Personal trainer and motivational speaker Chris Powell presented his “secret sauce” to hundreds of people at Eisenhower Auditorium on Tuesday night.
The presentation, an effort of the Penn State’s Department of Kinesiology and the Kinesiology Club, aimed to raise awareness that exercise is medicine.
Powell, the host of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition”, told the audience at the beginning of the presentation that “ordinary people can do extraordinary things.”
Powell said people are looking for a solution to obesity, anything to give them hope.
“People are looking in the wrong direction,” Powell said.
Powell said the self-hatred people experience has nothing to do with obesity at all, but is about the emotional and social impact of obesity.
Powell said he lived out of his car and was addicted to Oxycontin and it was difficult for him to see outside of that.
“Life is going to keep getting worse,” Powell said. “If anything is going to change it’s going to be me.”
He then decided to “make a difference in a million lives” by introducing four basic foundation principles.
These foundation principles — believe you can, keep your promises, fall without failing and unite — are the “secret sauce.”
When a person believes they can transform, Powell said his job is to get out of their way.
“It’s not my job to stop a juggernaut,” Powell said.
Powell said keeping promises is the main step for growing to love yourself and the key to transformation is to follow through with commitments.
“Keeping promises causes a shift in perspective,” Powell said of the people he inspires to transform on “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition”.
To fall without failing, a person needs to confess their mistake, reassess, and recommit, he said.
At the end of the presentation, Powell opened the floor for a question and answer session.
The effect of the presentation was seen immediately, with audience members opening up to Powell and sharing their stories.
Leah Snyder (sophomore-kinesiology) said Powell “inspired people to open up and spill their heart out.”
The most important part, Snyder said, is opening up and allowing yourself to change.
The presentation was to originally coincide with the Kinesiology Club’s Exercise is Medicine Week that took place in November 2012.
Dr. Mike Duffey, a kinesiology instructor, said the key is finding the motivation to want to make a change.
“Motivation is different for everyone, but a person has to find the one reason why they have to or want to change,” Duffey said.
Ali Thompson , the Exercise is Medicine chairperson, said the presentation was the educational aspect of the Exercise is Medicine concept.
“If exercise was prescribed in a pill, people will take it,” Thompson (senior- kinesiology) said. “With exercise, a person can overcome obstacles and push themselves.”
