Boot camp owner: Make yourself a priority

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Shelton Matsey practices what he preaches.

The co-owner of a fitness firm, he won a pushup contest with 96 pushups in 90 seconds during an April 30 fundraiser.

The approximately $1,700 raised by Matsey’s company, Fit Code Boot Camps, will go to the Wounded Warrior Fund, which helps injured soldiers who return from battle. The pushup contest included 17 participants at the two Fit Code Boot Camp locations, at 9960 W. 191st St. in Mokena and 2700 W. 91st St. in Evergreen Park.

Matsey opened Fit Code two years ago with his partner, Jennifer Torres.

“We have the same passion for helping people,” Matsey said. Coincidentally, Matsey and Torres also share the same birthday, Oct. 19.

“We’re striving to get better, to help people get the best results they’re looking for,” Matsey said. “It’s good to help more people, as opposed to personal training
one-on-one.”

Matsey, 33, went to Bogan High School in Chicago and now lives in Blue Island.

After switching his major a few times as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urban, Matsey found kinesiology — the science of human movement. He also began personal training, and has since become certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise.

After college, Matsey said he entered the U.S. Army, where he served as an air defense officer on active duty for six years.

The Army placed a high emphasis on physical fitness, and Matsey helped his group members become physically fit. “I loved it,” he said, of the experience.

Matsey earned a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University while in the Army. He found a corporate job.

“I was making money, but was not passionate about what I was doing,” Matsey said.

His wife was five months pregnant when he decided to quit.

“I went from making a lot of money to nothing, but I knew I would be successful eventually,” he said.

One of the major changes was how much he liked his new, personal training profession.

“It’s great to help people attain their goals,” he said. “Mentally, things change. They clean up this portion of their lives and other portions of the lives also are better,” he said.

“People have to make themselves a priority,” Matsey said. “In order for a person to give their best to others, they have to give their best to themselves.”