{"id":3484,"date":"2018-02-19T23:06:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T23:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/fire-sparked-change\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T20:36:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T20:36:54","slug":"fire-sparked-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/fire-sparked-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fire That Sparked His Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On an afternoon in March 2007, Tom Bernier was fighting an apartment fire in Taunton, Massachusetts, when someone told him there was a baby stranded on the third floor. Along with a colleague, he climbed up the fire escape, smashed a window and crawled into the blazing building. They searched everywhere. By the time they realized there was no baby, they were almost out of air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"hat\"
Tom Bernier\u2019s helmet from the 2007 fire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To make matters worse, the wind had shifted, trapping them in the front of the building with no way out. Tom found a window and yelled \u201cmayday,\u201d hoping someone on the ground would hear him. No such luck.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In desperation, his colleague threw a helmet out the window to attract attention. A ladder went up, and Tom and his colleague escaped in the nick of time. Looking back, Tom is sure that his physical fitness was key to his survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur cardio training helped extend our time, so we could do the search with the air we had left,\u201d he says. If they hadn\u2019t been strong and quick enough, he adds, they would not have made it through the entire third floor search and would have gotten trapped by the fire halfway through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting in the work<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the months and years that followed that terrible fire, Tom\u2019s fitness level fluctuated. Tom joined Gold\u2019s Gym in 2012, looking to add variety to his workouts. He\u2019s experienced a handful of back and shoulder injuries during his career, but his biggest setback was in 2014, when his mother passed away and he stopped working out. Eventually, Nancy, his wife of nearly 30 years (they were high school sweethearts) and an avid gym member herself, encouraged him to begin taking his fitness seriously again. Tom wanted to be as fit as he was when he first joined the fire department in 1988. In January 2017, he signed up for the Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to do it for the public, my family and especially the guys I work with, because they rely on me every day,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be in a situation where my physical shape is not going to help me out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his initial fitness assessment, Tom struggled to do three pull-ups and became winded after just a few push-ups. Under the guidance of his personal trainer, Brian Diercksen (left), Tom did weight training and used elliptical and rowing machines. He cut out late-night snacking, reduced his carb intake and turned down the delicious firehouse meals prepared by his fellow firefighters. He laughed when they teased him for opting for turkey burgers and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTom told me, \u2018As long as I get to my goal, I\u2019ll do whatever you tell me,\u2019\u201d Brian says. \u201cHe and his wife are the kind of people trainers can only hope to get. They worked their tails off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No giving up <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When things got tough, Tom reminded himself of something he says to his children and to kids he mentors: \u201cBe the leader and not the follower.\u201d Even when he didn\u2019t feel his best, he continued to train, and that made him feel better. Nancy was a key motivator, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just kept thinking about how many times my wife gets up at 4:30 a.m., drives to the gym and works out, and then drives an hour and works all day and never complains,\u201d Tom says. \u201cI think the Challenge is a great way for couples to better themselves and keep each other motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom credits Brian for pushing him and always keeping the workouts interesting. \u201cI was never bored,\u201d he says. \u201c[Brian] set me up with different meal plans, and during our sessions he would pick supersets to challenge me with that were great. He would always encourage me, and we both never accepted the minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Challenge went on, Tom could see the results of his work. His clothes were getting too big, and everyone was complimenting him on how he looked. At the end, Tom placed first in his age division in the Challenge, losing 30 pounds. And, he emphasizes, \u201cI only got stronger.\u201d He could now do 59 push-ups in a minute and at least 12 pull-ups. As a joke, his fellow firefighters took a poster celebrating his success from Gold\u2019s and put it up in the firehouse. Now, Tom says, they touch it for good luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last time I saw Tom, he looked just as great as he did at the end of the Challenge,\u201d Brian says. \u201cHe went above and beyond, and I think that speaks volumes about who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stronger than ever<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tom\u2019s daughter jokes that her dad is \u201cGold\u2019s for life,\u201d and he couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI keep on track as best I can now because of all the support that was given to me throughout the Challenge and especially after,\u201d he says. \u201cI appreciate my Gold\u2019s Gym family for all that they have done. I want to prove that the Challenge isn\u2019t only a contest but a start of a new healthy way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Tom still thinks about that disastrous fire in 2007, his fitness success has made him more confident in his abilities. He has only two years left until retirement and says he plans to go out \u201cin one piece.\u201d For now, though, he\u2019s content to spend his free time with Nancy and their two children, as well as maintain his busy schedule doing volunteer work. Tom mentors students and serves on a committee at his former high school, and he teaches golf to kids through the development program The First Tee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/em>I want to be a good role model for those kids,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to teach them that eating healthy and being fit is important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, he\u2019s more than ready for whatever challenge is next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt 53 years old, I don\u2019t feel like there\u2019s anything I can\u2019t do,\u201d Tom says. \u201cI have a great life, and it just keeps getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<p>On an afternoon in March 2007, Tom Bernier\u00a0was fighting an apartment fire in Taunton, Massachusetts, when someone told him there was a baby stranded on the third floor. Along with a colleague, he climbed up the fire escape, smashed a window and crawled into the blazing building. They searched everywhere. By the time they realized […]<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":6583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[168],"tags":[204,120,103,146,231,65,119,155],"class_list":["post-3484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-12-weeks","tag-build-muscle","tag-community","tag-golds-gym-challenge","tag-gym-contest","tag-healthy-eating","tag-transformation","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3484"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9683,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions\/9683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}