EJ Mecklenburg

EJ’s interest in health in fitness stretches way back, starting with playing year-round sports in high school. However, it wasn’t really until college that EJ started to workout seriously in order to get bigger and stronger to wrestle in his weight class.

“One of my coaches was a trainer and worked with me individually after practices, and we developed a strength training program for me,” EJ explains. “From then on I was hooked on working out, and also decided that I wanted to study Fitness and Exercise Science.· The one-on-one help that I received really changed my outlook.· On top of regular practices, I was putting in an extra hour of hard training 5 days a week that no one else did on a regular basis.· I figured if I enjoyed getting the extra help when it came to reaching my fitness goals then one day I could help others in the same way.”

After wrestling ended, a coworker suggested EJ try out Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, stating that with his athletic background he’d be able to pick it up quickly. To this day, EJ is still training in Jiu Jitsu at least five days a week. He’s also progressed into Thai boxing training and eventually became interested in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

“I do not ‘train’ MMA specifically,” EJ says. “I train Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and wrestling separately.· It is my job as a student of each individual sport to put it all together and figure out how it works for me. I enjoy the mental challenge of training and fighting.· There is no guarantee for an outcome of a fight, all I can do is train hard each practice and stay healthy.”

EJ now specializes in functional movement training, injury prevention, and post rehabilitation training at Balance Gym. He applies functional human movement to all aspects of fitness, whether it be mobility, acceleration/deceleration, power, and core strength.

The score sheet:

• B.S. in Health Promotion from American University
• NASM Certified Personal Trainer
• NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist
• NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist
• Functional movement Screening/Reactive Training Specialist
• Wrestled for the Division 1 American University Eagles
• Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
• Trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Thai Boxing at the BETA Academy in Columbia Heights DC
• 3rd at the 2010 International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Pan Am Championships
• 3rd at the 2010 International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation No-Gi World Championships