My Story
Welcome to BFFmatrix!
My name is Wade, and I have some pretty straightforward goals for myself and for the people I work with…
Be Functionally Fit
Be Fit @ Forty
Be Fit @ Fifty
Be Fit Forever!
So it’s not about us being “Best Friends Forever”? Not exactly, but maybe we’ll get there. 🙂 I just believe that being physically and mentally healthy should be everyone’s top priority (especially as we age), so we explore topics that help people achieve and maintain optimal health and fitness.
For me personally, I’ve managed to remain healthy and fit through my 30s, my 40s, and now into my 50s. I can even make an honest argument that I’m currently in the best shape of my life! How is that possible? That’s where the “matrix” comes in, but what exactly is a “matrix”?
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines matrix as “something within or from which something else originates, develops, or takes form.”
So what is my “matrix”? What is it from which me being in the best shape of my life “originates, develops, or takes form”? It’s my three pillars of BFF…
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Food
Fitness
I’ve been into health and fitness for about as long as I can remember.
Even when I was a young child I was concerned with “eating healthy” and exercising.
That’s not to say that I was always successful in “eating healthy”. The definition of what “eating healthy” even means has changed so much over the years, but I can say with confidence that I’ve eaten more than my fair share of “bad food” throughout my life.
But the thing is… I always had an overall desire to “eat healthy” and a general belief that what kind of food I put in my body was important. And over time, as I explored, refined, and gained knowledge, I developed my own understanding of what it means to “eat healthy”.
Exercise went hand-in-hand with my desire to eat healthy. Some of my focus on exercise was the result of my participation in sports, but a lot of it was influenced by the superheroes I saw in cartoons and comic books and by the action heroes I saw in movies and TV. I wanted to be able to do the things that these characters could do and I wanted to look the way that they looked.
So even at a very young age you might find me exercising by lifting weights from my dad’s home gym set or trying to replicate some training regimen that I saw in a martial arts movie. I never did develop the ripped physique of a Hollywood action hero or learn how to perform the gravity-defying moves of a big screen ninja, but I’ve never stopped trying.
Speaking of martial arts… I admit that I’ve been a bit of a martial arts junkie for most of my life. That’s what ultimately led me to taking up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or “BJJ”) nearly 20 years ago. It’s definitely a passion of mine, and I’m a big proponent of BJJ and the impact that BJJ (and martial arts in general) can have on a person’s life. So you will undoubtedly see me write a lot about BJJ and its positive effects on health.
Where I am today
I’m not a kid anymore. Far from it. And now I have kids of my own. This is what drives me today. As the saying goes, I’m not getting any younger. But oddly enough, I sort of feel like I am getting younger. Or at least I can say once again that I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. This is what it means to me to be healthy. I want to physically and mentally be the best “me” that I can be at every age, and I believe that can be achieved through food and fitness. But beyond wanting this for myself, I want it for my kids… so that I can be here for them for as long as possible and so that I can instill in them a focus on health that they will carry through life.
As much as health and fitness has always been a part of my life, I never really engaged with them professionally. I did acquire some health and fitness certifications along the way (which you can see listed below), but those were mainly just to expand my knowledge or done in association with side projects. From a professional standpoint, I instead went into information technology and communications and have nearly 25 years of experience working with everything from tech startups to Internet service providers to Cloud communications companies. But now health and fitness are my focus both personally and professionally.
So that’s my story and the foundation for BFFmatrix. Thank you for taking the time to read this and to learn what we’re all about. I hope you’ll explore with me, and I look forward to sharing the journey with you. Click the “I’m ready” button below to visit the blog and and get started.
