About
My Story
I was born in England; my father was a professor of Theology & Psychology in a church seminary. I graduated from the London College of Furniture in Design. I lived in Canada and then emigrated to the USA to design cabinetry in Batavia NY. I became a naturalized American in 1976. For over 40 years I have owned my own business designing for many manufacturers.
John Brandon, Founder
I started working out at a gym 27 years ago when my son Kimo wanted to take up Karate. There was a gym under the Karate room. When Kimo finished with Karate I found a different gym. After a few years all I felt I was doing was keeping my body alive and just getting older, going to the gym 2 -3 times a week. Now I was 80 years old and given up on ever feeling younger again.
One day in March, I was in the sauna and a friend asked me how old I was when I emigrated to Canada? I told him I was 23½. This guy sitting on the bench got up and said, “I am 23½ and I don’t know what I want to do in my life”. We introduced ourselves, and I had a new friend.
A few days later my friend was in the middle of his work out and I interrupted him and asked if he would show me a couple of machines that I had not done. He stopped his workout and said yes. For the next hour he gave me a full body work out on 5 machines and told me not to work those muscles for 48 to 72 hours. Believe me, the next day I ached so bad I had no intention of going back to the gym any time soon.
After 72 hours, however I felt invigorated, so back to the gym I went. The next time I saw my friend, I asked him if he would train me once a week. He said yes but told me he was not a certified trainer, and I would be his only student. Before agreeing to train me, he required that I show him my list of medications, and a list of my medical weaknesses. For me this was a reattached tendon in my left shoulder, a torn front rotator cuff in my right shoulder, both knees near to bone on bone receiving cortisone shots once every three months, a damaged left ancle and allergies requiring 2 shots once a month.
After 3 more training sessions in muscle mass training, I felt different. I was able to go outside for 3 hours and work hard instead of 45 mins outside and a break for 20 – 30 minutes inside. I was doing things that I had not been able to do in 5 years. My walking skills improved, my balance improved, most importantly my attitude improved. I upped my gym visits to 3 – 4 times a week.
After 12 weeks I was working outside for 9 hours with only 2, 15-minute breaks. I was off all pain medications and all my aches and pains were gone. I was now feeling as if I was 50 not 80 years young. My life was changed from I wish I could, to yes, I can.
A Macho man I am not, I have been thin all my life, I weigh 150 lbs. and am 5ft 11 “ tall. But after just 5 months I could push 160 lbs. with my legs and lift 120 lbs. with my arms.
I had been given an amazing gift and realized that there had to be at least thousands if not millions of people like me out there struggling to improve their health, seeing specialists, popping pills, and paying thousands of dollars for a cure so they could feel younger. So, I launched “Pull Our Own Weight” a web site dedicated to helping people regain their strength, health, and mind.