WSU alumni entrepreneur works your muscles and inner zen

Are you training in a way that is sustainable for your lifestyle or stressing your muscles to the point of injury?

WSU alumnus Blake Bowman established  GuerrillaZen Fitness to introduce a training regimen geared toward increasing positive results while decreasing risk. Bowman knows from personal experience how not incorporating varying types of training into your routine can lead to serious injury.

Bowman, B.S. Marketing '13, said prior to injuries that required surgery, all he focused on was hard training.

GuerrillaZen focuses on what Bowman calls hard and soft training. Hard training stresses the body to adapt and grow stronger with exercises like strength training, weight lifting and circuit training. Soft training includes light cardio, stretching and exercises like tai chi and chi gung.

The business also offers posture correction through a software program that detects muscle groups that are overactive or underactive which can cause bad posture. An analysis will generate exercises based on the client’s specific needs.

Bowman worked as a personal trainer for five years before opening the GuerrillaZen location in Chesterfield, Michigan, in September 2013.

"During my second year of personal training, one of my clients suggested I open up my own facility and teach the workouts I was advocating for," Bowman said. "It’s my belief that combining the two training methods is the only sustainable way to train throughout your life. If you are on one side of the spectrum too long, whether it’s hard training or soft training, you’re eventually going to lead yourself down the road to injury."

Bowman said that the School of Business Administration really helped him on his path to entrepreneurship. He was a member of WSU’s student chapters of the American Marketing Association and American Advertising Federation, where he said he learned about advertising campaigns and marketing research.

Bowman said he learned many lessons from Jeffrey Stoltman, associate professor of marketing, and Abhijit Guha, assistant professor of marketing.

Bowman took Stoltman’s consumer behavior and retail course and said it helped him get into an analytical mindset. Bowman learned the importance of how the atmosphere looks and feels when a consumer first arrives.  

Bowman said that Guha is a very broad thinker and his open-mindedness inspired him to step out and make a name for himself.

Bowman also participated in WSU’s Blackstone LaunchPad program. He credits the LaunchPad staff with helping him go through business plans and learn about venture capital.

"GuerrillaZen is important to me because I feel a true sense of fulfillment from improving the lives of others," Bowman said. "I want to help people live healthier lives, so they can live longer and be happier."

 

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