Pumps Fitness Spotlight on Tom Yogan

Pumps Fitness Spotlight on Tom Yogan

My name is Tom Yogan and I have been a member of the Valparaiso community since 1993.

During that time, I’ve had the good fortune to work with an excellent, innovative, and growing company while my wife and I raised our wonderful children. Little-by-little, as my growing responsibilities took over more of my time, I found it difficult to keep a consistent workout schedule. As a result, at 59 years old I found myself 30 lbs. overweight with borderline high cholesterol and hypertension. A few times over the years I was able to keep an evening weight training routine, but it never lasted long due to conflicting commitments with dinners, meetings, and children’s activities – all beginning at 6 or 7 pm.

But fortunately I had the good sense to listen (finally) to my wife as she described the great benefits and fun(!) she was having 2 to 3 times per week in the early morning at Pumps Fitness! She came home telling me often about Ian’s encouraging leadership, how good she was feeling, and the sense of accomplishment that comes with getting her workout done at the beginning of the day.

One day my wife told me about a 6-week “fitness challenge” due to start and finish before the holidays, and I finally took her advice and signed up for the small group at 6:30am M-W-F. And I think I ended up enjoying the early morning workout even more she did! As an over-the-hill athlete I enjoyed exerting my body again, as well as that good feeling of tiredness and slight soreness that comes along with it.

I lost over 10 lbs. during the challenge, and I continue to lose weight at a healthy, gradual pace. After the challenge, I signed up to work out with Daniel three times a week and he is great! At my last physical exam, my cholesterol was back into the normal range and my blood pressure much lower. My finicky lower back hasn’t felt this good in a long time as I’ve learned to engage dormant core muscles.

I think the real secrets to my keeping this up are:

  • It’s only 30 minutes first thing in the morning, so if I’m in town, I will never miss.
  • It’s only 30 minutes, and I can certainly handle the focused exertion for 30 minutes.
  • The session is broken into 30 second to 1 minute exercise periods – and I can do almost anything for 30 seconds.
  • It’s a cross-fit program that Daniel tailors to individual and group goals.
  • The exercises always change – so both mind and body are never bored.
  • You meet some very nice and interesting people.
  • Maybe the most important – Daniel and Ian are committed to mine and everyone’s success!

So naturally, I wish I would have started this routine years ago – but then again – I am definitely glad I didn’t wait any longer to begin. God-willing, I’ve got many more years to enjoy in good health and fitness.

Simply stated, I highly recommend Pumps Fitness for anyone at any fitness level.

And thanks to Daniel & Ian at Pumps Fitness!