My First Year at Tailored Strength: A Letter from Coach Nikholas

One Year In Chicago. One Year at Tailored Strength.

The other day, one of my clients and I were talking about creating “things” in this world versus consuming them which hit me really hard. He has been woodturning for a while and he asked me what I am working on/creating and I told him “I used to write this newsletter,” and I had to stop and think why I no longer do. 

Here is a bowl he made for my girlfriend and I! 

After some thought, I came to the conclusion that I did not have a good reason so here we are. He might have told me that at the right time because just the other day (September 10th), I was officially able to say I have been working at Tailored Strength for a year which means I have been living in Chicago for a year which feels like a great time to take a quick jog down memory lane… don’t worry this won’t be a marathon, definitely will be more like a 5K.

In the last year… 

I moved! I bought a house! (We think) it’s pretty dope. If you are reading this, you are more than welcome to come check it out if you are ever in the Chicago area. A bonus is I also moved in with my favorite person so that has been nice as well. :) 

I competed in my first solo Hyrox competition. I wanted to complete the race in under 1:10 minutes so I am actually going to be competing again in November. 

Sorry for the shirtless picture. It (probably) won’t happen again!

I finally ran a faster mile (5:21) than when I was in sixth grade. If you look at this picture versus what I look like, it kind of makes sense. The picture on the right is me in 6th grade which is when I started turning into the person I am today (just 60-80 pounds lighter). 

Side note - the below pictures are also a year apart which is also crazy for me to look back on. I remember growing so much in such a short period of time, I would be in middle school running into teachers, other students, lockers and furniture because I had no awareness of my new body. Also, I must admit I have and still am a bit clumsy.

I have been able to connect with a bunch of people here through fitness which has been really cool. When I was in Pittsburgh, I found it hard to connect with others, especially around my age, over fitness. I have never been a SUPER social guy (just pretty social) and I tend to stay in my lane. I have always enjoyed and cherished spending a good amount of time alone but here in Chicago it has been a delight to hang out with friends through running, working out or winning basketball championships. 👑

One thing that I have learned in the past year is that I truly know what I want out of this life. I love fitness, the human body, and helping people achieve their goals. Everyday is a blessing at Tailored Strength. We have a ton of fun doing what we love surrounded by awesome people. At 26, I often think about what my life would like if I went the traditional corporate route or if I gave up on this personal training/fitness professional lifestyle at some point in the last 3 years. I won’t ever get to know what that life might have looked like but what I do know is that I have found something that I am passionate about and I do not see myself doing anything else in the future which feels like a win in my book. My job as a personal trainer really allows me to be creative in the workouts and/or exercise I program for my clients, the role forces me to think on the fly if something is not feeling right for someone, I find myself thinking about my clients and my job constantly but I fucking love it. 

I am excited for the future and I would love to hear back from you about anything exciting that has happened to you in the last year. 

I plan on sharing some of my thoughts on supplements, nutrition, exercise, books, etc. in the future but I needed to make a reintroduction since it has been so long. If you think someone you know might be interested in anything along those lines please share this newsletter with them. I hope you have a great week