $300 savings plan and EZ payment plan ends soon. Click HERE for details.
11 Responses
“Without purpose, you will have NO passion and there will be NO movement.”
That quote caught my eye because I wrote an article for PFP magazine titled “The Four P’s – What Makes a Great Trainer” http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/pfp_20090102/#/32
I listed Passion, Persuasion, Perseverance, and Patience…But after reading your post, I’m going to add a 5th “P”…PURPOSE.
Great Post, Thanks Zach!
Love it Zach! Your passion and purpose are evident.
Reminds me of a video I watched this morning with the quote, “When you want success as much as you want to breathe, THEN you’ll be successful!” You obviously do.
Rock on!
I did it, Zach. I signed up for Uncle AC’s program. my new gym will open Dec/Jan this winter and I can’t wait to take hold of my family’s future and help my athletes on their path.
Thanks for your vision. Your “purpose” is contagious!
Inspirational post Zach. Your have been the driving force in pushing me to open my own place.
It was tough in my previous training jobs dealing with people who didn’t appreciate my time and passion for helping them become better athletes.
Now I am able to surround myself with athletes who are determined and share the same passion I have towards improving their performance.
Great Post and Thanks Again Zach!
Greg – just speaking from the heart my man 🙂 We can teach it to people but deep down, it HAS to be IN their blood 🙂
Gerilyn, U rock 4 chekcing it out! SOOOO true, I dig that quote!!
– Ryan – hells 2 the yea, homie, study it over and over and over again, take notes, take ACTION… more action and MOE action!
U will kick ass, keep me posted my man!
Kyle – it’s not a super easy road, but, the more knowledge you gain and the more action you take the more success becomes common place!
Zach,
The first time I walked into your gym back when I did the USC cert (which was probably the BEST biz investment I ever made) I could FEEL that it was the right place for me to be at.
There is no other coach that I’ve met that is more PASSIONATE and INSPIRING than Zach!
Big Z, thanks for all you do bro!
Big Z,
I’ll echo what Travis (Underground Level II Represent!) said. Going to your Underground Level I cert was a major changing point in my business and life. I remember that it was a one-day cert, but you were offering that any of us who were coming to the Saturday cert were invited to come down on Friday and watch the Underground in action.
I gotta be honest (real truth) that I was a little skeptical about dropping the coin for just spending a day at a seminar. I wasn’t sure I was going to learn that much. But I was willing to slap down that much money to see HOW you ran the place. Guess what? I was blown away by watching the Underground going. Then the next day, I was blown away again by the info you passed along in the cert and the passion with which you did it.
I learned more about what really makes a training program successful – building the culture of success – in that weekend than I had in years of training before that.
Thanks,
Isaac
Zack you really are ‘the man’ -much more than a ‘Jersey boy’ done well! Your heart passion and dedication is all over your work and the products [athletes] you create! And you’ve only just started…