Fit for Life: Some Things Money Can’t Buy

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

My buddy from New York called me just as I was finishing a workout with the Shea High Football team, and when he asked what I was doing, I told him that I just finished my after-school workout program.

Wow, that’s cool, are you doing it for free? He asked.

I said no I make about $800 bucks at the end of every season. I have a paid coaching position since about 3 years ago.

“So, you are basically doing it for free, since the season doesn’t officially start til August” he replied back.

Well, if you average it out, I make basically nothing, and one year when we made the Super Bowl, I hired a photographer so the kids could have some great photos, and had a team breakfast of steak and eggs catered before the game so they would be energized come game time. So, it’s not about the money.

The truth be told, I have a soft spot for helping kids, and I rarely say no to an opportunity that could create impact or make a change in a youngster’s life.

Why do I do this when I don’t even have kids of my own? Because my thought process is that everything that happens to you before the age of 18, isn’t really your fault.

As an adult, we control our own destiny.

After 18 it’s up to you to sink or swim.

There are opportunities out there for everyone, and it’s up to you as an adult to take advantage of them.

Under 18, you are basically at the mercy of your parents and what the system provides.

Yes, you can still make choices, but the majority of the circumstances in your life until that point isn’t decided by you.

I also want them to have the opportunities I never had.

Don’t get me wrong my parents were great they loved me to death, and they did everything they could for me. They had limited cash flow, but still made sacrifices to provide for me and my brother, and we had a great life growing up.

I am talking about stressing the importance of health and fitness, and by creating great habits like working out and staying focused, so these great habits will stay with you and have an impact on everything you do in life.

As for my parents, they were parents and not coaches.

I never had a great coach or mentor growing up that helped me make these kinds of decisions or pushed me to hit the gym and eat healthy.

In my father’s defense, he always had a great garden, and forced vegetables on us to the point where we liked them. I wasn’t crazy about the zucchini bread he used to disguise as cake, or the tomato cake but the fresh vegetables and the vitamins were acceptable.

He considered himself a healthy eater, but I am the one that got him into fitness in his forties, so there wasn’t much influence on hard core training there. (At 70, he still crushes 5 boot camp workouts a week @ Providence Fit Body Boot Camp)

My mother drank Tab and ate potato chips, and always had snacks around the house. She used sweet and low in her coffee, and smoked cigarettes into her forties. She was always thin, so there wasn’t much incentive to focus on health and fitness there either.

However, she always made home cooked dinners and never bought packaged frozen foods. Baked macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes, ham, steak and pork chops were regular staples at our table. My school lunch came from home, and the sandwiches were packed with lunch meat and made on whole grain breads. I appreciate the effort now and was lucky to be eating all that tasty comfort food. Her intentions were to keep us well fed, not to eat for performance on the field or in the gym.

When I played football in high school, our training sessions in the school gym were a neck machine, some curls, and a few squats. When we went to the boy’s club, it was a few sets on a universal machine, some basketball, and a bag of pretzels and a can of soda on the way home.

That’s what I mean when I say I didn’t have any positive influence with sports nutrition and training, and that’s why I take time to help educate other kids, and it doesn’t stop with the football team.

I have partnered with Joy Feldman and read for several elementary schools for the statewide read and spoke on the importance of good nutrition. I worked with my nephew’s boy scout troop, and helped the troop earn their fitness merit badge. I even went to a member’s daughter’s cheer leading practice and put the girls through a workout. That wasn’t very well received and wasn’t asked back to do it again.

In addition, we had some kids from the Providence Center come in for a workout, and we have a kid from the Met School that interns twice a week for school credits.

I do this because we are facing an epidemic, and if I can change a few kids’ lives and coach them to success, I will feel like I have fulfilled my legacy and created impact.

When I get messages from my players saying that they will hold on to the words I spoke all throughout their life, and that they wouldn’t have made all state if it wasn’t for my training and discipline, that’s payment enough.

My business coaches wouldn’t approve of me taking hours a week away from my business and packed schedule. They would tell me to take the time to make more sales and focus on the business more. They would say to make money first and avoid all other distractions that don’t increase my income, and I could create more impact with a bigger bank account.

They are 100 % right.

I know that I am sacrificing valuable time and energy to help these kids out.

I do focus on my business, and I am hell bent on becoming successful on a monetary level too.

I get up and go to work every day, and usually put in 12 hours a day to become successful.

I strive every day to learn something new, be a better leader, coach and increase my bottom line.

However, sometimes I feel the need to sacrifice some of my time to achieve a feeling of satisfaction and the fact that I am making a difference by changing lives that otherwise couldn’t afford my services.

Now that’s something money can’t buy.

Committed to your success,

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one.