About

About

Life, Fitness and Mindset Coach

DERRICK SCHUMACHER

Personal Trainer & Life Coach

I grew up a quiet, polite farm boy in southwestern Iowa where I learned the values of hard work, family, and integrity. My passion growing up was always sports. I played almost anything that was possible, but later excelled in football and wrestling in high school. I went onto college where I received a bachelor’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Coaching and Psychology.

I started personal training in 2001 while in college and founded Schumacher Fitness, a one-on-one fitness training business. I decided to take a financial risk in June of 2007 to solely be a fitness trainer.   

There was a lot of push back from the skeptics, friends, family, and sometimes me. I live in Hutchinson, Minnesota which had a population of 13,993 then. This would be considered a “small town” in a lot of people’s book.I heard a lot of negative comments like, “You need to support your family and get an adult job.” or “You must have another job because you won’t be busy enough with that job.” 

I had a dream. Working full-time, doing something I loved.  I pushed.  I got knocked down a lot. Over and over, I got back up.  And I never looked back. Since 2007, I have ONLY been a fitness trainer.

As stated on the “My Story” page, my wife’s illness and my recovery from depression and anxiety has shaped the man I am today. It created a passion for uncovering the real source of an individual’s suffering or sadness and guiding them back to a life of value, purpose, and happiness. (Otherwise, known as their dream!) My dream is to aspire people to achieve their dreams. 

Feeling Stuck in Life? 

This is my story.

I’ve been there too. Life can be very foggy at times and that’s okay, but staying there too long can be very troubling. That’s where help and guidance along the way helped me immensely. This is my story about the darkest part of my life and my continued climb back into the light.

I was down home in Iowa for my niece’s first birthday party. My wife was working on her master’s in education, so she decided to stay back home. I remember her calling me on my way back home telling me she had been sick all weekend with a stomach bug.

So we thought. 

Turns out my wife’s colitis was acting up again. She had struggled with this in the past, but it had never been this bad. Not only was she dealing with colitis, but she had also attracted an infection called c-diff which destroyed good bacteria in her colon.  

To make a long story short, my wife struggled ridding c-diff and eventually ended up losing her colon. It was a long three years of her being up and down with energy, spirit, and sometimes hope. My wife is back to normal and is doing fantastic, but something happened to me during this process that went unnoticed for a long time.

My life drastically changed.

My wife, although probably supposed to stay home or even in the hospital, still went to work almost everyday. She would come home most afternoons exhausted. Most nights she would sleep starting very early in the evening.  This meant that I had many extra items on my shoulders. All the normal at home chores, taking care of our two sons, and now taking care of her.


I have always been naturally a giver. Giving has always been a source of happiness for me. Caring for people is one of the reasons why I have been a personal trainer and life coach for many years. But this was too much. Too much emotion and too much energy over a very long period of time. I was very tired of her being sick and not showing signs of improvement. I felt like I was just watching her slowly die.


Even worse were my feelings of resentment. All the attention was on her. Most everyone would ask, “How’s Katie doing?” Although I was grateful they cared, nobody was asking me how I was doing. I was a shell of myself. Some days staying home from work sounded like a good idea and some days I did.


I was tired.

Tired of taking care of people. 



I was tired of my life. 

On a typical November afternoon I was at home crying in my bed, which happened more than I remember. A buddy called me. Normally, I would just let it go to voicemail giving that I was sobbing uncontrollably, but this time I answered it. I wanted someone to know that I was suffering. I took the chance to ask him if he could help me. He was willing to listen to my story and told me I was okay to feel tired, stressed, and resentful. He told me I needed to take care of myself or I wouldn't be able to take care of anybody else. And he was there for me if I needed him.  

After the phone call, I felt a big sense of relief. All these emotions and thoughts had been bottled up for so long. I was revolving a tornado in my head and I had no idea what direction to follow. I still wasn’t great, but at least I was heading in a positive direction.


I started to tell more people about my story. I mostly received a warm reception from everyone with many offers for help. This felt great. But I knew I needed to tell one more person. My wife.  

I did not want to. She was dealing with so much already that telling her my problems would just make her feel worse. In my head, this seemed like a very selfish act. “Don’t burden her with your problems,” I remember thinking repeatedly.  

But she was my wife. My most trusted friend. She was the one I knew could help my suffering the most. I took the risk and told her everything. Yes, this was a risk. With my mental state where it was, I assumed the worst scenario of her not caring at all about my suffering.  

But it didn’t go that way.  

She knew her sickness had been hard on me too. She thanked me for all I have done.  She said, “A weak man would have walked away from this a long time ago. I need you to be strong for our family, so do what you need to do to take care of yourself.” As you can imagine, this meant the world to me.


Although we both were weak and struggling, we were both together emotionally again.  Just in time too. After many years of trying to save Katie’s colon, the doctor made the decision to remove it. She endured a long, grueling nine months of recovery, but she made it! She is happy and healthy with very few problems since that time!

I wish that was it—everything was hunky-dory and we were living happily ever after. 


Not true. 


I was a different story. 


Although a lot of my majors problems were gone, my anxiety remained. It seemed to just segue to other important problems I was having day to day, but on a much smaller scale. I was having the same emotions and feelings as something was majorly wrong. Worst of all, the more I tried to control it, the more it seemed to be out of my control. I felt stuck. I felt hopeless.



“Although a lot of my majors problems were gone, my anxiety remained. .... Worst of all, the more I tried to control it, the more it seemed to be out of my control. I felt stuck. I felt hopeless.”

I Got Up Early One Morning After A Day Of Having What I Considered A Mild Anxiety Attack. 

 

 At this point, I was fed up with my emotions. I remembered this quote from a video I watched: 


This was it. This was my breaking point. I made a vow to myself and to my family to get my emotions in control because living in my head was no way to live. 


I remember the start of my new journey being a very rocky one. There were more steps backwards then forwards. And my anxiety attacks seemed more numerous. Just like before when I tried to control my anxiety, it was worse. 



After a long while of going the journey alone, my wife insisted I see a counselor. I was still naturally resistant to asking for help, even though it had worked in the past. After much thought and self realization, I didn’t feel important enough to ask for help. In my head, everyone else had more important stuff going on or had many more major problems than me. But not being the husband or father I wanted to be because I was struggling living in the present moment became a big enough reason.


Ask for help.

I started to turn the corner once I started counseling. The biggest positive difference I remember were the phrases, “It’s okay to feel that way” or “That’s a completely normal way to react” or “Dwelling is actually a good thing.” I never knew that some of these feelings were going to happen no matter what. I was not in control of them happening. I was in control of my self talk after they happened. 


 My counseling sessions created a somewhat researching monster out of me. I became very intrigued with positive self talk and the whole idea of positive psychology. I spent a lot of my free time watching videos, reading articles, and listening to audio books. (I am still a nerd!) I was realizing the more I learned and applied my new knowledge, the less anxiety I had.  

Most importantly, after many hours of research and applying it to real life situations, I have learned

I am in Control.

  • I am in control of reframing my negative thoughts.
  • I am in control of my decisions.
  • I am in control of loving myself.
  • I am in control of telling people what I need from them.
  • I am in control of the way I treat people.
  • I am in control of the way I respond to people.
  • I am in control of my my life’s direction.
My family.  Katie (front left), Peyton (back left), and Maddox (front right).

I am my best friend, or my worst enemy. Nobody else holds the power to decide how I feel and act but me. As hard as it may be to realize, I always have a choice. No matter how bad the situation. I control me.


I’m proud to say I’m doing well! There are always some lows, but they don’t stay very long as long as I use my tools. As I have mentioned before, giving has always been a great source of happiness for me. So much, I have made a career out of helping others build their happiness and dreams.  Please send me a message. I will enjoy hearing your story and helping along your journey to discover your authentic self and purpose!



Share by: