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