February 07, 2008 06:43 pm

Cut and paste version of story Photos Blake Selby, 17, trains Brian Raymond, who has lost about 100 pounds and is preparing for bodybuilding competition. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump Blake Selby, 17, works out at the Grand Traverse Athletic Club. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

Training gets personal

Teen’s enthusiasm for fitness spreads to others

By Vanessa McCray
CNHI News Service

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Blake Selby went to the gym with a bodybuilding friend one day when he was about 14 and found his calling among the weights and barbells.

Now 17 and a senior at Traverse City West High School, Selby is the youngest certified personal trainer at Grand Traverse Athletic Club. He works with about five clients during the school year and maintains a rigorous training regimen of his own.

"It's mostly just because I enjoyed watching the progress of other people and being able to help other people doing what I love," said Selby. "You just get to a point where you are making other people happy and that makes you feel good inside."

Among those he trains is Brian Raymond, 41, of Traverse City, who lost about 100 pounds in the past year. Raymond started on his own and began working out with Selby last spring. His initial goal was to lose weight and control his blood pressure, but Selby soon had him preparing for a bodybuilding competition. Raymond lifted weights before and found in Selby someone who was "hard core."

Selby prodded him to run sets of stairs, do lunges with weights on his back and even inspected Raymond's cupboards and refrigerator to check his diet.

"He's saved my life ...," Raymond said. "I was a walking heart attack waiting to happen. Now, I go to the gym for two hours a day and exercise."

Raymond initially was concerned about Selby's youth, but the trainer's enthusiasm and knowledge won him over. The generation gap meant the two sometimes expressed themselves in "different ways," but "when you talk weights and health and bodybuilding, that bridged everything," Raymond said.

Selby doesn't advertise his age and said most think he's older.

"It's never been a problem. I feel confident in my knowledge. I'm not a party-er. When my friends are out partying, I am usually reading," he said.

He's considering a career in medicine and plans to attend Michigan State University and train at a health club downstate. Selby will continue competing in bodybuilding, and said he takes a natural, drug-free, no-steroid approach to fitness.

"Bodybuilding is his life," said Lorena Denman, who with her husband, Clay, owns the Grand Traverse Athletic Club. "Everything he thinks about is health."

Denman checked out Selby's training know-how by working out with him and was impressed with his expertise. He earned a certification through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.

Consistency is a crucial component of any successful fitness plan, Selby said. He also preaches nutrition, goal-setting and a combination of weight training and cardio exercise.

"The biggest reason for getting a trainer is just having somebody show you the pathway," he said.

Selby started on that path at a young age and has no plans to veer from it.

"I never want to give up personal training," he said.

Vanessa McCray writes for Traverse City (Mich.) Record-Eagle.