"An Interview with Mike Westerdal of Critical Bench"

Meet Mike Westerdal

The staff at My Personal Trainer School is excited to share with you some insight from former Personal Trainer, current fitness entrepreneur, author of several fitness ebooks, and founder and owner of CriticalBench.com

Thanks for sharing with us some valuable insight into the world of Personal Training and beyond. Enjoy the interview.

MPTS: How did fitness first become a part of your life and then a career path?

Mike Westerdal (MW): As a child, I would have to say it was organized sports. I played soccer in elementary school. I think as a kid my generation was pretty active. We played outside a lot riding our bikes, running around, fighting and normal child play. I tried different sports and when I settled in on football by the end of middle school I knew that weight lifting was going to have to be a part of my life from that point forward.

MPTS: Could you describe a typical day in your life for our readers?

MW: My typical day is probably different than your typical personal trainer. I recently stopped training clients one on one so that I could focus on my Web site to reach the masses. My day consists of answering email questions, adding fitness information to my Web sites, taking the dog for a walk and going to powerlifting practice in the late afternoons.

MPTS: That does sound different. Was this always the case?

MW: Not at all. I used to train clients starting at 5:30 in the morning and would have clients as late as 8 or 9pm. Of course there are always breaks in the day which I would spend my time working out for myself or continuing the development of CriticalBench.com and writing exercise programs.

MPTS: Would you say there are certain people that helped pave your way to success in the fitness industry?

MW: I’d have to thank my training partners over the years, high school and college teammates and coaches. My best friend, Nick Silvaggi, for helping me start the Critical Bench Web site. I’d like to thank Greg Gibson for encouraging me to get certified as a personal trainer. Hank DeGroat was also very helpful sharing his expertise from Bigheadfitness.com. There were also several people such as Jake Jones that helped me get started online.

MPTS: Hindsight is 20/20, but what do you know now that would have been helpful when you first started your fitness career?

MW: I wish I knew about the Internet and how to make Web sites when I was in college so I didn’t have to spend a few years toughing it out in the rat race trapped in a cubicle and commuting several hours a day.

MPTS: What project are you working on now that you are most excited about?

MW: I’m currently working on creating a weight gain program for my site visitors and customers that have been asking for such a program over the past few years.

MPTS: Do you have any other pearls of wisdom for our readers?

MW: I’m a strong believer in going after what you want instead of wishing, hoping and complaining about how things should have been. You can accomplish anything that your mind accepts as reality. This is a great country where you have the freedom and the ability to go after whatever it is you desire.

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it." - William Arthur Ward

About Mike Westerdal

As a kid I was really skinny. In fact my freshman year of high school I weighed 120 pounds and couldn't even bench press my own weight. Even when you stick up for yourself it seems that the smallest people always seem to be the ones that get picked on the most and have to constantly defend themselves. Like so many others I got myself a cheap Weider weight bench with the plastic weights and started lifting in my basement while practicing my punches on a heavy bag. Things were progressing slowly, but I was hooked on the muscle mags and reading everything I could get my hands on.

My family moved to CT my sophomore year of high school. Not having a ton of friends I spent a lot of my time in the YMCA weight room. In fact I probably spent way too much time there. I'm sure I was over training doing a full body workout 5-7 days a week, but as a beginner I was still making gains. I had to gain weight so I wouldn't get pushed around the football as defensive back, so I kept at it. By my senior year of high school I weighed 185 pounds and benched 275. Nothing amazing, but it was a huge improvement for me.

My lifting workout had been improving the more I read, I was eating as much as I could and training a lot smarter. I still wasn't training the right way to add serious muscle but I was doing alright. After high school I walked onto a D-IAA football team and became a starter by my Junior year. The summer of my sophomore year I figured out with the help of one of the team captains that you get stronger and put on size by doing heavy compound movements for low reps. When I dropped my reps and increased the weight my bench soared from a 315 to 400+ in a matter of a year. I knew I was onto something and started documenting all my workouts and those of my teammates that were using the same system. As one of the stronger benchers on the team, I constantly had people asking me how they could up their max.

At the same time I was getting interested in computers and decided to start a Web site as a hobby to answer the questions and help where I could. That's how the Critical Bench Program originally started although it has changed over the years. After college I tried the 9-5 desk job stuff and couldn't take the rat race. I'd rather be free and make less money than sit in a cubicle and stare out the window like a prisoner. I'm not dissing those that do this, I just didn't want to hack it. I quit my job and went to Europe to play some more football. After an ACL tear I came back to the US, got certified as a personal trainer and trained clients for a few years while I continued to grow my Web site.

Although I love training people, I felt that I could reach more people through the Internet and felt that my time would be better spent reaching the masses. Now I run CriticalBench.com full-time as an online weight lifting resource with thousands of informational pages. Currently I'm living in the Tampa Bay area with my soon to be wife Courtney. I'm training at an awesome gym in Tampa with a group of powerlifters. I have a few bench competitions under my belt and I'm striving to improve my bench with the real experts. It's amazing. I thought I was strong on the football field, but when you hang out with a group of powerlifters it sure puts you in your place. I'm ready to work my way up, and learn from others that share my same passion.

In life and in training I feel very strongly that positive thinking and surrounding yourself with successful people is so important. Anything is possible as long as you open your mind to it and believe it. It sounds like such a cliche, but you can sit and complain about what's wrong with your life or you can do something about it. If you want something, go get it. You can do it! I feel blessed that I am able to live life the way I chose. This is my story and I'm sticking to it. Keep training hard and God Bless You! Mike Westerdal.

You can look at Mike Westerdal's Critical Bench Program at www.criticalbench.com

MPTS: We'd like to thank Mike Westerdal for taking the time to share part of his success story with our readers. We are eagerly awaiting more of your Personal Training and Fitness Business tips in the future.

MPTS Note: Mike Westerdal has been one of the most influential individuals in the development and growth of the My Personal Trainer School website.

Without his guidance and support, we might not be here today. Thanks Mike for all of your help!

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