Bigger, Faster, Stronger is the motto that Rich Thomann cultivated from old-school neighborhood competition and the motto that later helped Rich play for the best football team in the country, Notre Dame.
Name: Rich
MotionTraxx Sessions Completed: 95
MotionTraxx Hours Logged: 2,017
Favorite MotionTrack: Elliptical Express #2 by Stephanie Vitorino
Result: Life-sustaining endorphin highs
Rich grew up in Akron, Ohio where he had to earn respect out on the football field. Competition wasn’t league organized or school sanctioned, but run by the big boys in the neighborhood. Rich’s motivation came from never wanting to get picked last or bullied – he attributes his toughness to the drive to come back bigger, faster, and stronger each and every day to meet the challenges of his environment.
95
Sessions Completed
Rich’s competitive spirit and drive translated to a successful high school and college career. With 200 students vying to play for the Varsity football team, Rich made it his goal to be the best. He describes himself as being “the biggest fast guy and the fastest big guy,” always making strength and agility his goals. In 1968, Rich was recruited to Notre Dame as a linebacker and in 1970, helped the Fighting Irish beat the University of Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
Rich attributes his success to the relentless pursuit of his goals “My Notre Dame experience was a culmination of all those neighborhood and high school games – all the time as a kid that I spent in the gym and on the field.”
“When you live a life in athletics, it’s a life of competition, you want to be the best. I can’t live unless I’m advancing, I can’t retreat.”
After college, Rich continued to play football professionally. Although his football career eventually came to an end, Rich never gave up the pursuit of challenging himself. True success, he believes, comes from the hard work when nobody is watching. Rich no longer has football players around him to set the bar – he sees himself as his biggest competition.
“You can get better wherever you are in life, you can always do better – the fight becomes with yourself. You can always be better than you were the day before.”
Rich’s Favorite MotionTrack
Rich craves going to the gym every day and during each workout, he looks forward to the next. The endorphin high from his MotionTraxx workouts are addicting and life-sustaining. Working out used to shape Rich’s body and mind to compete against bigger and stronger guys, but now at 64 years old, working out keeps Rich young and a part of the lives of his kids and grandkids. Looking back on his life, Rich is thankful for the tough environment that he grew up with – it helped foster a lifelong love of competition, discipline and athletics.
Have an inspirational fitness story to tell? Email me at lovetosweat@motiontraxx.com