About Scooby Werkstatt (YouTube: Scooby1961)
Scooby Now
I got a late start in fitness, I was one of those awkward, lanky, clumsy kids who always got picked last when choosing teams in PE class – not athletic in the slightest. I really didn’t do anything fitness wise till I was 21 and started lifting weights. After starting to lift weights, a wonderful thing happened. My confidence and self-esteem skyrocketed and I wasn’t painfully shy any more. With my newfound strength and confidence I discovered that I actually liked sports! Although I completely lack natural athletic ability, I found that I could get better with practice. I picked up skating, hiking, volleyball, cycling, windsurfing, running and swimming. I’m 53 years old now and have been lifting weights an hour a day, five-six days a week, 52 weeks a year, for the last 30 years. I take at most one week off from weights a year, but usually only skip a day or two. I reached my genetic potential at about age 40 and my strength, weight and bodyfat has remained essentially constant since then. Although I workout even harder and smarter now than I did at age 30, because of my age the hard work just prevents a backslide. Since gaining mass is no longer a possibility, the last five years I have focused my fitness goals on endurance events and sports. I have been doing long distance cycling races and triathlons and in 2012 achieved my fitness goals of doing a double century (200 mile bike race) and Half Ironman triathlon. In 2015 my goals are to bike across Burma and do my first men’s physique contest. Please read about my goals!
I started the scoobysworkshop website back in 2004 because I got fed up with how fitness and bodybuilding had become nothing more than another big business run by money hungry corporations. I was looking for some fitness info on the web and I was disgusted that the only thing that came up were slimy ones all trying to push expensive books, newsletters, and supplements. The only good unbiased website I found was a Christian based one but it hadn’t been updated in several years and wasn’t very complete. Bodybuilding has done a lot for me and I wanted to give back to the community and help those without money to build healthy, awesome physiques. In this era of high-tech fancy machines and expensive neon lined gyms, people have forgotten that bodybuilding started out with very simple equipment – namely just cheap dumbbells and barbells. I wanted to show the people with no money how to build the same ripped, muscular physiques as the ones who can afford supplements and expensive gym memberships.
Who IS Scooby Werkstatt?
What makes me tick? What defines who I am? I think the best way to do this is to tell you about the six things that are important to me.
- My passion for fitness and sports. Bodybuilding has changed my life and I want to pass this on to everyone who will listen. I feel strongly that a great physique should be available to all regardless of economic ability which is why I spend 20hrs per week after work and on weekends making my free videos and working on my free website. Fitness is my passion. Not only do I work to pass on my love of fitness but I still actively participate myself. Triathlon is my competitive sport and beach volleyball is my recreational sport. If I had to choose one thing that defined me, my love of fitness would be it.
- My love of engineering and building things. If I had to choose the second most important thing that defines me it would be my love of building things. As a kid I was always out in the garage building go-karts or tinkering in the garage. My degree is in engineering and I continue to love it to this day. I have build a houses, airplane, furniture, and a computer from scratch. I truly love building things.
- My spirituality. As many have commented, I am religious although I don’t like that label. Although the rest of our family are strict Dutch Reformed, I was raised a good Protestant and although the values I learned have stuck with me, I don’t consider myself a Protestant. My beliefs don’t seem to fall in line with any organized religion but that doesn’t make me any less spiritual. When people ask what my religion is I tell them they will have to guess by my actions because I’m not quite sure myself :) I consider taking care of friends, family and complete strangers part of spirituality.
- My love of airplanes. At age 7 I started building rubber powered model airplanes and I never stopped. My entire life I have been flying model airplanes and they got more complex with time. My high school had an aviation program so I jumped at the chance to learn to fly. Thru some amazing deal I got my instructor free thru the Boy Scouts Air Explorers and the plane for $10/hr thru my high school so I was able to learn to fly for next to nothing – remember, this was 1977 :) My love of airplanes has never subsided, I still continue to fly both remote control airplanes and real airplanes. Weather permitting, my dad and try to go out several times a month to fly RC gliders.
- My love of travel and being exposed to new cultures. I have a Wanderlust that any good German would be proud of. I love the ideas and inspirations that come to me when I travel. Whole new worlds open up when you see things thru someone elses eyes. I try to spend 2-4 weeks each year outside the USA to help broaden my horizons. Every trip helps me appreciate the USA more as well as realize how many things are screwed up here, if that makes any sense. When I travel, 90% of the time its by bicycle as there is no better way to experience a country. I don’t stay in big hotels but opt for the very low end. You learn nothing about a country staying in a Hilton, you learn much more when you share a raised one room bamboo hut with a family.
- My work ethic. Although I am obviously way too young to have lived thru the depression, my upbringing was very influenced by it. My family was scarred by the depression and the stories we were constantly told struck terror into us kids as well, people today really do not realize how easy they have it. Two generations later, even us kids have a working memory of the depression and because of that, everyone had a very Calvinistic work ethic. Without exception, the whole family are hard workers who always work several jobs at the same time. When many people see my videos and see a very muscular guy in a really nice house, they come to the wrong conclusion: “A lucky rich guy who used steroids to get big fast”. I am not about shortcuts. I am lucky but that is not how I got rich, it was thru decades of scrimping, saving, working two jobs, and investing. Please see also, “Does Scooby use steroids?“
My Husband
I have been happily married for over 14 years. My husband and I share a passion for sports, fitness, working out, and travel. We do not have children, but we do have our Shih-Tsu Milo, Sammy our pet turtle, hundreds of hummingbirds, and we’ve been adopted by a skunk. You can follow my husband on Instagram!
I satisfy my parental instincts by passing on my workout advice and life philosophy to my YouTube subscribers, who I truly think of as my children and extended family.
You may have noticed that in my videos and on this website, I typically don’t bring up anything about me because scoobysworkshop is not about ME, its about YOU. I try to keep the spotlight off myself and on what’s really important, which is how I can help YOU get healthiest, most amazing physique ever.
About Scoobysworkshop
Unlike organizations like P90X, Crossfit, and sixpackshortcuts, I AM scoobysworkshop – there are no employees and no corporate sponsors. I do all my own filming, editing, Facebook posts, Instagram posts, and all the website content – its a work of passion for me! Please consider donating to scoobysworkshop if you can to help keep me running free and unbiased.
I have no medical training or personal training credentials, my experience is practical:
- 30 years lifting experience.
- Through good form I have never had an injury in the weight room, a real rarity in the bodybuilding.
- Bodybuilding has allowed me to remain active and competitive in sports.
- My B.S. in Engineering, makes me question everything.
- Lots of experience recovering from sports related injuries (snowboarding, volleyball, water polo, etc).
- With stretching, proper posture, and bodybuilding have keep my chronic back pain in check.
