Beau Whitman Inspires an Underserved Fitness Segment

Beau Whitman was the epitome of active. He was a Division I track athlete at Lehigh University, a college track and field coach, a busy personal trainer, and he appeared on thousands of cardio equipment screens as an instructor for Life Fitness On Demand workouts.

In the summer of 2019, he was diagnosed with stage 3 germ cell cancer. For a few months he was sidelined from physical activity and his focus quickly changed to recovery. After four rounds of intense chemotherapy and two surgeries, Whitman emerged cancer free.

A Change in Outlook

Whitman’s experience was eye-opening and led him down a path of trying to help other cancer survivors who want to regain their active lifestyles.

“After my cancer diagnosis, I found there was a big disconnect for support for cancer survivors,” he explained. “Whenever I talked to people it was ‘go back to your life’. So I can (go back to squatting) 400 pounds now? No.”

Seeing a need and feeling compelled to provide guidance to those in a similar situation, Whitman created Rebuilt to Inspire. The 60-day coaching program helps cancer survivors progress from “stranded to strong” and get back into working out and the exercise routines that they had before a diagnosis.

“My doctor told me to start off easy,” said Whitman. “To me, where’s the easy? Where’s the beginning? Where do I start? Rebuilt to Inspire takes cancer survivors from stranded to strong. We’re not talking about cancer really, but about moving forward.”

Four Pillars of Rebuilt to Inspire

Rebuilt to Inspire is built around four important pillars that work together to shift a person’s mindset from negative to positive.

• Mental helps to tackle fears and create a positive mindset.
• Physical includes workouts geared towards specific goals. These can range from gaining muscle back, losing weight, or just being able to get back into an exercise routine.
• Support provides participants with a strong community they can rely on.
• Nutrition focuses on establishing healthy eating habits.

“It’s not a demographic that’s touched on a lot,” added Whitman. “It’s still a very iffy topic because (cancer survivors) don’t want to talk about it. But more are opening up to me about it and wishing they had this program.”