American War Hero Noah Galloway

On the Battleground and in the Gym

- Lisa Steuer

Birmingham, Alabama native Noah Galloway never planned to join the military— but that all changed after September 11. Then, in 2005 after experiencing a life-changing injury just three months into his second tour of duty in which he lost an arm and a leg, he went into depression and no longer had a passion for fitness and staying in ultimate shape.

Now, the star of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and Fox’s “American Grit” who has competed in countless Tough Mudders is an inspiration to people around the world and is proving that if you have the drive and passion to succeed, no obstacles can stand in your way.

FINDING FITNESS

Noah said he first got the “bug” for fitness at about 11 or 12 years old. In fact, he used to sneak into his local community center to work out, which was supposed to be for those 16 or older.

“They would always threaten to take my membership away and I’d wait a week and I’d go back in there, and work out until I got caught again. That’s just all I wanted to do, I wanted to work out,” he said.

At 16 years old, Noah was reading every magazine and book about fitness that he could get his hands on. “All my friends followed whatever routines that I was doing,” said Noah. “I was the one who told them what our workouts were.”

From that early age, Noah enjoyed fitness not only because as a teenager he felt it was important to be attractive to girls, but also because it was a stress reliever.

“I found that I could go to the gym and I always left happy,” he said. “Those endorphins would kick in and I was always in a good mood. That was my happy place to go to. So it kept me calm and relaxed and it was this safe haven that I could go to and move some heavy weights around and then feel good.”