From Average Joe To Pro

As I thumbed through the latest edition of Men’s Health magazine last night I came across a full-page ad for a new book called “The Impact Body Plan” and recognized the name and picture of the author. Later in the magazine there was an article titled “From Average Joe to Pro” in which that same author talked about how pretty much anyone can train like the pros. The author and fitness expert is Todd Durkin, who is one of the athletes I most enjoyed covering in the more than 30 years I have followed high school sports while at this radio station. As a matter of fact several years ago while writing a newspaper column I listed Todd on my All-Time Top 10 favorites…probably not something he has cut out and framed in his Southern California home.

Durkin was a very good athlete at Brick Township High School and followed in his brother’s footsteps as a quarterback for the Green Dragons. Through football and other sports I got to know him pretty well and while he was a good athlete, he was a much more impressive person. Smart and poised he was someone that you just knew would become a success and after leaving Brick in 1989 he headed to William & Mary where he earned a degree in Kinesiology and later got his Masters at San Diego State University.

Since then the former Green Dragon quarterback has built a fitness empire.
He is a highly-regarded and well known performance-enhancement coach, personal trainer, author and speaker. Durkin’s San Diego gym, Fitness Quest 10 was recently named one of the top 10 gyms in the county and his personal clients have included Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees as well as NFL stars LaDainian Tomlinson, Aaron Rodgers, Shawn Merriman , Kellen Winslow and many others. Todd twice has been named personal trainer of the year, he has authored 35 DVD’s on strength and conditioning and he is the head of the Under Armour Performance Training Council and makes appearances on their behalf.

Durkin lives in San Diego with his wife Melanie and three children and while not even I could have predicted the success he has had it’s really not a shock. I just knew he was something special as a teen-ager in Brick in the late 80’s and he’ll always have a spot on my top 10.