tye babb, keeping fit, sun media (june 22, 2006)
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7/27/2019 Tye Babb, Keeping Fit, Sun Media (June 22, 2006)
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He wasn’t the proverbial 98-pound weakling who hadsand kicked in his f ace by
a musclebound bully.But Tye Babb admits he did
take his f air share of name-call-inginjunior high school for beingsomewhat of a nerd.
“I was a brainy kid … I got goodgrades,” the 34-year-old Edmon-tonian recalls, adding it didn’thelp matters that he was also shy
and prone to teary outbursts.“I was quieter. A nd I’m anemotional person. So if the tearsstart flowing, then it’s an easytarget.”
Babb, a little reluctant to dis-cuss in any great detail the verbalcruelty he sufferedmore than 20years ago, explains that his peersturned on him af ter elementaryschool.
“For them to fit in and lookcooler (in junior high), theyended up picking onme,” he says.“My name’s Tye. You can makeanything rhyme with Tye.”
However, that all changed
once Babb adopted a more ac-tive lifestyle.In grades 8 and 9, at the urging
of a f riend, he took up volleyballand basketball, which he saysputhimin with the “cool crowd” andspurred his social development.
And a f unny thing happenedalong the way – he fell in lovewith sports and fitness.
While in college, Babb wouldgo on to compete in the discusand javelin events at the1997 na-tional track and field champion-ships.
These days, the six-foot-two210-pounder, who creditshis high
school basketball coach with in-troducinghim to weight training,works f ull-time as a personaltrainer.
In f act, his company – TargetYour Energy – is the exclusiveprovider ofpersonal training ser-vices at YMCA locations acrossEdmonton.
With up to four other personaltrainers working under his su-pervision, Babb keeps up a hecticschedule.
A graduate of the Universityof Alberta with degrees in psychol-ogy and physical education, healso offers a 12-week fitness
course through Metro Continu-
ing Education.A couple of years ago, Babb
evenlent his expertise to the LifeChannel for a few epi-sodes of Taking itO ff ,a
reality TV show thatfollowed theget-fit ex-ploits of several hu-man guinea pigs.
But with all thetime he spends insidethe gym training c li-ents, Babb prefers topursue activities out-side the gym for thelion’s shareofhis ownphysical regimen.
“I don’t necessarilyenjoy running on atreadmill or spendingmy time on a cross-trainer or in the gym
doing traditionalweights,” he a dmits,explaining he has apsychological need toget away f rom workwhenhe’s not working.
Babb,a lso a big f an of Pilates,saysheonly works out in the gymf rom one to three times a week,usually about an hour each ses-sion.
The rest of the time he keepsactive through a variety of pur-suits, including squash, soccer,cycling, ultimate Frisbee, beachvolleyball andindoor volleyball.
“I really try to stay as active as
I can,” he says. “You don’t have togo to a gym to get in shape or stayin shape. There’s a lot of thingsyou can do otherwise.”
That’s honest advice f romsomeone who makes his living inthe gym.
Babb, who bases his balanceddiet on C anada’s Food G uide,takes a level-headed approachto keeping fit.
Fitness, he explains, is aboutfeeling good, rather than attain-ing washboard abs and bulgingbiceps.
“For me, it’s not about bodybeautif ul or looking like a super
model, it’s really about the per-soninside,” he says ofhis attain-able fitness lifestyle.
“Anybody can accomplishwhatever they want to do if theyput their mind to it and maintaintheir focus for a period of time.
“And because sport and beingactive changed my life, I thinkthat it can change other people’slives, too.”
If only those bullies who ver-bally harassed Babb more thantwo decades ago could see himnow.
– D o y o u h a v e a n in s pi r a t ion a l st o ry fo r
K eeping F i t ? E - Ma il Ca ry Ca st a gn a a t
cca st a gn a@ edm su n.c om
E D I T O R : S a l l y J o h n s t o n P H O N E : 4 6 8 - 0 1 1 5 F A X : 4 6 8 -0 1 3 9 E -M A I L : s j o h n s t on @ e dm su n . c om
T H E E D M O N T O N S U N • T hur sday , June 2 2, 2006 l i fes ty le 73
CAR Y CAST AG N A
The y should see him nowO ne- t ime t a r ge t of s c hool y a r d t e a s ing i s no w a fi t ne ss p r o
Personal fitness trainer Tye Babb does a cable pressout, above, and works with an exercise ball, lef t,
at the south-side YMCA at 1975 111 St. Getting into sports and fitness totally changed his life.
– RYAN JACKSON, Special to the Sun
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