About JC

Hello to all of my friends in the best industry to be a part of: the Fitness Industry.  This is a section from one of my books where I get to introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me.  My name is Juan Carlos “JC” Santana, and I’m proud to call myself a coach and a trainer.  I have had the opportunity to travel extensively and share my experiences with many trainers, coaches and therapists.  I keep myself pretty busy presenting at the national fitness conferences and publishing my books, videos and articles.  Thanks to all of you, I have had the great fortune to have my educational materials referred to as cutting-edge and of great educational value to fitness professionals.  My family and I thank all of you for your kind words of encouragement and continued support.  

My formal education came by way of several colleges and universities: Miami Dade Community College, University of Miami (UM), and Florida Atlantic University (FAU).  I took my educational journey to please two very important people in my life: my parents.  My two passions in life were music and athletics.  I rejected several wrestling scholarships coming out of high school, as my parents convinced me to use my mother’s intellect instead of dad’s brawn.   I briefly considered a career in music, but there was no way my parents were paying for a degree in music; as they saw it, there was no future in it.   So, I started as a pre-med student. 

My first two years in college were very tough.  I was a jock in high school, and I was unprepared for calculus and organic chemistry.     In my third year, I started to realize that medicine was not going to be my destiny.  I volunteered at Miami Jackson Hospital and quickly discovered that I hated the hospital smell, hospital food and the hospital environment.  I change my major about three or four times in my third and fourth years of school, shifting towards engineering. 

In 1981, I married my high school sweetheart and got a job at Florida Power and Light as an engineering technician.  From the outside everything looked great. I had a beautiful young wife and a stable job with benefits.  It looked so good, I even believed it.   But when you live other people’s lives and not your own, you only have two options: (1) you are miserable the rest of your life or (2) you change and start living your own.  I crashed and burned inside of two years. I finally left Miami to escape my fun but destructive life and ended up in Boca Raton at FAU’s Engineering Department.  At this point, I still had not found the career that I would consider “my calling.”  After changing my major a few more times, I decided to stop going to school and start living my dreams.

I started a band and, within three weeks, produced my first of two singles.   As the producer, agent, and co-writer of our music, I was extremely busy promoting our group.  Essentially, my job was to party and schmooze with DJs, producers, company execs, and agents.  Wow, what a life!  Through my success in playing percussion instruments, I realized that my musical talent was a wonderful gift, though I never fully explored it; I had a great ear for rhythm and music but never learned to read and write it.   The party life was everything you see on TV: jets, champagne rooms, VIP treatment, limos and luxury suites.  However, you can’t live that life forever; it either consumes you or you bail out before it does.  I bailed.

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to become a pillar of the community and buy a local business: a sports bar with a liquor store attached.  The next three years were fun and painful at the same time.  The fun part was partying away the profits with my after-hour friends; the painful part was the bankruptcy that followed.   I was the only guy at bankruptcy court with a smile.  I was happy to end that part of my life, concentrate on raising my firstborn son (Rio), and get my life back in gear.  At this point in my life I asked myself an important question, “What were you doing when you were the happiest?”  The answer was simple; I was in the gym training and helping people.  At that point in my life (32 years of age) I knew I had to get back to school and the fitness industry.

I enrolled in FAU’s Exercise Program.  I also enrolled in The Fitness Institute, a very credible local certification program.   Between my advisor and department chair at FAU, Dr. Mike Whitehurst, and the director of the Fitness Institute, Dr. Abbott, I was motivated and given inspiration beyond description.  Dr. Whitehurst guided me through the maze of higher education, and Dr. Abbott got me ready for my American College of Sports Medicine Certification and an immediate career in fitness.  After a two-and-a-half year blistering pace at FAU, I graduated with a BS and a MEd in Exercise Science.  While at FAU I had the honor to serve as an adjunct professor of Weight Training Systems and Sports Training Systems.   My postgraduate work took me to Dr. Signorile (Dr. Sig) at UM in Miami.  Dr. Sig continued to inspire me to continue higher education.   Currently, I’m on a sabbatical from my Doctoral Program and concentrating on growing my businesses.  I will probably join Rio in college, just like Rodney Dangerfield joined his son in the movie, “Back to School.”

In my efforts to keep up with my professional education and give back to the industry, I have pursued certifications in specific areas of training and volunteered my time to several fitness organizations.   I’m a member and a certified Health Fitness Instructor with the ACSM, and a member and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).   I have also been certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Certified Personal Trainer.  I am a certified Senior Coach and Club Coach Course Instructor with the USA Weightlifting Federation, and a LEVEL I coach with the US Track and Field Association.  I have served as the Chairman for the NSCA’s Sport Specific Conference (1999-2000), and as an NSCA Conference Committee member (1998-2001).  I was the NSCA’s Florida State Director (1997-2001), and currently serve on the distinguished Board of Directors of the NSCA.

Like many of you, my love for human performance and training started at a young age.  As far back as I can remember, I was always in awe of athletes, especially fighters.    As a youngster I played all Little League sports.  At the age of 12, I started a formal exercise program that I would complete every day after school.  My 90-minute program consisted of various calisthenics and spring-resisted exercises.  By the time I was 13, I was introduced to Bruce Lee’s Tao of Jeet Kune Do.   I loved the way Bruce saw the world, as a student of life.  I credit him with teaching me how to learn “outside the box.”  Bruce always saw things, especially the martial arts, with childlike eyes; he saw things for what they were, not how they were portrayed by tradition.  His “no-holds-barred” philosophy became my “systemless system.”  He taught me that change was to be welcomed if it was a part of learning. 
By the time I was 14, my training had become deliberate but unorthodox.  My disciplined training and practice honed my martial arts skills to a very high level for that young age.   During my high school years, I focused in the grappling arts and learned about true sacrifice and discipline from my wrestling coach, Andy Siegel.  Coach Siegel is still one tough son-of-a-gun that hates apathy and lack of heart.   I have always credited coach Siegel with christening me into manhood.  The discipline I developed with him still carries me to this day.    

Since those early years, I have competed at the state and national level in five different sports.   My competitive career, although never a professional or Olympic athlete, spans over three decades, and my true love remains the martial arts.   Refusing to be put out to pasture at 45, I continue to compete in Judo.   I was fortunate to take a Bronze Medal at the 2004 Masters’ Judo Nationals, in the 40-45 age group, 100 kg class.   After cutting weight and the two-month recovery I needed from the last competition, I’m already starting to train for next year’s Nationals.

On the professional side, I have been in the fitness industry since I was 15 years old.  At that young age, I was named manager and given the keys to Brody’s Gym in the heart of Miami. That meant I got paid to open, close, clean, take money for the apple cider, and I did not have to pay for a membership.   Since Mr. Brody was a Miami Dade Sheriff, Brody’s Gym was home to FBI agents, police officers, champion bodybuilders, powerlifters and other professional athletes.  I spent countless hours at Brody’s, and the older guys really appreciated my enthusiasm, discipline and maturity.  Many of them wanted me to train with them because of the intensity I displayed.  Many of these older guys became my friends and they took me under their wings.  Through them I learned what real, hard-core training was all about.  I look back to the Brody’s Gym years with great fondness and now realize that environment gave me a great insight into training and life in general.  Since then, I have managed several fitness facilities in the Miami, Hollywood and Boca Raton areas at different stages in my life.   The experience I gained in those early years served me well every time I needed a job in the fitness industry.

I could not have imagined the success I have been blessed with over the last 10 years.  Over that period, you (my friends and colleagues) have welcomed 13 videos, 8 books, and over 100 articles in trade and peer-review journals.   In my years as a musician I was never asked for an autograph or a picture (but I did push my autograph on a third grader once).   Now, that I’m just Carlos, many of my industry friends flatter me with those same requests.   I always humbly accept, and thank them for the compliment.   I have also had the opportunity to open a dream training facility that is slowly becoming a true “Institute” in the fitness industry, the Institute of Human Performance (IHP).  IHP is the home of several special fitness professionals; they are the IHP Family.  Without them, IHP would just be bricks and mortar.  Instead, IHP is a place where creative energy lives without restrictions.  I can tell you without hesitation, IHP is the birthplace of some of the most cutting-edge training methodologies the fitness industry has seen, and we have not even scratched the surface.

Since I have been blessed with great fortunes (having nothing to do with money), I make it a point to give back to my community every chance I get.  At IHP, the entire staff is assigned community outreach.  This means we have to go out into the community and provide education and assistance to those who are less fortunate than us.  This means we volunteer to coach at local schools, hold demonstrations, provide lectures and organize other events to educate the public, especially our youth.

In spite of all I have done and earned, my proudest accomplishment remains my home; in its entirety.   Personally, the last 10 years have been nothing short of a wonderful rollercoaster ride.  I married a wonderful woman (Debbie) who remains, and will always be, my best friend.  My first son Rio (13) is now an absolute hunk with a heart of gold.  My daughter Caila (5) is my princess.  Dante (3) is a charming brute. (He has heavy hands like his dad.)  Our latest addition, Mia, continues to add to our blessings.  My life could not be better, and I'm grateful every day. I make sure I NEVER take what I have for granted.  Well, that is who I am, mixed with a little of what I've done.   It is my sincere hope that this section allows you to get to know me better, and I hope the familiarity will bring us closer to the comfort of a handshake (or a hug) in the near future.