Name: Ben Wisler
Age: 30
Residence: Seymour
Occupation: Director of instruction at Fitness 1440 in Seymour; certifications include NCCPT certified personal trainer, NCCPT certified senior fitness specialist, ICG cycling instructor, AIC accredited interscholastic coach, USATF fundamentals of coaching, PGA Class A-6 golf instructor, SPI certified putter fitter and currently working on fluid motion factor certification
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What is your workout schedule?
“Currently lift six days a week — Sunday through Friday — between one and one-and-a-half hours each day, never working the same muscle within three days of each other. Run five days a week — Sunday recovery run, Monday tempo run, Wednesday easy run, Thursday speed work, Saturday long run. Crosstraining cardio three to four days a week — could be using FlexStrider, Rex (recumbent elliptical), row machine or hand bike. In total, between 15 and 20 hours of exercise a week, and as golf season is starting, I will be going down to four or five days of lifting and be practicing golf three to four days a week — one to three hours.”
What is your favorite workout to do and why?
“I would have to say my favorite workout is leg day, as you get to move heavy weight, and it’s very satisfying when you realize you can do more than you could last time.”
Where do you work out, and what do you like about that place?
“I work out at Fitness 1440. We have more equipment, more options and more space than any other 24-hour facility in town.”
What do you eat or avoid eating to be healthy?
“Eating correctly is the hardest part for me. I can get myself to go out and run 20 miles for three hours no problem, but staying away from the junk food is a daily battle. My wife, who is a certified health coach through Dr. Sears, has definitely helped me a lot over the years, as I no longer eat an entire bag of cookies in one sitting and actually eat salads now.”
What are your fitness goals?
“I got into fitness because I was an overweight kid and want to show my kids — currently have four, Madeline, 14, Claire, 11, Lana, 8, and Ben Jr., 3, with a fifth one on the way — how to live a healthy lifestyle. But as a recovering food addict, that can be tough sometimes. I have to set goals for myself to stay on track, such as running a sub-three-hour marathon or winning the Seymour city golf championship again and making it through sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open this year.”
What are some fitness goals that you are proud to have achieved?
“At age 13, I was 230 pounds with not an ounce of muscle on me. I am currently 180 at about 15 percent body fat. I set a goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon back in 2013. At that time, my marathon personal record was 4:55:26, and for my age group, I would have to run a sub-3:05:00 to qualify. Last year, I made it running a 3:00:21 marathon.
“Here are some of my competitive accomplishments: Running, Indiana Timing Race Series, second in age group, 2012; first in age group, 2013; first overall male and won seven races, 2014; second overall male and won three races, 2015. Personal records, 5K, 17:49, 2014; 8K, 30:21, 2015; 10K, 39:05, 2015; 15K, 1:00:32, 2014; half-marathon, 1:26:42, 2015; marathon, 3:00:21, 2015; 50K, 5:24:10. Golf, Seymour Country Club champion, four straight from 2012 to 2015; Seymour City Tournament champion, 2015.”
Are you currently training for any type of event, such as a marathon, triathlon, etc.? If so, what does your training or routine involve?
“I will be running three half-marathons — Sam Costa, Indy 500 Mini and Seymour Mini — in the next two months as well as the Boston Marathon on April 18. I am shooting for my sub-three-hour marathon either in September (Mill Race Marathon) or December (St. Jude Marathon) as well as running a sub-1:20 half-marathon hopefully in October (Bedford Half-Marathon).”
How does exercising make you feel?
“Alive. I was so lethargic and in pain as a kid from the extra weight and lack of muscle. It is a constant work in progress, but I plan on doing it until the day I die.”
What is your advice to encourage others to exercise?
“Hire a good trainer. That was the best decision I ever made when I first started. I didn’t know what I was doing, and as a college student working an internship, I didn’t have a lot of money. But I made it work because it was my health, and if I wanted to live a healthy life, I knew I had to do it. I met with my trainer, Eric, four times each month so he could teach me proper technique so I not only would be less likely to hurt myself, but also make sure I was getting the most out of my time at the gym.”
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Are you interested in sharing information about your workout? If so, email [email protected] or call 812-523-7080.
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