Peter Smith (Apr 2024)
AGE: 51
PROFESSION: Lawyer
HOMETOWN: LA
COLLEGE: Yale (Go Bulldogs!)
FAVORITE FOOD: Definitely chocolate (The day I learned that chocolate milk is an excellent recovery food for after a long run is still one of the best days of my life.)
FAVORITE PLACE VISITED: That’s a hard one. I enjoyed climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with my wife for our honeymoon. But my favorite place is still probably Paris.
PLACE YOU WANT TO VISIT: I’d love to go to Peru, where we could take the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
FAVORITE MOVIE: So many choices! The original Star Wars trilogy still holds a special place in my heart, though.
FAVORITE SINGER: Freddie Mercury. (I can’t get enough Queen.)
HOBBIES: When I’m not working or playing chauffeur for my daughter, I like jogging (when I’m feeling motivated) and reading (when I’m not). I’ve also started playing poker with some friends, but that can be an expensive hobby.
BACKGROUND: I started my first Sonki Fitness Boot Camp back in October 2005. Four years later, I was 20 pounds lighter, increased my push-ups by nearly 50%, increased my sit-ups by a whopping 185%, and cut nearly three minutes off my one-mile run. I have slipped a bit since then, but I’ll do my best to get back into that shape again!
What is your current exercise routine? I run a couple times a week, do incline work (walking/jogging) a couple times a week, and do punching drills a couple times a week. (At least, that’s what I try to do every week — I often end up missing a couple of these workouts some weeks.)
What is your motivation to stay in shape? My main motivation is nostalgia — I want to get back into the condition that I was in back when I was going to Sonki Fitness Boot Camp regularly.
What is your greatest challenge to staying in shape? Definitely time. With a busy work and parenting schedule, it takes an effort to make the time to fit in exercise time. In addition, I would be lying if I didn’t say that laziness raised a pretty big challenge, too.
What is your key to success? I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
What do you like about Sonki Fitness Boot Camp and how has it affected your life? When I first started Sonki Fitness, I had tried out another boot camp that had an instructor yelling at students, combined with a weird macho competitive vibe among the students. The classes at Sonki Fitness Boot Camp were so much better — a very friendly, supportive atmosphere both from the instructor and from the other students. I was also very happy to see the results that I would get, demonstrating that a workout doesn’t need to be unpleasant to be effective.
What advice would you give to others about fitness? Just stick with it! There will be times that will be frustrating — maybe a workout didn’t go your way, or maybe you had to step away from working out due to an injury or a busy schedule. It can be very hard to bounce back from that, but it is definitely worth it.