Quite often I am asked where is my accent coming from, well, it is Slovak. I was born in a beautiful city of Presov in the eastern part of the country where soccer is the most played and watched sport. 

Growing up I was not very athletic kid, I was not fat, just not routinely involved with sports. Riding a bike and playing soccer was more for fun. Many of my friends did after school sport activities, soccer, hockey, European handball, basketball. I was not into it as my other friends. I remember my gym teacher telling me “You will never be flexible, you’re rigid as a stick.” 

When I hit 14 my mindset has changed and I became a typical gym rat fanatic. I was lifting weights for biceps, triceps, shoulders, traps and pushing the iron on the bench. In my early teens I wanted to have large arms like Arnold. I was more muscular in a high school than I am now.

My understanding of physical strength was to have a beefed up physique. It worked for girls, not so much for me. I needed that flexibility I was once reminded by my gym teacher. 

As I was approaching 19 I began to realise that there is no need to look like a top bodybuilder, unless, of course, you are training to become one.

I was given great genetics from my parents and I came to a realisation that instead of lifting heavy weights I only had to do some simple pushups or pull ups and maybe lift dumb bells for biceps, that’s it. I didn’t even do squats any more because I was biking and walking all the time.

My focus eventually shifted to workouts without needing any equipment,  especially when as a student and I traveled for work overseas.

…well, more like New Jersey lol. I landed in JFK in the summer 2007 as a student and worked at the Seaside Heights as an attraction ride operator. It was the beginning of my obsession to learn English. After I have returned back to Slovakia I’ve been determined to learn the English language. I have never taken formal classes. All I know now I learned from movies, writing the lines down, going over them again and again until they were branded in my brain and I had a solid understanding of the meaning. 

I was 25 years old when I discovered Yoga for Regular Guys – that was an original name for what became DDPY. As a teenager I was a wrestling fan. As a guy I was NOT a fan of yoga. Yoga!? for guys? You’ve got to be kidding me.

Well, watching DDP doing his kind of yoga got me interested. This can’t be just for girls. When I found that DDP (Diamond Dallas Page) have developed a system of workouts that helps athletes and ordinary folks to recover from injury or just get back in shape I knew what’s next.

I didn’t have to think twice. I purchased the program and that was the beginning of not only me getting into even greater shape but also understanding that your body is all you need to do it. No dumbbells, no bars, no resistance equipment, only a yoga mat. 

The 20 min workout kicked my ass! Before I tried it I considered myself to be a very strong man because I was able to lift weights. HA HA!

Here, I was working out all three elements of fitness at once: strength, cardio, flexibility. So, what were all the years spent in gym for, if I couldn’t finish BEGINNER’S 20 minute workout!?

I have never returned to the gym for the conventional workout. Nothing against the gym, I just realised I didn’t have to be bulked up to feel strong, flexible and fit, and feeling young forever 🙂

Sometime along the way of my journey with YRG, DDP have rebranded his incredible workout to DDPYoga, now DDPY.

DDPY became my lifestyle. For three years I was living, breathing and sleeping DDPY. I was set on to do all DDP could do: DDPY psychopushups, forearm stand, black crow, jumping into the black crow…

At some point I knew I have to share it with others and here my self-taught English skills came handy. I knew I was ready to teach others. 

My formal university education is bachelors and masters in linguistics and media. Since I always liked watching soccer I hoped to be one day a sports commentator.

Time to introduce DDPY to Slovak audience. It had humble but steady beginnings. I had to find a balanced way to introduce American “BAM! here I am!” to Slovak “What is this?” I had to be creative to parallel the message of each workout so it is understood with expressions in a Slovak language. As you know a good joke in one language leaves crickets in the room translated to another. It worked. The hard work of learning how to teach paid off.

The word got out and it gained momentum. I didn’t advertise much because my adverts were my clients who have achieved their goals with my guidance. Click here for testimonials 

I didn’t have hard time filling the gym, on a day and at a time when most gyms were empty. Friday evening, when most hit a bar after the long week work or weekend getaway. Gym owner of one particular gym told me “We never had full gym on Friday nights!” Even hwifejoined. One of the TV stations contacted me to do a morning show and my hometown TalkShow Presov (in Slovak) called me in to do interview and introduce DDPY workout. 

MS attacks tissues in the brain and spinal cord, known as the central nervous system (CNS). This system includes the complex network of nerve cells responsible for sending, receiving, and interpreting information from all parts of the body. Source. 

I was privileged to train a director of Slovak MS organisation. She was active in sports for the most part of her life and was looking to bring different types of workouts for members. Although she was very active she went through bouts of MS symptoms such as balance problem, spasms, pain, dizziness, fatigue and vision problems. 

We started journey slowly focusing on building up her inner muscles first. It took a careful approach for me to explain importance of gaining strength and balance slowly and tame her will to do more challenging positions. An importance was put on proper abdominal breathing during every move as well.

It took 4-5 months of diligent work and patience on her part to understand to be patient with results.

• She regained the balance to the point that she was able to stand on one leg, hold her other up with her hand – being pain free.
• She was able to do regular pushups without lowering her knees.
• She started to teach it to her members. 

With proper breathing and engaging muscles as she was moving from one position to another, she woke up all parts of her body with new energy greatly due to minimal impact on joints – a pivotal part for those enduring the pain.

She became a trainer herself again. 

In March 2019 DDPY trainers from around the world were invited to attend DDPY Transformation Summit in Smyrna, GA.

This 3x World Heavy Weight Wrestling Champion is down to earth cool guy. Meeting him made a great impact on me and motivated me to promote DDPY as a unique and effective workout program.