It’s good he found his place in life and all considering the disability, but why is this stuff of choice always so hostile and tough-shit and hardcore now?
It’s never anything peaceful and genteel. The imagery we see everywhere now is always so bad-ass confrontational. “Defies, endures, conquers…”
Jesus, it’s just Burbank were talking about here. Not the Golan Heights.
And like what ever happened to wanting to open surf shops and galleries? You know, like Navajo jewelry and stuff? That used to be Burbank.
Btw, this was a well-written article. Anybody else noticed how much Ashley’s writing has gotten better lately?
Athletics was never on Yakes’ radar as a child with a disability and fell into the perceived notion that he wasn’t capable of things like sports or exercise. It wasn’t until his time in the dorms adjusting to losing his site, that he started to train in the small, private gym on campus. While others had to be supervised while exercising, Yakes had enough vision left that they allowed him to train by himself. He worked out for two and a half hours every day but struggled with building muscle and gaining weight. “When I lost my vision, athletics became more important because I was dealing with stress by training,” he added.
It wasn’t until he was back in Burbank and met some trainers at the Burbank Crunch Fitness location, that he finally learned what exercises and nutrition would work for his body type. Yakes used professionals, coaches, and trainers, putting on 60 lbs, and working his way up to bodybuilding competitions and men’s physique shows. He was now training three hours a day at Crunch, and that’s when they offered him a job as a personal trainer.
So what is it, AI? They’re using AI down there now and then heavily re-editing it, right?
Burbank, California 
One would hope that AI or an editor would know the man didn’t lose his “site.”
Hey, good catch!
Too funny. Although, from the sound of this Burbank hard-luck story, maybe he did lose his site as well.