Muscling Up With a Motivation Master

Six years ago, Havre de Grace resident Scott Foley’s father died of a heart attack at the age of 59. At that time, Foley was 70 pounds overweight, so he made a decision that would change his life.

“Although fitness is not a guarantee that you’ll live forever, it does put you in a situation where it can extend your life,” he said.

So he started out with walking, which was not an easy task for him.

“I couldn’t walk around the block without losing my breath,” he said.

Foley unpacked a box that had been collecting dust in his closet for two years—the P90X—and jumped right in. He cut back on unhealthy food choices and began eating better. He lost a few pounds here and there, he says, and then began jogging and running.

Within six months he’d lost that 70 pounds.

Over the course of the next year, Foley was “skinny” but wanted to gain muscle mass. His efforts seemed futile. So he decided to take things to the next level. 

Foley embarked on a journey to bulk up on the knowledge he needed to help him reach his own goals. In the process, he came out a certified personal trainer through the International Sports and Science Association (ISSA). 

Foley is a busy man, with a wife, Fran, a son, Jason, 21, and a daughter Brooke, 18. He works as the vice-president of sales and marketing for a printing company in Abingdon.

The draw for Foley to the ISSA was clear: “[the ISSA] represents sports and science. There’s more to it than just lifting weights. I mean, these guys are doctors and went through [training] themselves. A lot of them are professional body-builders or weight-lifters or Olympic trainers."

Another important aspect of ISSA Foley appreciated was learning how the body works. He said he's always been the type of person who enjoys learning and this program showed him the essentials of how muscles function “all the way down to cellular structure which is really what you need to understand how the body operates.”

Today his mission is simple. He wants to help others reach their personal fitness goals.

“What I’m trying to do now is just push that message to other people to help,” he said.

Mike Lechner, who owns in both Havre de Grace and Forest Hill had this to say regarding Foley: “He’s just super-super knowledgeable. He works hard and he really cares about the people. He just gets great results.” 

Going into his third year as a certified personal trainer, it's the results that drive Foley. He works with clients ranging from 15-84 years old and estimates that 70 percent of his clientele are female.

Foley said he spends many hours a week just preparing for individual sessions which vary widely from one person to the next. He says the initial meeting with a client is most important and he calls it the 'discovery.'

“I have to figure what this person’s about—what’s going on—design a plan around that, implement it and then show them results. Discovery is so important, I don’t want to find out that there was a shoulder injury eight weeks in.” 

Foley likes to work in conjunction with doctors’ orders as well as physical therapists. The more honest and open a client can be from the beginning, the greater their benefits.

And the benefits are many. For instance, one of Foley’s clients recently told him that he got into a suit for the first time in three years. How’s that make Foley feel?   

“It’s a neat feeling but, first of all, I don’t take the credit for any of it. I got the knowledge to pass it on. So I give the client the tools and I help motivate them and so forth but it’s up to them to actually follow through.

"I can only train them when they’re here. When they leave here, I can’t control them,” he said, noting all the variables—nutrition being the biggest—that can derail a fitness plan. 

Speaking of which, when the results aren’t coming Foley is all over it.

“I question what’s going on? What’s your eating been like? If you’re not doing your cardio, what’s happening? When all those variables aren’t in line, you see lesser of a result,” he promises.

That just doesn’t fly in his book. 

So what's Foely's strategy when he's working a client and they are at the verge of fatigue, ready to checkout of the workout?

“Sometimes I’ll get down and do the exercises with them if I have to," he said. "I just tell them not to give up, don’t quit, things like that … [or] I just say goofy things—whatever it takes to get them to push themselves a little harder.”

Foley says that he loves what he does and has a true passion for it. His biggest inspiration these days comes from the people who he's working with.

“They keep me motivated and make me want to continue to reach my own goals," he said. "So clients actually help me now and they don’t even know it.”

Ultimately Foley is hoping to someday compete in body building in the master’s division (over 40 group) but he admits, “It’s not as easy as they say it is." 

Still, he likens the challenge to a project: "It’s like a huge science project, this whole thing is—all this training."

But if the past is any indication of the future then it seems Foley will be crossing that off his list soon.