About Me - Raymond Yagloski, Jr.
Jun 13, 2023
Hi, my name is Raymond (Ray) Yagloski, Jr.
I am on a mission to inspire others to improve themselves.
I am on a mission to share my most valuable fitness and nutrition knowledge online.
I am on a mission to influence wrestlers to not only see wrestling as a sport but an opportunity to be a better person.
I am on a mission to maximize my potential as a person.
Writing, posting, communicating, storytelling is a part of this mission.
Let's start with the single most impactful decision I have ever made.
Joining wrestling.
I am a former high school and college wrestler. This has been such a big part of my identity and life. My current hobbies and interest stem from wrestling. I enjoy training strength and conditioning. It's the joy of my life. I enjoy nutrition because it's the fuel for a healthy and energetic life. I enjoy Jiu-Jitsu because it's this physical chess match.
See, last night, I was getting my head and neck cranked by my 200+ lbs training partner. He didn't have a choke locked in so I battled through it. But, my brain felt like it got squeezed.
Weight is always a big part of a wrestler's story. I want to share this because my size has not defined me. It's motivated me to go from a small person to a compact one haha!
85 lbs multi-sport athlete in elementary and middle school.
114 lbs wrestler (plus soccer, track, and baseball).
125/133 lbs collegiate wrestler.
I have loved my path and progression in size, strength, and attitude.
I grew up in the great state of PA. PA is a well-known wrestling state. I came up in a rural town with 4 former Division 1 wrestlers as coaches. Lucky me. But, this is the norm. Wrestling runs deep in Pennsylvania. This is a primary reason wrestling is strong in Pennsylvania. All the Dad's and former college wrestlers give back to their communities.
I had my ups and downs in high school wrestling. I was brand new but I was on the fast learning track with my personal family coaches in my cousin and my Dad. They were both college wrestlers. They invested so much time, effort, and money into my wrestling. They made me feel special. They made my wrestling feel important. They helped me develop an iron mindset. I loved these days. I remember going home every night and not knowing a certain position. My Dad and I would get on the floor and go over what to do. I would go back to practice or the wrestle-off and repeat it. This was my way of getting better every day.
I remember when I first identified as a wrestler. It was late in my sophomore year. It was only my 2nd year wrestling. I had a big match against a rival high school. I was facing a successful senior. He pinned me 2 months prior in short order. But, my cousin, Jason, set me up with the best game plan of all time. I can still remember getting the email with all the details of the match and how it will go. If you watch the actual match and you read his notes, they were a perfect match. It was a tight match and I was down late in the match. But, I had a gas tank and was able to hustle for final points and ended up getting the win. This was the big confidence boost for me. I'll never forget this day because it was when I started thinking "I am a wrestler."
I won some local tournaments. I won some big matches. I trained like crazy. I would go to baseball practice. Get a ride 45 minutes to Benton High School. This is where the great Hughes brothers coached and trained their top athletes. Zain Retherford would train at this high school after my time. But, during my time there, they had a stable of lightweights. They were were state championship caliber wrestlers. It was intimidating at first (the atmosphere, the coaching, the wrestlers). But, I was happy to be pursuing wrestling and trying to get better.
I took my losses, too. I got decked by a state champ in my senior year. I lost to my rival several times. I couldn't make it to the state tournament. These failures were tough pills to swallow but I still felt I was just beginning. I did not have much time in the sport because I started my freshman year. That is a huge hill to climb when you are going up against these seasoned, well-trained killers in PA. No excuses. I just wasn't ready to elevate my wrestling and these were my outcomes. I have had shame about them over the years. I have felt insecure about my wrestling record and what I accomplished. This hurt me in many areas of my life. It disrupted my confidence. It made me question why I work so hard. It's been an ongoing battle for me ever since my first days wrestling. It hurts so bad when you put a lot of care and effort into something and the results are not what you want.
I decided to wrestle in college because I had more to give. I wanted a situation where I could maximize my wrestling and academic performance. I was a studious kid thanks to my Mom's push and influence. I wanted to get a strong education and go to a top school. I was capable. I was ready. As we were searching for schools, the top choice became Johns Hopkins University. I applied early and got in. The acceptance rates at a school like this are low. I don't know what they were at the time but under 15% is a conservative estimate. I remember getting the phone call on the ride home from a wrestling meet. My Mom opened the acceptance email in case it was a rejection. She was as invested as me in all this. She brought me to this doorstep of college and I needed to step through. I got accepted and it was such a big accomplishment for myself and my parents. They helped me to this point. All the sacrifice, hard work, moments of anger, and countless other things they did for 18 years were all worth it! I was a product of their parenting.
In college, I developed. I went from 114 lbs as a high school senior to 140 lbs in the span of college. This was both through lifting and eating in a forceful way but, also, my maturity and growth happened. I got chest hair and started to build a more powerful physique. This was when I started to love lifting weights even more than high school. I was in the weight room as a young middle schooler and I loved the environment. I loved training with the football players in both middle school and high school. They were the biggest, strongest, and hardest workers in the weight room. I made some of my best friends in high school and college in the weight room. We spent a lot of time there. They respected me because 1) they could see how hard I worked 2) they could see my commitment (no one forced me to be in there).
My college wrestling career was interesting. I wrestled a lot of matches. 143 matches in total. That was the most in school history at the time of my graduation. I won 93 DIII matches. I got a lot of those matches because I placed in every tournament but 1 in my college career. It was an interesting environment. I treated my wrestling like a Division I experience. The primary reason was I obsessed about training. At my school, we were students first though. The school's prestige, its big price, and where we came from made us all work hard on our studies. I aligned with that, too, though. You can imagine I did not do much other than study and train. I loved this life because it was simple and focused. These days as an adult, I sometimes wish I can tap into the simplicity and focus that I had those days. It's a challenge because as an adult there's so many different opportunities and paths. It can be overwhelming. In school and sports, the path is straightforward. Do a good job this semester. Train today and get better. In a lot of ways, adult life is like that, too. But, I look up and I see so many things going on around me, , "Should I be doing that?" That discussion might be for another day.
I graduated with my degree in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering in 2014. I moved on and started my engineering career. I traveled across the country to Chicago. I knew no one. Right at the end of college, I took a personal trainer certification. This was impactful. It gave me confidence and credentials to start coaching other people. Like I said, I love(d) lifting weights. It was a logical progression to become a coach.
When I got to Chicago, I was walking down the street from my apartment. I saw an open floor plan gym with barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, and Pull-up bars. This peaked my interest. I knew they had a solid training base with that type of equipment. They wert opening. I walked in and applied. They said, "Perfect. We want a new trainer." That was the beginning days of my personal training/coaching experience. I thank Jeff, Leah, Christine, and Spindle Fitness crew for guiding me and getting me started as a coach.
Right around this time, I got the grappling itch again. I started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Brazil-021 in December 2015. I researched the many gyms in the area and I came to the conclusion this might be the best fit for me. They were welcoming and kind yet instructive and traditional in their teaching. I met a lot of good friends in short order there. I am thankful I got started with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!
Then (I'm skipping a lot of stuff here), I moved out to Oregon for another job move in 2016. This was another location where I didn't know anyone. I picked up my hobbies quickly here though and I found a BJJ school and a new gym. I had researched the gyms in the area because I knew I wanted to find the best one. I came across a place called The SHOP. I saw the owner, Drew Skaggs, had all the most respected credentials in the fitness industry! Awesome. Amongst coaches, these certifications are notable. Most people don't care. But, I thought it was the coolest thing. A big part of what I learned in Chicago at Spindle Fitness was kettlebell training. This was when my love for kettlebells started to grow as well. It continued at The SHOP. The SHOP was the place where I grew as a coach. I got thousands and thousands of hours on the training floor. I was coaching and writing training programs every single week for 5 years.
Fast forward these last several years in Oregon have been pretty consistent. I have done these couple of things on repeat. Work (chemical engineering & supply chain), coach (fitness and wrestling), train (fitness and Jiu-Jitsu). These are my core activities I focus on. When my friends ask me what I've been up to, it's been the same answer for the last several years. I like that. I love the consistency of my routine. I love the activities. This is what I want to improve on. And, if you want to improve something, it's going to take a tremendous amount of time and effort. I am okay with that as long as it is something I care about. When it comes to training and coaching, I care about them. I love seeing progress in myself and others.
It's been a journey since those early wrestling days. I wouldn't be who I am without having joined wrestling. It changed my life. That's why I am going to do my absolute best to share the knowledge I have of fitness and nutrition with wrestlers. I wish I had this information when I was going through. I want to make it accessible, simple, effective, and practical. This is the mission I am currently on. Learning the internet, learning social media, learning video. I have loved doing it this past year. I have a long way to go but I am enjoying the process. It's this big puzzle I am trying to solve. What do people want to see? What do I have to offer? What can I explain? What media do I want to share this information? It's endless!
That brings me to my final point. My activities are my platform for growth. I use Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, and kettlebells to make myself a better person. There's nothing more addicting than progress. That's the overarching theme I want to share with everyone who reads, watches, or studies my stuff. Get better. That's it. These are all activities that have embedded life lessons inside. I do not want to miss these opportunities. I want to take full advantage of them and become a better person. If I am a better person, I can show up for my relationships better. I can impact those around me better. I can share my messages better. I can have more energy. And, so much more. This is my pursuit. This is my Mat Quest.
