We recently connected with Siddiqu Muhammad and have shared our conversation below.

Siddiqu, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children” (Hosea 4:6)

The obesity rates are highest amongst black people, so my team does health presentations on proper diet and exercise. We also do free workout classes for the public. We have done a classes as big as 2,000+ people at one time. The goal is to show people how fun exercise can be and also give information on what foods to remove from your diet.

We also have a group of young people who help inspire other young people to be healthier. The prevalence of obesity was 19.7% and affected about 14.7 million children and adolescents. In poverty areas those numbers shoot up. Free exercise classes really help get kids off the couch and moving around, and this actually has shown to improve self-esteem.

Siddiqu, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I did my undergrad at DePaul University and ran track. Upon graduating I wanted to help people be in shape. I became a personal trainer and realized that most people who really needed help couldn’t afford personal training. I then went on to start doing a local Chicago Morning show where I would give out health advice. Then I went on to start doing TV segments showing people how to exercise. From tv I went on to start acquiring sponsorship to host free exercise classes for people who didn’t have the money. Our classes grew in popularity and grew to the thousands.

Our company Chicago fit 4 life has created over 7 different books that focus on different aspects of health. Our most recent book was co-authored with Chicago Trainer Keanna.

As a personal trainer I have an array of different clients. I have trained kids as young as 12 to a WW2 Veteran at the age of 96. I also have trainer professional basketball and football players, reality tv stars, and actors.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was under the impression that people didn’t like exercise. I had to unlearn that belief. Dancing is exercise, moving is exercise, and I have the ability to combine both of those in one dynamic class. Believing people didn’t like to exercise was an extremely limiting belief. With that belief my first workout class had 6 people attend. When I dropped that belief, my next class had 130 people in attendance. I realized it’s all about perspective and your mind.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was a homeless teen. I needed to go to college to expand my thinking. I had an ability to run and run fast. I had to utilize that gift to open doors for me. Having to run track meets some days with only eating candy was extremely tough physically and mentally. I had to keep my mind focused on making it to the next level, that level being college. At any given time I could have gave up and quit. I knew that I only had two options if I gave up and that was death & prison.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoFitf4Life/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/Siddiqu_thept
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siddiqu/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddiqu-muhammad-9461726
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/siddiqu_thept
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/chicagofit4life