Chris Heria - THE REAL STORY | VLOG 1 S1

Summary

This inspiring video follows the journey of a fitness enthusiast born in Miami, who turned his passion for calisthenics into a global movement. After discovering fitness at an early age, he traveled the world, meeting people and honing his skills. Returning home, he opened the first calisthenics gym in Miami and founded THENX, a worldwide platform offering step-by-step workout programs. He shares his personal struggles, growth, and success, showing how passion and dedication can transform lives. His story encourages others to believe in themselves and embrace challenges to achieve greatness.

Takeaways

• 🌞 Grew up in Miami, enjoying an active outdoor lifestyle and developing a passion for fitness early on.
• 💪 Discovered a love for calisthenics and later traveled the world to compete, teach, and share his passion with others.
• 🏋️ Opened the first calisthenics gym in Miami, named 'Calisthenics Academy,' which later expanded globally.
• 📱 Launched THENX, an online platform with step-by-step programs and daily workouts, helping people transform their lives through fitness.
• 📈 Gained rapid success with the THENX app, reaching half a million downloads and nearly a million YouTube subscribers.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Uses a hands-on approach to building THENX, including training, filming, and developing new content and products.
• 👨‍👩‍👦 Shares how calisthenics helps individuals and families, as demonstrated by Eduardo's body transformation through the program.
• 🙏 Overcame personal struggles, including the loss of a child, which led to a renewed focus on life and fitness as a source of strength.
• 🎯 Emphasizes the importance of taking on challenges and embracing struggle to grow stronger, both in fitness and life.
• 🌟 Believes in spreading the calisthenics movement worldwide, helping people achieve their fitness goals and live fulfilling lives through passion and dedication.

Q & A

Where was the speaker born and on which date?

The speaker was born in Miami, Florida on December 21st, 1991.

What was the speaker's early life like in Miami?

The speaker spent most of his time outdoors, enjoying the sun, hanging out with friends, listening to music, and being active.

How did the speaker get into fitness?

The speaker got into fitness at an early age by working out in the park near his house.

What led the speaker to travel the world?

The speaker started traveling the world to compete, teach, and meet amazing people, creating some of his greatest memories.

What was the first business the speaker opened in Miami?

The first business the speaker opened in Miami was the first calisthenics gym called Calisthenics Academy.

What is the name of the online platform the speaker created?

The speaker created an online platform called THENX.

How has THENX grown since its inception?

THENX has grown to include a gym, a YouTube channel, and an app with half a million downloads and nearly a million subscribers on YouTube.

What kind of messages does the speaker receive from people who use his teachings?

The speaker receives messages about body transformations and how people are changing their lives through his workouts.

What is the speaker's daily routine like?

The speaker's daily routine includes waking up, answering questions and emails, training at the gym, shooting videos for YouTube or the app, and attending meetings to develop the app and create new programs.

What is the speaker's approach to product development?

The speaker puts a lot of time into selecting and creating products, going through many samples to find the best one.

What was the turning point in the speaker's life?

The turning point in the speaker's life was when he was 19 years old and had lost everything, including his son, which led him to live each day as if it were his last.

What is the speaker's philosophy on facing difficulties?

The speaker believes in taking advantage of every second and sees opportunities in difficult situations. He suggests making things more difficult to become stronger.

Outlines

00:00

🌞 Childhood and Early Passion for Fitness

The narrator was born on December 21st, 1991, in Miami, Florida, where the hot weather encouraged outdoor activities. He developed an early love for fitness, working out in a local park. Over time, this passion led him to travel, compete, and meet amazing people around the world. This journey ultimately led him back home, where he opened Miami’s first calisthenics gym, Calisthenics Academy, which later expanded globally. Through his teachings, he inspired thousands of people to change their lives, evidenced by a phone conversation with Eduardo, a follower whose body transformation impressed the narrator.

05:01

🏋️ Launch of THENX and Its Growth

The narrator reflects on launching THENX in 2016, initially just an online website with his workout programs before starting the YouTube channel. Over the next two years, THENX grew exponentially, with a gym, half a million app downloads, and a rapidly expanding YouTube presence. He expresses gratitude for the journey, remarking on how incredible it is to turn his passion into a career. Every week, THENX continues to grow in terms of subscribers, views, and memberships, with the platform now providing step-by-step programs that help people around the world achieve remarkable fitness results in weeks or even days.

💡 The Start of THENX and Community Growth

The narrator shares how THENX began with a simple idea and a passion for sharing calisthenics. Initially, he didn’t aim to create a business but was driven by his desire to spread knowledge about the sport. As he worked out on Miami Beach, more people joined him, creating a community. Now, he hopes to bring this passion worldwide, teaching people through apps, YouTube, and programs how to achieve challenging moves like handstands. He envisions the movement growing globally as others pass on their knowledge.

💔 Overcoming Personal Struggles

The narrator reflects on a difficult period in his life when he lost everything, including his son. At 19, his life felt uncertain, and he lived on the edge for the next two years. During this time, calisthenics became a transformative outlet for him, helping him excel in both fitness and business. He started to see every moment as an opportunity, excelling even in areas like video editing. He emphasizes that the toughest challenges present the greatest opportunities, using the metaphor of a weight vest to explain that struggle makes you stronger in the long run.

🚀 Gratitude and Looking Forward

The narrator expresses gratitude for how far he has come, building THENX from nothing into a thriving community and platform. He emphasizes that every day brings something new but is always filled with joy, friends, and passion. For him, hard work has become fun because of his deep love for what he does. He wants to use his story to inspire others, showing that anything is possible if you believe in yourself. His journey is far from over, and he invites others to continue following his growth as he shares insights into his training, nutrition, and life.

Keywords

💡Calisthenics

Calisthenics refers to exercises that use body weight for resistance to develop strength, flexibility, and endurance. In the video, the speaker mentions how he began his fitness journey with calisthenics, which led to the opening of Calisthenics Academy, the first gym dedicated to this form of exercise in Miami. The term is central to the speaker’s life story and professional success.

💡THENX

THENX is an online platform founded by the speaker that offers step-by-step fitness programs and daily workouts accessible through a mobile app. It represents the speaker’s mission to share his fitness knowledge and make it available to people worldwide, helping them transform their bodies. It started as an idea and grew into a lifestyle, gym, YouTube channel, and more.

💡Fitness Journey

The term ‘fitness journey’ describes the speaker’s personal transformation through fitness, from working out in parks to traveling the world, teaching, and eventually opening his own gym. The fitness journey is a metaphor for growth, resilience, and pursuing one’s passion, which the speaker hopes to inspire in others.

💡Passion

Passion refers to the speaker’s deep love for fitness and movement, which motivated him to share his knowledge and build a global community. He emphasizes that passion was the driving force behind his success in both training and business, leading him to create THENX and inspire others.

💡Online Platform

The speaker’s online platform, THENX, allows people worldwide to access fitness programs through their phones. This platform is a crucial tool in his mission to make fitness accessible to everyone, providing easy-to-follow workouts that yield fast results. It highlights the role of technology in spreading his message and knowledge.

💡Transformation

Transformation refers both to the physical changes that people experience through the speaker's fitness programs and his own personal evolution. In the video, examples of body transformations are shared, with testimonials from people who followed his programs. The concept of transformation symbolizes both personal and physical growth.

💡Community

Community refers to the network of people who practice calisthenics, support each other, and grow together. The speaker describes how more people began joining him at the beach for workouts, leading to the creation of a global fitness community through THENX. It shows the collective power of shared passion and goals.

💡Struggle

Struggle represents the speaker's personal challenges, both physically in his workouts and emotionally in his life. He mentions overcoming hardship, such as losing his son, and how pushing through struggles in life and training strengthens a person. The message encourages perseverance and resilience.

💡Opportunity

Opportunity in the video refers to finding chances for growth even in difficult situations. The speaker talks about using challenges, like training with extra weight, as a way to improve. He stresses that opportunities often arise from struggles, and seizing them leads to greater success and personal development.

💡Belief

Belief is a core message of the video, where the speaker urges viewers to believe in themselves and their potential. He highlights that his journey of success came from believing in what he was doing, even without a clear plan. This belief in oneself is crucial for overcoming doubt and achieving one’s goals.

Highlights

Born on December 21st, 1991, in Miami, Florida, and spent his childhood outdoors, staying active and listening to music.

Started fitness at a young age by working out in the park, which led to traveling, teaching, and competing globally.

Opened the first calisthenics gym in Miami, Calisthenics Academy, which grew to become a global brand.

Received thousands of messages from people worldwide, thanking him for transforming their lives through his teachings.

Launched THENX in late 2015 as an online platform to share his knowledge and fitness programs.

THENX quickly grew to include an app with half a million downloads and a YouTube channel with nearly a million subscribers.

Designed THENX as a step-by-step program accessible from anywhere, teaching people skills and body transformations quickly.

Daily routine includes answering emails, training, shooting videos, and developing new fitness programs and products.

Expanded THENX by focusing on market research, selecting, creating, and manufacturing high-quality products.

Overcame personal challenges, including losing everything at 19, which led to personal growth and a dedication to his fitness journey.

Became passionate about calisthenics and shared the movement, building a community through workouts at Miami Beach.

Believes in making challenges harder to build strength and resilience, using his experiences to inspire others.

Highlights the importance of believing in yourself and focusing on how things could go right, rather than wrong.

Attributes his success to persistence, love for his work, and focusing on opportunity, even in difficult situations.

Plans to continue expanding THENX and use his platform to share behind-the-scenes content about his training, nutrition, and life.

Transcripts

- I was born on December 21st, 1991

in Miami, Florida.

(inspirational music)

Growing up in Miami, it was always hot, so as a kid,

you spend most of your time out in the sun,

hanging out with friends, listening to music,

just being active.

I got into fitness at an early age

working out in the park by my house.

And shortly after, I found myself

traveling all over the world,

competing, teaching, meeting some amazing people

and making some of my greatest memories.

(laughing)

I didn't know what this was all leading up to,

but it felt right.

After developing an arsenal of knowledge and experience

of perfecting my craft, I came back home

to open the first calisthenics gym in Miami,

Calisthenics Academy.

And soon after, there were Calisthenics Academies

all over the world.

(inspirational music)

(laptop beeping) I would wake up

to thousands of messages a day

from people who were changing their lives

through my teaching.

Alright, I just got Eduardo's message.

He's calling me right now, (phone ringing)

let's see if we can get him on a video.

Your body transformation is incredible.

- Yeah, that's what's great for me.

And the first video that I saw

was a video that you did.

I love it and I start to watch

all of the videos that you already posted.

I train every single day with my wife and my son.

- [Chris] Amazing, bro, amazing.

- Everybody is transforming their bodies.

And I have great mettle

through doing workouts with you.

- I needed to find a way

to put everything I knew into something tangible

that someone could obtain and instantly access

all my knowledge to start changing their lives.

We opened THENX back in 2000...

Man, time flies.

Last year, 2016.

I think it was at the end of 2015?

It was just an online website with all my programs on it.

We hadn't started the YouTube channel yet.

So two years later, now we got the gym.

Hello and welcome to one of the very first

YouTube videos of THENX on here.

As you can see, we're putting the gym together.

Now with the app, half a million downloads,

almost a million subscribers on YouTube,

it's crazy to see what can just happen

in just a couple years, actually.

This is like a true blessing though.

I mean look at this, this is what we're doing for work.

Every week we see our stats go up, our views go up,

our subscribers go up, our memberships

on the website go up.

You know it's, we're growing crazy

like every single week, you know?

THENX is a lifestyle.

(triumphant music)

It's a gym.

It's a YouTube channel.

It's a family.

But most important, it's an online platform

where I broke down everything it took

for me to get the body and skills that I have acquired

through my journey into easy step-by-step programs

and daily workouts that ensure your development

through an application you can access

from anywhere in the world with our app on your phone.

Things that people will train for years

in professional facilities,

they were learning in a matter of weeks with my app.

Sometimes days.

Half a million downloads later, here we are today.

My day starts on the computer.

I normally wake up, answer a couple YouTube questions,

answer some emails, I really have a support team

to be answering the main emailing questions

and then after that I come straight to the gym

and I train.

Train, train, train and then after that,

I shoot either for the YouTube video or for the app

and then after that, it's normally meetings,

developing the app, coming out with new programs,

market research on new products for you guys.

There's a lot of time that goes into selecting the products,

creating the products, manufacturing the products.

You know, we go through many, many different samples

to find the best one.

So we're constantly working on that.

(panting)

(sighs)

We've come a long way.

We came from literally, from nothing.

The way that this company really started

was just an idea

and I put all my thoughts and all my knowledge

into something online.

And then from there, everything grew from there.

When I first started doing this,

I started out of passion.

I didn't have an idea to create THENX or create these gyms

or even to become a trainer, you know?

The reason why I became a trainer

was because I was so passionate about this sport

and about movement, that I just wanted to share

this sport or share this concept with more people,

because it was becoming like a community thing.

More people were showing up the the beach

where I was working out at, for example, you know?

At Miami Beach, when I first started working out there,

there was like nobody there.

You know now, come 2017, you have to get in a line

to wait for the pull up bar.

I really just wanna bring this to people around the world

and I want people to start engaging,

start using their bodies.

And that's what I wanna hope to bring.

So if it's with apps or if it's with a YouTube channel

by bringing videos every day

or with my programs where I can actually teach you

how to do that handstand or how to get in the best shape

of your life and then in turn you can teach other people,

the movement just spreads and that's really my goal,

so the more everything just grows, more things

will happen along the way.

(electronic music)

There's a lot to keep me going every single day.

I just have so much to be grateful for.

You know, at one point in my life, couple years ago,

I had literally lost everything, you know?

I mean, that's a story for another time,

but I mean, I thought I had lost,

literally the rest of my life.

I lost my son.

Basically, at that point in my life,

I was like 19 years old,

that's like when like everything started for me.

I was literally living on the brink of not knowing

what would happen to me for the rest of my life.

And I lived like that for the next two years.

So every single day, I live

like this could be my last day.

What would you do on your last day?

How would you spend it?

When I was living like that for the last two years...

Oh my god, calisthenics for me was like, boom,

I excelled remarkably fast, even in business,

something I've never done before,

I excelled remarkably fast.

Video editing, never owned a camera in my life.

You know, I edit all my own videos.

My life completely changed.

I started taking advantage of every second I had.

So I always think, as an optimist,

that there's so much opportunity around,

especially in the most difficult situations

is where the opportunity really lies.

(grunts) Like this weight vest.

I could do way more reps

and I could probably do it better too,

if I just took this thing off.

But I'm gonna struggle through it.

I'm gonna put myself through the struggle

because the opportunity in this

is that when I take this off,

I will smoke anyone that has never put this on before

or that doesn't train like this.

So trust me, you wanna make things more difficult

on yourself.

Don't ask for a lighter burden,

but ask for a stronger back.

(inspirational music)

Time seems to be flying nowadays.

Every day is something new,

but it's always filled with laughter, fun,

friends, passion and love.

When you love what you do,

you don't really work a day in your life.

Even hard work is fun.

I wanna use my story to show the world

that nothing is impossible.

You just gotta believe in yourself.

Don't worry about how it's gonna happen

or how everything could go wrong.

Just think about how everything could go right.

I've done a lot, but it's still not over.

With this channel, get a glimpse into my life

and follow me on this journey

as I continue to share with you

the behind-the-scenes and secrets

to my training, nutrition and day-to-day life.

For example, if the bigger one becomes available,

we could just exchange the one that we're going in

and just pay the difference and the upgrade to the...

To the 3,000 square footage one.

And then at that time, if we want to,

we can just close our gym.