Terry Adams embarked on a fitness journey & received a spiritual awakening

Then Adams’ son was born in 2018, and he came to the realization that if he wanted to be back at the top of his game, he’d have to step it up.

For anyone to admit they’re at a low point in their life takes considerable honesty and courage, and for professional athletes like Adams, it can be extremely hard to accept not just the low they’re experiencing—but the change in habits necessary to rise above it.

“There’s a guy who’s an ex-Red Bull athlete who started coaching riders,” Adams said. “He reached out to me on a few occasions and could see from afar I wasn’t the Terry he remembered—that I wasn’t the Terry he used to compete against.”

But Adams dismissed the outreach.

“At the time, my ego was a little attached and I didn’t think there was a problem,” he said.

A few weeks later, Adams received another text asking him when he’d like to engage, but again, he resisted. The coach said, ‘I’ve been reviewing some videos, and younger Terry was just a little bit quicker and actually looked a little bit stronger.’ Adams was listening to him, but didn’t really want to accept what he was hearing.

He then got curious and decided to look himself up on the Internet, attempting to see what the trainer had seen.

Adams wasn’t following a workout plan, so he created his own. And while that plan was unsustainable and wasn’t necessarily the smartest, it whipped him into shape within six months.

“I wasn’t taking rest days and was hardly eating,” Adams said. “My plan was just doing 100 of everything, everyday—100 pull-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups—100 of everything.”

After having been alerted to Adams’ new regimen, Red Bull offered to help him implement a more professional workout and nutrition regimen that helped him fuel properly. But because of Adams’ self-diagnosed “obsessive personality,” it was hard for him to slow down once he started seeing results.

While most people have trouble with the reverse—getting up and finding motivation to complete the work—Adams had trouble listening to his body when it needed rest.

“When I started the journey, I was working out at 5:30am,” Adams said. “Then it went to 4:30 am, then 3:30am and then 2:30am. But when I started getting into 2:30am, I wasn’t getting enough sleep. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt myself, so I moved the time back to 3:30am and that’s where I’ve stayed for the last six years.”

For Adams, his time working out is a time of peace and happiness—a chance to reconnect with himself. He doesn’t belong to a gym and conducts his entire routine from home.

“When I started the fitness journey, it was about getting back to the top of the podium so my son could see these trophies and be inspired by them,” Adams said. “But when he was around three, he was diagnosed with autism and the initial reasons for the journey changed.”

“It’s a beautiful thing that I can ride a bike for a living for this many years at a high level, but it’s also a beautiful thing that my son might need me longer than the average parent,” Adams said. “So while it is about showing up at contests in shape at this age and being atop the podium, it’s more importantly about sustainability so I can be here for my family.”

In some ways, Adams’ shift of focus from serving solely himself to serving his family is akin to the spiritual journey of learning how to better serve others. As part of that shift, Adams started practicing meditation at the beginning or end of each morning workout, and while it was established to improve his focus on the contest floor, the practice transformed into a much more powerful benefit.

So while Adams’ fitness journey has transformed his physical body, it’s also transformed his mind to help him regularly exist in gratitude.

“The last thing you’ll do in your entire life is take one last breath, which reminds me to appreciate being on this bike, appreciate these workouts and appreciate that I’m able to do it at this level,” he said.

Adams started his fitness journey at the end of 2018 by taking a polaroid picture of himself and putting it on his vision board.

“When I go into my office, I’m not staring at that vision board every day, but I know it’s there,” Adams said. “I know where I was in 2018, and I know I’m not going back there.”

“I’m most proud of the award from 2020 because it was connected to this journey of gratitude,” Adams said. “I want to help as many people as possible who are trying to better themselves because I know how much fitness has helped me.”

Over the course of Adams’ fitness journey, he hit 20 years being sponsored by Red Bull.

“I’ve been waking up putting a Red Bull hat on my head every single day for more than half my life,” Adams said.

And ever since he was signed at 19, he’s been drinking one Red Bull a day for 20 years. “About 30 minutes before riding I’ll sip half of a Red Bull Sugarfree,” Adams said. “While riding, I’ll sip the rest.”

It’s all part of a long career that now includes a remarkable fitness journey—one that’s completely transformed Adams’ body, mind and outlook on life. But Adams isn’t stopping anytime soon: He plans on getting stronger.

He keeps a running note in his phone where he records the number of sets completed each day, and sometimes likes to go back and look at the numbers from where he started to where he is now—because at 41—he feels he’s in the best shape of his life.