Styves Exantus

(Disclaimer: I can just jump over a car better than I can write)

My name is Styves (Pronounced like Wives but with an S-T) and I have fell back in love with fitness all over again. Growing up I played soccer, basketball, and football as well as ran long distance track when I got to High School. My strengths have always been endurance stemming from playing soccer for hours as a kid. Being from Haiti and eating rice with everything, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, may have aided with always having the extra carbs to burn. My athleticism grew with not a great level of skill so in all the sports I played I relied on my HUSTLE! Basketball: couldn’t shoot the best but always got a lot of steals and rebounds, Football: wasn’t the fastest or the strongest but could always make a play with extra effort… etc. Fact: I have never tried out for a team and made it. After High school I joined the Marine Corps and for 4 years of serving this country as an Infantryman, my endurance and grit was tested and pushed to a whole new level. Training on obstacle courses and various long runs, hikes and missions brought a new look to actually being fit. After my honorable time served, I fell off from taking care of my actively. I would play basketball on the weekends but doing an actual workout did not happen for approximately 10 years. 

Fast forward to 2012, I procrastinated on getting back into shape after numerous verbal attempts to get into the gym and began running again. A now good friend, Ingrid Elliot, invited me to run on a team for the Rebel Race in Baltimore. Out of camaraderie I said sure send me the link and I will sign up. So I got the link and thought “$80?!!? … But wait there is a prize for 1st place… no 2nd or 3rd? “It was pretty clear to me that if I am going to pay $80 then I might as well get something from it. That small (it seemed a lot bigger at the time because I didn’t love obstacle races at the time) investment was the motivation I needed to get up and make some moves. The very next day I went purchased a pair of training gloves and went out and found a small gym to get started. My very first run I attempted 2 days after was approximately 6 miles and I could not walk for about 4 days. I thought that I could just open up the athlete in me from my younger years in one day but apparently it doesn’t work like that. I started with pull ups on a tree in my front yard and running the 120 meter cul-de-sac in my neighborhood until my endurance built up to run 1 mile, 1 turned into 4, 4 turned into 8, 8 turned into 13. Then I met my mentor (Beast of the East that will remain anonymous) and with the fire being lit for wanting to grow into the fitness industry, the guidance was the missing piece. All the while training at the gym and increasing my fitness lifestyle by cutting out drinking (to a minimal social level) and engaging a better eating habit that involved more natural whole foods and more water I went from 145lbs and 10% to 175lbs 6%. Before I knew it, the 3 months had blown by and it was race day. I remember talking to Ingrid telling her I wouldn’t be running with the team because I was chasing the 1st place prize. After it was all said and done, 1st place overall out of over 2k runners. The feeling I felt being on stage getting the trophy and remembering where I started was surreal. Thanks to Ingrid this had sparked a fire in me to take the world with a new tenacity. 

After running in more 5ks, and eventually running on my favorite TV show, American Ninja Warrior, my career as a stuntman started to grow and more opportunities began to present themselves. From fitness, I have found and outlet for stress and also a passion to fully indulge in that cannot only great for your health but very prosperous. After running and training I began to see a future in obstacle racing. The industry is growing and I believe it can be a new lane for athletes. My dream and passion is to help pioneer the obstacle running industry in all facades, mud races, urbathons, and obstacles of all kinds. 

It might seem crazy, but what if it works … what if my dream is that of the Wright brothers … then it only makes sense I attack every day with a crazy HUSTLE!