Jordan Grahm wasn’t always a personal trainer, focused on bettering his own life and the lives of others. No, he started as an overweight, unhealthy individual that was plagued by depression. It took him a decade, but he finally realized what was important in life: his own health. His transformation is one of the most inspirational you will ever see, just listen to his story:
My whole life I was overweight.
Growing up it was hard being the big kid.
In 9th grade I started playing football, weighing in at 290lbs +standing 5’9” at only 13 years old.
The coaches wanted me to keep getting bigger, stronger, and faster so I ate a lot and trained hard.
My mom always motivated me and wanted me to get in better shape so that I could enjoy my life more.
3 weeks before my 15th birthday tragedy struck when my mom suddenly passed away.
My motivation to train and to get in better shape dropped off completely.
Food was my outlet to help cope with the depression due to my mom’s death. I was also addicted to drugs which I used to try to numb my feelings and escape reality.
I was eating myself to death, and I did not care about my future at all. By the end of my senior year in high school I was already close to 400lbs.
I graduated high school and stopped looking at the scale. I didn’t plan for my future because I didn’t care.
Time went on, I worked a sedentary job and continued to gain weight.
By late 2007 I was over 400lbs wearing 4XL shirts and size 48 pants, depression still had a powerful grip on me.
March 30th 2008 at 3am I was in a car collision that could have killed me.
My airbag was just reconnected a couple hours before the crash and saved my life.
I think my mom was looking out for me.
In the accident I suffered a separated shoulder and broken wrist among other injuries. It took 5 guys to lift me up on the stretcher. The next day when I went for an MRI I barely fit in to the machine, they were going to send me to a special, bigger one.
That day I decided that I had enough. I decided to change the way I lived, change how I ate and start exercising.
I started walking my dog 1 mile a day on a hill, it would take me almost an hour to complete the mile. Slowly but surely, we got faster and upped it to 2 miles, my dog was always pushing me to up the pace and the distance.
My dog Blackberry helped to save my life
One day we walked the hill 10 times totaling 10 miles. Just to show myself that it was possible.
I started jogging some of the hill, this turned into running 4 miles on it 6 days a week.
In 2009 after losing over 100lbs on my hill and local trails and roads, I joined a gym. I was in pretty bad shape strength and mobility wise and could barely bench press the 45lbs bar due to my shoulder injury.
I didn’t let anything stop me, I kept working hard and training in the gym and running and hiking with Blackberry. I went back to school and studied nutrition as well as taking boxing classes.
I went back to school and studied nutrition as well as taking boxing classes. I was finally getting happy.
I got certified as a personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
Fast-forward 2 years later I had completely transformed, losing 200lbs and bringing up my strength and fitness tremendously.
I worked my way up to be able to squat 405lbs, deadlift 500lbs, and bench press 275lbs.
In 2011 and 2012 I did Spartan obstacle Races with my girlfriend.
It’s something I never would’ve dreamed of when I was 400lbs.
Now I train hard and enjoy life, helping others reach their goals. I have been able to reach people all over the world and feel so lucky to help them change their lives.
I am so proud of my clients both in-person ones and online. I know how it feels to be in the worst shape both physically and mentally. I know how it feels to pull yourself up out of that deep hole. I know my mother is proud of me. If you want it badly enough, you can achieve anything. Never give up hope! Now, Jordan needs surgery to get rid of his excess skin and help him keep improving his life of helping others. Support his tremendous transformation by visiting his IndieGoGo.com campaign here. We’re not sure if we have ever seen a more inspirational man. To learn more about Jordan, visit his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube channel.
Read more: http://viralnova.com/mans-transformation/