Ben Chimoski- Fitastic Athlete of the Month

Fitastic friends and family please join us in honoring our February Athlete of the Month, Ben Chimoski! Ben is a proud NPC National Competitor, Personal Trainer and Business Owner.  When you hear his story you’ll understand why we showcased him in our community and why he exemplifies the title Athlete of the Month.

Ben starting competing six years ago in Body Building while in college. After taking a 5 year break Ben came back strong as a Mens Physique competitor. Ben last competed at the National level in our home city of Chicago for Jr. Nationals.

However it hasn’t been an easy road for our AOTM.  If Ben were to tell you his short story, here’s what he would say:

“20 years old and barely 100lbs to 27 years old competing onstage at 155lbs. This is my transformation. From a sick teen struggling with Crohns

Progress. It takes time. It takes effort.

Disease and anorexia. Yes, a male physique competitor that used to struggle with self-image problems. I kept it a secret, but keeping secrets doesn’t help other with the same problem. I’ve transformed my body and my mind over many years and hopefully a lot more to come. If you have struggles, you’re not alone.”

As you can see Ben didn’t just wake up one day, put on a heavy spray tan, get up on stage, smile and win. Ben forged his path through hard work, discipline and consistency. For those not familiar with Crohns Disease, is a type of inflammatory l disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, causing a wide variety of symptoms. It primarily causes abdominal pain, vomiting, or weight loss. Knowing this you can see just how much Ben has had to overcome to get where he is today and to continue pressing on. There is no cure for Chrohns Disease; but as you can see that has not and will not ever stop Ben. So the next time you want to think you can’t achieve your goals or it’s too hard. Just think about what other people have overcome.

As a personal trainer and competitor it is Ben’s ultimate goal is to inspire you and everyone else around him to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. Ben is going to work and train so that he will be able to travel the country spreading the word about his story and using his personal struggles to get people to see that no matter your circumstance, not matter your situation. You too can achieve whatever fitness goal you want. You just have to be consistent.

#ohmyquad

Having the opportunity to speak with Ben was motivating to hear his story and how he keeps himself motivated. In asking what motivates him he said

#1 Think about how much worse it could be. On those days when he is tired and sore, he thinks back to the time he spent sick and in the hospital. How back then he wasn’t able to train and how now he can.

#2 He is lucky to be surrounded by what he loves. Training at Power House Gym in Michigan allows him to be around like minded people which always pushes him to train harder

#3 As a personal trainer he knows how important it is to practice what he preaches for his clients. He knows that he needs to be the example.

Please join me in congratulating Ben on becoming our 1^st Athlete of the Month; we at Fitastic our proud of Ben and pleased to have the opportunity to share his story with you. Be sure to follow him as he prepares for the 2014 NPC season on his Face Book and Instragram (@Ben_Chimo).  We know we are going to see great things out of Ben this year. Keep checking back throughout the month to see more from Ben in forms of pictures, messages and videos.

To end I would like to share Ben’s best piece of advice for all us looking to improve our levels of Fitness.

This is what over coming lifes challenges looks like.

BE CONSISTENT. It’s as simple as that.

Thank you Ben for being an inspiration to us all.

TEAM FITASTIC

A great way to thank Ben is to support him in all his ventures. Please be sure to follow on all social media Eclypse Tanning, a completely mobile airbrush tanning company.

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