The things we know:
He is quiet, very friendly to everyone he works out with, and possibly the Shop’s most shirtless member. Oh, and he might occasionally skip a workout to eat at Taco Mex down the street from Manor Shop.
What we want to know:
How did James end up at Dane’s and, more specifically, how did his impressive athletic background and friendliness shape him to be Manor’s BAM for May?
Being a very fast, lean, and explosive athlete growing up in Lafayette, Louisiana, laid the foundations for James’ fitness journey and accomplishments. He was a member of an impressive traveling Youth Soccer Team named the Blazers and also qualified for the Junior Olympics twice in the 200m & 400m Dash when he was 9 & 10.
James went on to attend college at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he would explore muscle-bulking in order to be more competitive on the school’s Ragin’ Cajuns Rugby team. He dedicated himself to putting on 20 pounds of muscle within a couple months in order to prepare for the intense physicality of the sport. Although he ended up playing Rugby for only one season, his obsession with lifting weights continued.
Putting aside his athletic talents, James started to let his “self-image” motivate his fitness goals, going to the gym and doing typical bodybuilding movements.
While attending college at UL Lafayette, James worked at a bike shop named Capitol Cyclery. Cycling had always been a hobby of his, but not until volunteering at a local triathlon did he have the revelation to take endurance training seriously. “During the race I kept seeing participants 60+ years old crushing it on the course. Then it hit me. Why do I need all this muscle? I’m not doing anything with it. It certainly won’t help me on the bike.” That’s when James’ athletic goals dramatically changed from doing bicep curls to swimming, biking, and running. James raced triathlons for 7 years, completing 2 half ironman triathlons and a full Ironman in 2015 (Ironman Texas ). That’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run all in a day.
After living in various places in the United States, including New Orleans and Washington state, James moved from Louisiana to Austin to continue his career in Industrial Design, taking a job with Dell. He then moved on to LVL Technologies ( a wearable device company) where he has been working for the past 2 years as their designer. What lead him to Dane’s? His LVL office happens to be walking distance from the Manor Rd Shop and .
James has been a member at Dane’s for just over a year and, spoken like a true competitor, his favorite memories at the Shop, so far, are competing in the various Mini-Meets the Shop holds quarterly. The December Push/Pull Mini-Meet, in particular. He placed 4th in last December’s Push/Pull with a very impressive 420 pound Deadlift PR. After a more recent (in-class) pull of 450, he is hoping to pull 500 pounds (three times his body weight) by the end of the year. However, he has been dealing with a slight knee issue that has limited him to some degree.
He continues to be relatively strict with his diet. His personal secret to success: a low carb diet that he’s stuck with for over 8 years, attending Fusion and Strength Classes at least 4 times per week, and, yes, as we’ve suspected, a Taco-Mex taco here and there. He also bikes to and from work pretty much daily, a total of 18 miles, which he says puts him in a good mood and lets him continue to grow on his developed love of cycling.
James hopes to continue getting healthy at the Shop and improving all his lifts, especially his squats. He thinks Dane’s is the place to do that. If he were to describe Dane’s to someone who has never been before, he’d tell them it’s a group of “cool people working out, throwing lots of weight around with no fluff, it has some grit to it.” We think this is a great quote that actually sums James up pretty well: a cool, friendly dude who throws a lot of weight around and he has plenty of grit to him that has lead him to be successful throughout his life, as well as becoming this month’s Manor BAM.
