ABOUT TOM NIKKOLA
Thanks for stopping by!
You’re on this page because you must be curious about me. I get it. You want to know if I know what I’m talking about on the rest of the site.
Well, as weird as it is to tell you about myself, I will, only because the rest of this website is about you. I’ll just share enough here to put your mind at ease that, yes, I know what I’m talking about, and I hope take the advice, education, insights, tips, tools and programs you have access to here, and put them to good use.
I AM A CANCER SURVIVOR AND FORMER FAT KID WHO’S INCREDIBLY PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PURSUIT OF OPTIMAL HEALTH.
I had leukemia when I was five years old. Fortunately, through chemotherapy, and years of follow-up, when I turned 18, the doctors said I no longer needed follow-up visits and my chance of recurrence was no greater than someone else who never had it.
The whole process, along with the prednisone treatments that started my transormation into a “fat kid,” got me interested in health and fitness.
I graduated with a pre-Med biology degree from the College of St. Scholastica.
Not long after graduating, I took a personal trainer position at the Woodbury Life Time, and for the next 13 years, worked my way up through various fitness roles to Senior Director of Nutrition and Weight Management.
I ran the company’s weight loss, nutrition, lab testing, metabolic testing, fitness device and supplement businesses, formulated and designed nutritional supplements, delivered hundreds of educational webinars, and wrote hundreds more articles and a couple of ebooks on fitness, nutrition, and supplementation.
I joined Thorne Research as Vice President of Business development for a year, went back to Life Time for a short stint, and then joined my wife, Vanessa, in our health and wellness business.
During that time, Vanessa built a thriving blog and network marketing business. Together, we get to continue our passion for leading others to better health through our knowledge, experience, writing, and products we promote.
Vanessa’s success also afforded me the time freedom to be able to build and launch VIGOR Training, and the next year, VIGORESS (for ladies) Training.
My passion is, and always will be, helping people transform themeselves from the outside in, first by developing physical strength and fortitude, and resilience, and then mental strength, fortitude, and resilience.
From a nutrition standpoint, I love helping people understand how simple it is to reclaim their health and fitness, and how important it is to build and maintain muscle and mobility throughout their lives.
Of all of the areas I’ve written and lectured on, the most exciting and impactful are the importance of dietary protein, hormone balance, weight training, and the manipulation of carbs and fat.
Yet, I’m amazed and delighted by the almost limitless nutrients, botanicals, compounds and chemicals that get discovered and researched each year.
As much as we think we know about nutrition today, I’m certain in 10 years we’ll look back and realize we knew almost nothing. That’s the fun in all of this. It’s ever-changing, ever-evolving, just as we are as growing adults. It fits perfectly with my mission:
the tenacious pursuit of optimal health
…write about manhood, business and leadership, and personal growth.
Not the cheesy pie-in-the-sky, you-can-have-whatever-you-think about personal growth stuff. The real stuff that matters in in today’s world, where people have become overly self-centered, entitled, and act as though every inconvenience is a major struggle.
In fact, weight training is probably the best personal development practice there is. Time and again, I’ve watched people (and guided them to) develop physical strength and resilience, and then have that physical transformation affect everything else they do in life.
Your physical strength develops mental strength. That’s why you should join VIGOR(ESS) and see for yourself.
JOIN VIGOR(ESS) TRAINING!
VIGOR Training
For men and women who aren’t satisfied as
“Average Joes” and “Average Janes”