Our Writers
John Fentress
As a kid I was fit. My memories of climbing trees and riding bikes until sunset are still with me today.
But I grew into my teens and suddenly, that wasn’t the case anymore.
The kid who once could run as fast as the wind, and climb 50 foot trees fearlessly had become obese.
In 11th grade I stepped on the scale at 235 pounds!!
How did this happen??
That summer I vowed to lose the weight… and I did!
I ran, I cut out sweets. I drank lots of green tea…
And the weight fell off easily, I lost 65 pounds (thanks young person metabolism) and I was fit again.
Mission accomplished… or so I thought
Fast forward through college – I hiked 500 miles on the AT, played club soccer, and fell in love with cycling.
I was as in shape as I had ever been and happy about it.
But then something happened.
I stopped moving….
But the problem was I didn’t realize it.
I took a desk job, moved to a bigger city where being a commuter cyclist wasn’t as easy, stopped playing soccer.
Stopped playing….
See, in my mind I still saw myself as active, saw myself as the fit young man who lost 65 pounds in one summer. Who rode bikes everywhere.
But I wasn’t that way anymore – and as a result my body started to change.
I developed back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain… you name it.
I couldn’t sit cross legged.
I couldn’t squat.
I couldn’t do a pushup without wrist pain.
My body was a mess.
So what now?
Well…. first, I started moving again.
And while I wish it was really that simple.
It was the beginning of a journey.
One that I’m still on – and will be for the rest of my life.
The journey to unlock a stiff back and regain my balance.
TO squat deeply without knee pain or falling over.
To move like a ninja, and climb like a monkey.
To feel free like I did when I was a kid – carefree.
This journey has taken me places – and now It’s brought me here.
Where I write things for people who might feel like I used to.
People who are in pain. People who want ideas, inspiration, to grow and to move freely.
To live in their bodies without pain… to know themselves.
That’s what Built Primal is for.. for the animal in all of us that we’ve lost touch with.
Hello from me to you – let’s get moving!
– John