Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Benitez.
Jose, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve spent the better portion of my life seeking out different ways to better myself and grow. I guess that’s how I got into the profession I am in today. I have been in the fitness industry for six years now. I actually grew up playing sports but would not say I was not athletically gifted by any means. I enjoyed spending time in the weight room.
When I played football, I can remember our coaches starting each workout with Journey’s Don’t stop believing… that never got old. Once I realized my football career was taking me nowhere, I gave up sports altogether. I got involved with the wrong crowd after that and made some pretty bad choices. I owe a pretty big debt to my brother, Israel, who wasn’t born at that time. He doesn’t know it yet, but he played a huge role in the turnaround of my life.
I was a student who never applied himself, while also making some bad choices outside of the classroom. I could tell my life was going nowhere fast. I think the starting point of my life changing is when I found out my mom was pregnant with Israel. I never had someone growing up with to model myself in front of and the thought of my brother looking up to me for advice or asking questions pushed me to change. It was the fuel I desperately needed.
I do have a brother who is close to my age, but I think it was the age gap that made my relationship with Israel so different. I forced myself to change and ended up getting into the fitness industry. I first started selling memberships and eventually worked my way up to managing my own gym. The fitness industry began to alter my life in such a positive way. Although I was passionate about what I was doing, I knew I could impact people’s lives on a deeper level.
Growing up, I considered myself not good enough to succeed, but fitness made me feel very different about that. I realized as I advanced in fitness other aspects of my life were changing as well. My confidence boosted among many other things. But life has a funny way of taking random turns at not so convenient times. In 2015 my parents went through a rough patch which I won’t delve too deeply into, but in an effort to summarize it, they lost their home.
Their family had turn against them, and I was pushed to my limits in my career, on the verge of burnout and to top it all off, my relationship at the time was failing. I felt like I had hit rock bottom and was out for the count.
Shortly after all this, I moved to Houston for better career opportunities, but that ended up making things worse. I decided to move to Dallas after this. I won’t say names, but there was someone during that time that encouraged me to go into personal training. At the time, I didn’t realize how much of a blessing that was and today I am utterly grateful for that person for their guidance.
I think in order for human beings to see what they are truly capable of achieving; we have to hit the absolute rock bottom. For me, that was August 2, 2016. I was done, I was tired of being pushed around by life and had found this ambition I had never had before. I got the opportunity to training at Equinox, a well-known high-status gym in October of 2016 and since then I’ve pushed towards building a better future.
I learned that it’s not what I say that defines me but what I do. Over the last couple of years, I’ve worked towards breaking limiting beliefs that I’ve carried my entire life while realizing that the capability that we, as human beings are limitless. The path I’ve chosen allows me the opportunity of helping motivate and encourage other people who have gone through similar situations as myself.
I continue to help other people reach their full potential as my way of giving back and I’ve set my heart on continuing to educate and grow myself knowing I’ve only tapped the surface.
Has it been a smooth road?
For me, the journey of improving my life has come with several challenges. I’d say one of the biggest is that I had some very limiting beliefs about myself and the world around me. I honestly thought I was a failure. I had trouble following through with the goals I was loosely setting.
My motto even through all of this was still “fall, but pick yourself back up” the challenge staring me in the face was how to rewire my mind and overcome these outdated belief systems. I was expected to run a business successfully and that meant I had to put work into my mind if that were to be a reality. All I knew was that I would turn my shortcomings into successes and that it was going to take a lot of work.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I feel when tell people I am a personal trainer that does not accurately depict what I do. I think I look at personal training as an umbrella term. So much goes underneath it. So, yes, I help people change their bodies, but through this process, I also help them change their minds while serving them to my best capabilities.
I suppose that’s what sets me apart from the normal trainer. I like to focus on my client’s belief systems and assess where they currently are so that I can help them crush any mental blockades and in order to grow much stronger beyond their body transformation.
I am very intentional about looking for areas to improve my client’s physical, mental and spiritual state so they won’t leave just having a better body, but the tools necessary to keep it and grow in their relationships, business, and personal life.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I’m so fortunate to able to work with such an innovative group of trainers. Working at Equinox has allowed me to break the traditional format of viewing fitness overall.
Traditional methods of doing things are overrated, so we get to question, test and study different methods or solutions that will lead to the same or better outcome. Equinox is on the forefront of revolutionizing how we view fitness as people and how we do it on a regular basis. Movement needs to be the foundation of peoples focus.
As Grey cook says “If you can move well, then you can move well more often.” I see more people questioning traditional methods of fitness and staying curious to what the possibilities could be.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8611 Hillcrest Rd, Dallas, TX 75225
- Website: https://www.equinox.com/clubs/texas/prestonhollow
- Phone: 4694636242
- Email: Jose.Benitez@pt.equinox.com
- Instagram: Jbenfit1040
Image Credit:
Lacey Uhre
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
