Danielle
I have always been into fitness and was constantly at the gym working out but I was not doing anything with it. In November 2017 I fractured my leg at Officer Candidate School for the Marine Corps and was working on building up my strength. I am constantly looking for the next thing to focus on to push me to my limits and to challenge myself. I love self-discipline and anything that forces me out of my comfort zone! I reached out to a few friends of mine that have competed recently and did some research before I began my journey. Each one had the same advice of finding a good coach and one of my good friends had met Peter while he was attending University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and highly recommended reaching out to him.
I emailed Peter and got a response right away! This was also a trend throughout my whole entire prep. No email went unanswered and all of my check-ins were replied to immediately. Peter told me what was possible and what was not possible in my prep and was always realistic with me. I began my prep at the end of July and the two of us pushed to get me ready to hit the stage in October and again in November. I checked in with Peter twice a week and he continuously adjusted my macros as needed for weight loss but also always made sure I was feeling okay physically, emotionally, and mentally throughout the whole process.
I simply cannot say enough about how amazing Peter is as a coach. This was my first time competing, I didn’t know what macros were, I didn’t know how to pose, I had some muscle built but my diet was mostly carbs and fats and I was not aware of how low my protein intake was. Beyond my prep and my reverse diet, Peter has taught me so much about basic diet and nutritional value and how it processes in my body. He continuously was concerned about my overall health as well. If I was having a bad day or feeling weak, I would let him know and he would advise me to take a rest day or let me add on a few carbs. He really cares about his clients through and through and I felt like I was his only client even though he has many to check on.
I had a very successful first competition season and it is all thanks to Peter (and my posing coach Jess!). At the Clash of Titans I placed 1st in my Novice-Short class, 1st place Novice Overall, and 3rd in the Open-Short division. My second show I placed 2nd in the Open and had some tough competition. I will be working with Peter again in 2020 and I cannot wait to see what that season brings!